''Educating Peter'' is a 1992 American

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Gerardine Wurzburg about Peter Gwazdauskas, a special needs student with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

, and his inclusion in a standard third grade classroom in

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of V ...

. It won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

at the

65th Academy Awards The 65th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1992 in the United States and took place on March 29, 1993, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...

in 1993 for Documentary Short Subject.

Cast

* Judy Gwazdauskas as Herself (Peter's Mother) * Frank Gwazdauskas as Himself (Peter's Father) * Peter Gwazdauskas as Himself * Mrs. Stallings (Peter's Teacher) and her class. * Mrs. Colley (Special Education Teacher)

Plot

Peter Gwazdauskas, a third-grade boy with Down Syndrome is beginning traditional school with regularly developing students for the first time. Originally, he was in a school only with other students with autism and special needs. Peter was enrolled in a traditional school because federal law states that students with special needs should be educated with regularly developing students in traditional schools. Peter's first half of the school year was not going well because he was exhibiting behaviors such as making loud noises, rolling around on the floor, and being injurious towards other students in class. But when it was the middle of the year in January, things started to improve much better for Peter and he did just fine towards the end of the school year. Because of his improvements throughout the year, Peter received an award for being an exceptional student on the last day of school along with his other classmates.

Sequel

Graduating Peter ''Graduating Peter'' is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Gerardine Wurzburg. This is a sequel to the 1992 Academy Award-winning short documentary film ''Educating Peter''; where it follows the continuing adventures of Peter Gwazdau ...

'' was released in 2001. The sequel follows Peter in middle school, high school, and his high school graduation.

References

External links

*
''Educating Peter''
at

Direct Cinema Limited Mitchell Block (born c. 1950) is an American filmmaker, primarily a producer of documentary films. He was executive producer of the 2000 short documentary film '' Big Mama'', which won Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 73rd Academy Awards ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Educating Peter 1992 films 1992 documentary films 1992 independent films 1992 short films American independent films American short documentary films Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Documentary films about children with disability Documentary films about Down syndrome Documentary films about special education Blacksburg, Virginia Education in Montgomery County, Virginia 1990s English-language films 1990s American films