FILM SCREENING: Precious Knowledge

The documentary Precious Knowledge interweaves the stories of students in the Mexican American Studies Program at Tucson High School. While 48 percent of Mexican American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson High’s Mexican American Studies Program has become a national model of education success, with on average, 93 percent of enrolled students graduating from high school and 85 percent going on to attend college. The filmmakers spent an entire year in the classroom filming this innovative social justice curriculum, documenting the transformative impact on students who become engaged, informed, and active in the their communities. Precious Knowledge is timely as the nation turns its focus toward a wave of anti-immigration legislation in Arizona, with other states planning to follow suit. Along with their harsh antiimmigrant stance, Arizona lawmakers recently passed a bill giving unilateral power to the State Superintendent to abolish Ethnic Studies classes. Precious Knowledge provides an insider’s perspective to a historic battle over civil rights as the student leaders in Tucson High fight to save their classes.

The screening was followed by a Q & A with the producer.

Organized by the Global Migration Group.