REVIEW: CLASS OF HER OWN (DOCUMENTARY) ★★★★
CLASS OF HER OWN is an American documentary (2025) directed by Boaz Dvir and is a portrait of Gloria Jean Merrix, a former schoolteacher at Duval Elementary in East Gainesville, Florida. It’s filmed from 2008-2014, finished in 2023 and released in 2025. Even though the documentary highlights the unorthodox teachings of Gloria Jean Merrix, there are some similarities between being a school teacher and creating documentaries, like the immense time and energy you put into your work only to see it come to fruition at a later stage, sometimes years later. The tenacity you gotta possess combined with part stubbornness, part inner drive is key to create lasting results. You simply have to believe that your work is so important that the significance of the work goes beyond yourself, that is has value for others and the surrounding community. This is indeed the case for Gloria Jean Merrix and in part Boaz Dvir as well, who has spent a significant amount of time to put this documentary together.
The documentary starts off with the struggles of not only Duval Elementary, but also the daily life in the black communities, impacted by serious family issues, food stamps, unemployment, poor housing facilities and disappointing grades at school. After the school flunked its high-stakes state exam, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), Duval faced major consequences including a budget freeze and the threat of a shutdown.
However, Gloria, who until then had been following the normal curriculum and guidelines strict, knew that something had to change and in 2003 she decided to completely transform herself and her methods - and as it turned out, transform her students in the process. In one year, she catapulted Duval to an A. She became a national model, giving us a blueprint for student success.
They methods she chose consisted of rhythm and repetition to help children grasp and remember complex concepts, she experimented with music and movement. She wrote original songs and choreographed geometrical motions. She flipped the playbook, starting the school year with the hardest concepts. She used music and rap to connect mind and body and it begs the question if these methods could be used across The States? I’m not sure. When you watch the documentary it becomes abundantly clear that the way music, movements and chants are working within the black communities is on a completely another level. When you see these young kids dance, sing, chant and move completely uninhibited with ease and grace you know that there is a direct line from whatever Music God that’s up there to these young kids, who has been installed with rythmic superpowers.
In fact, before Gloria Jean Merrix used her new methods, the divine connection was already there in the church choir, the Double Dutch Jumpers, Cheerleaders etc. No wonder the biggest rappers in the world of all time comes from the black communities. There is something supernatural about the uninhibited access to rime and rhythm.
Having a background as a schoolteacher myself I can relate to the Gloria Jean Merrix in multiple ways. Overseeing a class and take responsibility for their education in that exact moment in time. It’s almost like a micro cosmos of the real world representing different gender, social status and an intrigant hierarchy based on several factors, skills being one of them. Especially math is a notoriously hard subject for many students of all ages, and many carries their failures into adulthood, I certainly did – and still do. I can honestly say that I really tried, but it just wasn’t meant to be, and my different math teachers really didn’t help my situation. Somehow it becomes very easy for a math teacher to label a student as “dumb” if the student doesn’t master the world of math. It requires a very special teacher to use different methods to reach students who struggles with, not only math, but issues at home and in their local community. Now here is when our worlds must part, as Denmark is a very different country from the US, especially when we zoom in on the black communities tightly woven together by food stamps, discrimination, historical trauma and low self-esteem, but also a lot of love, musical surroundings and a suppressed desire for being seen, being noticed and to learn about, not only math, but about life and themselves. Being a part of a lifechanging experience.
Watching the film it jumps forth and back between the present time with interviews with former students, colleagues, friends, family and also researchers who had heard about her and wanted to create a research project studying her groundbreaking techniques. However, Ms. Merrix - as she was called, poured her heart and soul into her job, even to the point of neglecting her health. A fire that burns that strongly in you can end up burning you alive from within, and sadly she later died of complications due to her diabetes.
On a technical point of view the film lacks a little finesse and refinement. Don’t get me wrong, the picture and sound quality is fine, but there are ways to create a more coherent visual experience – even with the different formats and shifting quality due to the older footage. Sometimes it comes down to small elements like the subtitles looking oddly old fashioned, especially on the older footage, which makes me think the documentary has been put together using multiple clips from different periods and maybe even different documentaries? Even with the more recent interviews there are clear visible differences when it comes to the quality and it becomes difficult to process the documentary as a coherent piece of work, it seems visually fragmented somehow.
With that said, the documentary has heart and soul and puts the focus on where it belongs, namely at Ms. Merrix and her unconventional use of music in her classes – for teaching, healing and building communities. The legacy of Ms. Merrix is one of believing and never giving up.
Boaz Dvir on IMDb
