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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 won an Oscar at the 65th Academy Awards 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 was released in 2001. The sequel follows Peter in middle school, high school, and his high school graduation.

References

1. "The 65th Academy Awards (1993) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
2. "New York Times: Educating Peter". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2008.

External links

• Educating Peter at IMDb
• Educating Peter at Direct Cinema Limited

• 1992 films
• 1992 short documentary films
• 1992 independent films
• American independent films
• American short documentary films
• Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners
• Documentary films about children with disabilities
• Documentary films about Down syndrome
• Documentary films about education in the United States
• Documentary films about special education
• Blacksburg, Virginia
• Education in Montgomery County, Virginia
• 1990s English-language films
• 1990s American films
• English-language short documentary films
• English-language independent films