Hundreds of MPS students see history come to life by viewing "Hidden Figures"

BROOKFIELD -- Hundreds of 6th and 7th grade students from Milwaukee Public Schools traded in their desks on Wednesday, February 1st for a seat at the movies. They had a chance to see history come to life with a special showing of "Hidden Figures."

"Hidden Figures" is an Oscar-nominated movie about the careers of three African-American women at NASA. They served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into space.

Students say it's important to know stories like this one.

"It is a part of history and I want people to know more about it because it was women behind the scenes who were helping get the rockets into outer space. and they were black women too," said one student.

The showing was part of a fundraising kick-off event. Local leaders are trying to raise $155,000 so more kids have the chance to see the movie.

"Very quickly this catapulted into an event where we are sending 10,000. That's not a small numbers, folks -- to Marcus Cinemas across the Milwaukee County area. I think we're even going into other counties, to make sure that all of our students have the ability to see this film," said Darienne Driver, MPS Superintendent.

Darienne Driver, MPS Superintendent

Driver says the movie relates to issues going on today.

"When you see what is happening across our country, this is forcing a very necessary conversation and I'm glad we have the ability to take a film that is as significant as "Hidden Figures" and tie it into what's happening in our classrooms," Driver said.