On Tuesday, January 31, 2017, our Belles embarked on a school-wide field trip to the Cinemark theatre at The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center.

Thank you to our generous benefactors Mr. Roman Silberfeld and Ms. Pat Klous for sponsoring our entire school  to see Hidden Figures. They were inspired by Octavia Spencer, who purchased an entire showing at a Baldwin Hills movie theater in Los Angeles during MLK weekend, and  wanted to give back to our students at St. Mary’s Academy. Our generous donors sponsored the entire experience from the  cost of transportation, movie tickets and ensuring each student had a bag of popcorn, candy and beverage.

Ms. Klous shared with our students her own humble beginnings and lack of resources as a child. She indicated that it was a high school teacher that encouraged her to pursue her dreams and apply to college. She thanked the SMA faculty for believing and supporting our students as they prepare for college and life beyond high school. She encouraged the Belles to believe in themselves and reinforced to them that they can become whoever they want to be. They just need to work hard to achieve their dreams!

This wonderful gift occurred during #CatholicSchoolsWeek. The day’s theme “Celebrating Your Students” was a wonderful tribute to show our Belles how much they are appreciated by the SMA community.

Upon returning to school, the students reflected on the movie during their homeroom class. Below are some of their responses.

“I thought the movie was great because it shows women are capable of doing many things in life. Women can do whatever they set their mind to and achieve their goals”

“I liked how even though Katherine was smart, she stayed humble”
“I liked how the women fought with education rather than words. It was inspiring and pushes people to look into what someone knows rather than how they look”
“Even though there may be barriers placed in front of us, it is up to us to give it all we got. Mary, who went into the courtroom, she fought for what she believed in and she had to fight really hard, but she eventually got what she desired, an opportunity to attend engineering night classes at an all white high school “
“I think it was really important because it showed us as women of color that we could really be something.”
“Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine’s stories still carry meaning today, showing that women need to follow their dreams no matter what trials stand in our way”
“This story showed me that tenacity gets you a long way. It shows how functional a process, which is literally rocket science, could be smoothly managed without racial prejudices”
“Seeing these women cross barriers that were set in front of them based on their gender and color allows me to appreciate the present. Although change is necessary and inevitable, participating in the change is imperative.”
From Mr. Clemen’s Homeroom –

When we had discussion, the students were definitely aware of the importance of such a story in today’s world. Several students acknowledged the social and cultural importance of seeing minority women fight for rights such as going to classes allowing them to become engineers.They also acknowledged the importance of minority women playing key roles in such terrific accomplishments as we saw in the film.

One interesting thing that a few students raised was -” why did we have to wait for a Hollywood film to find out about this story? Why isn’t this in our history books? Why isn’t this celebrated more? Talked about more?”