''Graduating Peter'' is a 2001 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by Gerardine Wurzburg. This is a sequel to the 1992 Academy Award-winning short

Educating Peter ''Educating Peter'' is a 1992 American short documentary film directed by Gerardine Wurzburg about Peter Gwazdauskas, a special needs student with Down syndrome, and his inclusion in a standard third grade classroom in Blacksburg, Virginia. It w ...

''; where it follows the continuing adventures of 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 ...

, in his middle school and high school life as well as his high school graduation. The documentary was filmed 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 ...

.From 'Educating Peter' to 'Graduating Peter' : NPR
Accessed July 18, 2015.

Cast

* Peter Gwazdauskas as himself * Judy Gwazdauskas as herself (Peter's Mother) * Frank Gwazdauskas as himself (Peter's Father) * Jennifer Gwazdauskas as herself (Peter's Sister)

Synopsis

Before he entered the third grade, Peter Gwazdauskas was originally in a separate school for students with disabilities. When he entered the third grade, he enrolled in a traditional school due to a change in federal law stating that students with disabilities should be educated with typically developing students in general education. Even though Peter had improved since third grade, he still had some challenges, including depression and occasional behavioral outbursts. During the school day, Peter was accompanied by paraprofessionals to help him stay directed and learning. Sometimes during class, he was pulled out of the lesson in order to work with a paraprofessional in a one-on-one setting. To increase his social skills, Peter had some community-based jobs during the time he was in middle school and high school. In the summer, he had a summer aide in order to continue his functional education, learning vocational skills and community-based living practices. Peter also participated in extracurricular activities at his school, like being in the concert band as well as being the manager of the soccer team. He was also in a school club with both typically developing peers and peers with disabilities. Since joining, it has helped Peter improve his social skills. He improved even more in social and vocational skills by the end of his senior year of high school and went on to graduate with his classmates.

Trivia

A clip of the ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

'' episode "Safety First!" is seen in the documentary when Peter and his summer aide are watching it on their TV. A scene of the documentary was filmed on location at

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in Williamsburg, Virginia, James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately ...

when Peter was on a club trip for his school. Another scene was also filmed on location at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

when Peter worked in the bookstore.

References

External links

* {{Virginia Tech 2001 television films 2001 films 2001 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about children with disability Documentary films about Down syndrome Documentary films about special education Blacksburg, Virginia Virginia Tech Education in Montgomery County, Virginia 2000s English-language films 2000s American films