20th Century History

INT. FRONT OFFICE MLK JR. HIGH SCHOOL - DAY

LESLIE, a tired (aren't they all?) high school teacher, stands at Principal's office window looking through blinds.

LESLIE : He’s in there, right? I think I can see him in there.

SECRETARY : I think he's in there.

Leslie knocks, again, on the door. No answer.

LESLIE : Did you page me? I thought he...

SECRETARY : I didn’t page you. I don’t think I paged you.

Office door opens. PRINCIPAL sticks head out. There is nothing in him to distinguish him from any other principal.

Looks both ways. Looks at Leslie.

PRINCIPAL : Did I page you?

Leslie looks at Principal, at Secretary, at Principal.

LESLIE : I think you...

PRINCIPAL : (grabbing her arm) Get in, quick.

INT. PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE - DAY

PRINCIPAL : If Janice sees me I'm never getting out of here. (makes a talkative hand puppet) On and on that woman. (beat) So.

LESLIE : So. (beat) You paged me.

PRINCIPAL : Yes. I paged you. (beat) I paged you. (trying to recall) I paged you. (light bulb) Simmons. Ashley.

LESLIE : Ainsley.

PRINCIPAL : Yes! Ainsley Simmons. You have her for 20th Century History.

He spins in chair and brings file up on the computer.

LESLIE : Had her.

PRINCIPAL : Yup. She failed the class.

He stares at his monitor, trying to decide which part of his graduated lenses works best from this distance.

PRINCIPAL : But I noticed her class mark. 44%. That's close to a pass.

He spins back to her.

LESLIE : 44% out of sympathy. She wasn't going to pass that final.

PRINCIPAL : Yeah.

A chasm. Leslie and Principal look over the edge. Finally.

LESLIE : So.

PRINCIPAL : Is there a possibility she could pass the course. In your professional opinion.

LESLIE : My professional opinion. No.

Principal sucks through his teeth.

PRINCIPAL : We are in a pickle. Credit wise she needs this one for graduation.

LESLIE : Because Janice put her in my academic stream class instead of workplace humanities.

PRINCIPAL : (nodding) Yup. (beat) So what do we do here? We need a plan for success. How can we get her through.

LESLIE : We? Get her through 20th Century History?

PRINCIPAL : We could get her a rewrite?

LESLIE : Rick, she couldn't pass the exam if I stapled the answer key to it.

PRINCIPAL : (nodding) Hmm. Then maybe some kind of alternate assessment. You know. I'm sure she struggles with written output. Maybe an oral exam?

LESLIE : An exam supervisor wouldn't know what to do with an oral exam...

PRINCIPAL : (like it just came to him) We could schedule you as the supervisor after school tomorrow. One on one. We could set that up.

LESLIE : Rick...

PRINCIPAL : You're so good with these kids Leslie. And I'm sure if you round up the class mark...

LESLIE : Round up? 44% isn't...

PRINCIPAL : ... And a quick oral assessment of the course outcomes, easy for a master teacher like yourself, should result in a bare pass overall, right? With a little support from her course teacher?

LESLIE : --

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Leslie stands at the front of her otherwise empty classroom, pulling the tacks out of a "Causes of WW1" poster and turning it around to face backward, then erases the white board.

She stops erasing. Stares at the white back of the poster.

Stares at the "Timeline of the 20th Century" that runs along the top of her white board.

Puts down the eraser and turns the poster back facing out.

Then she stands alone at the front of the class in the quiet.

Casually turns and faces the blank white board. Thinks.

Snatches a marker from the ledge and writes "20th Century History Exam Review." Begins filling up the board.

"-Causes of World War 1: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism"

"-Spark: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Gavrilo Princip - The Black Hand)"

"-The Blank Cheque"

"-Failure of the Balance of Power"

KNOCK at the door. Just as she is getting into it. She turns.

AINSLEY SIMMONS stands in the door frame. Denim jacket, Nirvana t-shirt. Where do these kids get Nirvana t-shirts in 2023? Couldn't name one song if you put a gun to her head.

AINSLEY : I didn't pass the final? I thought I had for sure.

LESLIE : Sit down, Ainsley. Has Principal Myers explained why you're here?

AINSLEY : I think he was in a meeting? They just said I had to come here to talk? To you?

LESLIE : Well, I spoke with Principal Myers yesterday and he gave us permission for a rewrite of sorts...

AINSLEY : But I already studied so hard...

LESLIE : We could do it here. Just you and I, talking about the course. You tell me what you learned and we can see if it's enough for a pass.

AINSLEY : Just talking?

LESLIE : Just talking. Sit down, Ainsley. What can you tell me about what we did this semester?

Ainsley sits down, getting her bearings.

AINSLEY : Well, we talked a lot about... a lot. About history. Like, back in the day. Right?

LESLIE : Right, back in the day. Okay. So maybe we start at the beginning of the course...

AINSLEY : That was so long ago.

LESLIE : Yes, yes, but not as long ago as June 28, 1914, right?

AINSLEY : I guess not.

LESLIE : And does that date mean anything, does it mean anything to you?

Leslie hovers in the silence. Ainsley bugs out her eyes and blows air through her cheeks. More silence.

Leslie turns and, right beside her second entry "-Spark" writes on the board "June 28, 1914" before turning back.

More silence.

AINSLEY : I'm sorry...

LESLIE : No, that's fine Ainsley. You know, history isn't really about dates, I mean, they're important, but history is really more about cause and effect, right?

AINSLEY : Cause and effect?

LESLIE : Cause and effect. Like when something happens, it makes something else happen.

AINSLEY : Right. Yeah. Cause and effect.

LESLIE : (pointing) So this, Spark, was the cause of something really important to start the 20th century...

AINSLEY : Oh, oh oh, right, the spark that sparks something. Like boom.

LESLIE : Yes, so the assassination of the archduke was the spark that -

AINSLEY : The spark that - ? (beat) I don't think you finished your sentence, Ms. Lawrence.

LESLIE : Yes. I was kind of hoping you would finish it for me.

AINSLEY : What was the sentence?

LESLIE : Okay. Franz Ferdinand's assassination was the spark that ignited the...

AINSLEY : (suspicious) But how could he cause something if he's dead Ms. Lawrence.

LESLIE : The first world war. His assassination caused the first world war.

AINSLEY : Okay. (realizes) Oh, right. The cause of the first world war...

LESLIE : Which included which countries.

AINSLEY : The countries in the world war?

LESLIE : Yes, can you tell me any of the countries in the first world war?

AINSLEY : (tentative) : I think, all of them? It was a world war, so...

LESLIE : Okay, name me a country. Any country in the first world war.

AINSLEY : Okay, but I could name any coun...

LESLIE : Name one!

AINSLEY : Uhh, okay, let's see. Umm, French?

LESLIE : Yes! Okay. Another?

AINSLEY : Umm, I wanna say America? (catches herself) : I mean, North America?

LESLIE : Okay, but what about Europe?

AINSLEY : Yeah. Europe was in it. I'm pretty sure, they were like a big part of it, I think I remember that.

LESLIE : Yes, much of it took place in Europe, the continent of Europe.

AINSLEY : (happy with herself) Yeah, see, I remembered that.

LESLIE : Can you talk a little about the war? Any details?

AINSLEY : Oh, Ms. Lawrence, it was bad. Like, I mean, people were like dying and everything? I mean there was all this war, and sadness because they were all dead and stuff?

LESLIE : Yes, millions dead in the war, and even more after the war from the Spanish Flu.

AINSLEY : (I got it) The Spanish were in the war. And they were in after the war too.

LESLIE : Right, but can you tell me any event that happened during the war?

AINSLEY : Event, like things that happened? Well like I already said, there was a lot of dying, really bad dying, and fighting, lots and lots of fighting. And war, so, fighting.

LESLIE : Okay. Yup. How about we move on to results. What were some results of the war? We mentioned the Flu...

AINSLEY : The results of the war were, just, like bad. It was really bad, Ms. Lawrence. Like, just, just, so bad.

Leslie fills her lungs and slowly releases. Finds her centre.

LESLIE : Yup. It was the worst. Yeah, okay, good analysis, Ainsley.

AINSLEY : So we're good? Did I pass?

There is a knock at the door. Relief teacher.

RELIEF : Ms. Lawrence, did you need relief?

LESLIE : Yes. Thank you.

RELIEF : Okay, just call my exten...

Leslie has already walked out.

INT. STAFF ROOM - DAY

Leslie sits with her coffee.

Principal enters, dressed in gym shorts. He looks as good as any other high school principal in gym shorts. Looks around.

PRINCIPAL : Have you seen Janice?

LESLIE : Your plan for Ainsley's not working.

He stops. We see an honesty that he doesn't show. Ever.

PRINCIPAL : Why make life so hard on yourself. Just pass the kid. Is anyone really going to care if she's "learned any history" or not?

He heads out one way and hears a female voice. He exits the other door instead.

Leslie stares into her coffee.

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Relief is leaving the room. Leslie sips to realize her mug is already empty. She puts it down and sits. Fresh and ready.

LESLIE : So where were we?

AINSLEY : I was just talking with Mrs. Armstrong about the mustache guy?

LESLIE : Okay, so, different world war.

AINSLEY : Aww geez, how many wars are there? So the mustache guy wasn't...

LESLIE : Adolf Hitler. World War 2. Can you tell me anything about him? Mustache guy?

AINSLEY : Well he was a leader. And he was a (beat) Bad guy? Sort of?

LESLIE : Okay. Total bad guy.

AINSLEY : Really bad. Really bad guy.

LESLIE : Yup, we're just going to say really bad guy. Bad mustache, bad guy. Now, can you give me a thing, something that he did? Anything that he did?

AINSLEY : Bad things. Just nothing but bad things. I mean, there might have been some good things - ?

She looks for confirmation. Leslie squints, disapproving.

AINSLEY : But really just bad. Bad things.

LESLIE : And how was it bad?

AINSLEY : How bad? Like really bad. Like the worst. No one had seen bad like this, Ms. Lawrence. Just, egh, bad. Like, soooo bad.

LESLIE : (fed up) Not how bad was it. How was it bad?

Silence. An aggravated, frustrated Leslie boils. Then. Blows.

LESLIE : Six million Jews, Ainsley!

AINSLEY : The Jews fought in the war?

LESLIE : No! They didn't fight in the war!

AINSLEY : I didn't think so, but I thought we were talking about the war...

LESLIE : Ainsley! Six million Jews all through Europe sent to camps. Poland. Extermination camps. Auschwitz. Birkenau. Treblinka. (beat) My God, Ainsley.

Leslie drops her head on the desk.

After the echo of the head hitting the desk has cleared...

AINSLEY : For legroom.

Leslie looks up. What the hell are you talking about?

AINSLEY : The Hitler guy wanted to move into Poland cuz Germany needed legroom, for the Armian...

LESLIE : (hope) Aryan?

AINSLEY : Yeah, Hitler's, those people, needed leg room.

Leslie is about to correct her terminology...

AINSLEY : Leebens? Leebens room?

LESLIE : Leebens room. Yes. But you know, I like leg room. Stick with that.

AINSLEY : And he got away with it because no one cared. Because it wasn't them. What did they care about legroom?

Leslie looks at Ainsley. Seeing her now for the first time.

AINSLEY : I mean, I guess someone cared, cuz he didn't get to keep his legroom. (beat) : That's the only way you stop stuff like that, if you really care you fight for it, y'know? Someone did.

Leslie's face and shoulders melt a little. It's in there.

INT. MLK JR. GYMNASIUM CONVOCATION - DAY

Caps and gowns in folding chairs on stage looking out at proud parents. Principal at podium as gowns cross the stage.

Ainsley crosses to shake hands and hold her diploma.

Leslie sits with teachers in front row. She looks at Ainsley like she hasn't stopped from the previous scene.