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Home » Abbott Elementary » S01E01 — Pilot

Abbott Elementary

Season 1, Episode 1 — Pilot

TMDB episode metadata

Show: Abbott Elementary

Episode title: Pilot

Air date: December 07, 2021

Director: Randall Einhorn

Top billed cast: Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Janelle James

When the staff relates their needs, Principal Ava presents alternative options.

Source: TMDB

↓

-(school bell rings) -JANINE: Oh, Nina,

bell bell-rings janine nina rings school school-bell school-bell-rings

↓

excellent sentence structure.

structure

↓

Let me see. "My favorite movie is Toy Story,

favorite favorite-movie movie story

↓

and my favorite character is Woody."

favorite woody

↓

Good. Mine too.

↓

Well, more of a Buzz girl. I love his ambition.

buzz girl love

↓

-Right, guys? -CHILD: Yeah.

child

↓

Okay, let's see. Uh, Brittany.

↓

"My favorite movie

favorite favorite-movie movie

↓

-is American Gangster." -Yep.

↓

"And my favorite character is Frank Lucas."

favorite frank

↓

Okay. That is a great sentence.

↓

And I will be having a third talk with your mom

having third

↓

about what you're watching at home.

home watching

↓

Ow! Ms. Teagues, Andrew hit me!

andrew teagues

↓

Andrew, apologize.

andrew apologize

↓

1...2...3...4.

↓

I'm Janine Teagues.

janine janine-teagues teagues

↓

I've been teaching second grade

grade second second-grade teaching

↓

here at Abbott Elementary for a year now.

abbott abbott-elementary elementary

↓

...8...9...

↓

And as a product of the Philadelphia school system,

philadelphia school system

↓

I'm proud to say I survived and now teach here today.

proud teach today

↓

All right, guys, so, there have been three presidents

three

↓

since this one, okay? It's an old book,

book

↓

so here's where I taped in the others.

↓

I'd say the main problem in this school district is,

district problem school school-district

↓

yeah, no money.

money

↓

Uh, the city says there isn't any,

city

↓

but they're doing a multimillion-dollar renovation

↓

to the Eagles' stadium down the street from here.

stadium street

↓

But we just make do.

↓

I mean, the staff here is incredible.

incredible staff

↓

They're all amazing teachers.

amazing teachers

↓

I really look up to them all.

↓

-(children shouting) -Please, sit down!

children children-shouting shouting

↓

Why?!

↓

Well, I look up to the older ones.

ones

↓

We younger teachers are still getting the hang of it...

hang teachers

↓

if we don't end up leaving.

↓

Look, I know this school is rough,

school

↓

but I became a teacher

teacher

↓

to make sure students come out alive.

alive students

↓

And after learning a lot in my first year,

learning

↓

I finally feel on top of things.

finally

↓

(liquid trickling)

↓

Jamal, what are you doing?

↓

I had to go, and the toilets don't work.

↓

And the rug was Plan B?!

plan

↓

(Maker's "Hold'em" plays)

holdem makers makers-holdem plays

↓

♪♪

↓

♪♪

↓

("Baby Shark" playing)

baby playing

↓

Janine, why are you putting that rug away?

janine putting

↓

Erica, I told you to call me Ms. Teagues.

teagues

↓

I'm an adult, though we are almost the same height.

height

↓

And there's a little bit too much pee on it.

↓

Mm!

↓

Yeah, but where do we sit for story time?

story

↓

(sighs) I will figure something out, okay?

figure sighs

↓

Losing the rug is a big deal.

deal losing

↓

For primary classes,

classes

↓

rugs are like a calming space for the kids.

kids rugs space

↓

It's like a Xanax.

xanax

↓

Like a huge Xanax for kids to sit on.

huge kids xanax

↓

Janine. Turn that down, please!

janine

↓

I'm trying to teach my kindergartners the letter "C,"

kindergartners teach

↓

and they are distracted by this song.

song

↓

It's like "Back That Azz Up" for kids.

kids

↓

Hey, guys, um, could you sit down, please?

↓

Guys, I'm gonna count to 3.

count

↓

1...2...

↓

And I am not counting. Sit down!

counting

↓

(music stops)

music

↓

I'm Barbara Howard, woman of God.

barbara barbara-howard howard woman

↓

I do my work, I go home.

home

↓

I get my nails done every week.

nails week

↓

And...I love teaching.

love teaching

↓

That is incredible, Ms. Howard.

howard incredible

↓

I can't wait to get on that level.

level

↓

Where is your class, by the way?

class

↓

Out in the hallway in a single file.

file hallway single

↓

-Really? -Mm-hmm.

↓

KINDERGARTNERS: Good morning, Ms. Teagues!

kindergartners morning teagues

↓

You know, Ms. Howard, you remind me so much

howard

↓

of my favorite teacher from the third grade, Ms. Elliot.

favorite grade teacher third

↓

She was well-dressed, good with kids,

kids

↓

a wizard with a glue gun --

↓

Thank you, Janine. That is very kind of you.

janine

↓

Yeah, I-I wanted to be just like her, actually.

wanted

↓

I was, like, obsessed with her.

↓

She wrote in my report card note,

note

↓

"Needs friends her own age. A bit clingy."

friends needs

↓

-She was a hoot. -Yes.

yes

↓

Anyway, hey, did you get my e-mail

mail

↓

about the two of us hanging together after school or...

school

↓

No. It must have gone to spam.

must

↓

It's so crazy how my e-mails

crazy mails

↓

do that with you and nobody else.

nobody

↓

Uh... Class, turn around.

class

↓

Bye, Mom -- I'm sorry. Ms. Howard.

howard

↓

Bye, Ms. Howard.

howard

↓

(indistinct conversations)

conversations indistinct indistinct-conversations

↓

Janine, Janine, you're not gonna believe this.

believe janine

↓

Rachel freakin' Maddow just retweeted me.

↓

-Wow! -So I basically work for MSNBC.

↓

I'm Jacob Hill.

hill jacob

↓

Uh, I like to say I teach history,

history teach

↓

but I live in the present.

live present

↓

Jacob and I came in together last year

jacob

↓

with 20 other teachers.

teachers

↓

We're two of the three left.

left three

↓

So trauma bonding, I guess?

bonding

↓

Hey, do you want cheese steaks

cheese

↓

from the corner store for lunch today?

lunch store today

↓

Uh, not -- not from there.

↓

The guy behind the counter, he calls me "white boy."

behind white

↓

Well, it's like a term of endearment,

term

↓

and, like, if you don't like it, just ask him to stop.

↓

No way.

↓

There's an entire chapter in White Fragility on that, okay?

entire white

↓

Robin DiAngelo, she says,

robin

↓

"When you start policing people who have --"

start

↓

Hey, Melissa, can you please tell "Ta-Nehisi Quotes" here

melissa

↓

that "white boy" is a term of endearment

term white

↓

from the corner-store people?

store

↓

For Zach Ertz, yeah. For him, it's an insult.

zach

↓

Hmm?

↓

Uh...Melissa.

melissa

↓

Schemmenti. Second-grade teacher.

grade grade-teacher schemmenti second second-grade second-grade-teacher teacher

↓

What's half of 100?

half

↓

CHILDREN: 50!

children

↓

Also, $100, known as a C-note.

note

↓

You Sicilian?

↓

Italian?

↓

You from South?

south

↓

Okay, you guys working with the cops?

working

↓

'Cause you gotta tell me.

↓

Whew! Guys, I need a new rug.

whew

↓

Mine is officially done.

↓

Mmm! Me too.

↓

I shook mine out, and all of the asthma kids

kids

↓

had to go to the nurse's office.

office

↓

Yeah, mine's busted.

↓

And you can't class up a rug

class

↓

like you can a couch with a nice coat of plastic.

plastic

↓

Hey-yo! What it do, baby-boos? What y'all think about

baby yall

↓

this little film crew I brought in here?

brought crew

↓

Distracting, makes our jobs harder.

jobs makes

↓

But exciting. We about to be on TV.

exciting

↓

Because they are covering underfunded, poorly managed

↓

public schools in America.

america schools

↓

No press is bad press, Barb.

bad barb

↓

Look at Mel Gibson. Still thriving.

↓

(laughs) Daddy's Home 2? Hilarious!

home laughs

↓

JANINE: Ava's our principal.

avas janine principal

↓

She has a... unique take on her job.

↓

She's bad at her job.

bad

↓

What's unique is that she's bad at her job.

bad

↓

There you are. Ava, can I talk to you?

↓

Uh, I need an aide.

↓

I'm outnumbered in there. The kids are crazy.

crazy kids

↓

One of them told me to mind my six this morning.

mind morning

↓

I don't know what that means, and I need help.

↓

Calm down. They're just kids.

calm kids

↓

And, besides, aides cost money, and we don't have that.

aides money

↓

-Right, but I just -- -Do you want to split

↓

-your salary with somebody else? -No.

somebody

↓

No, no. I didn't think so.

↓

Well, if we can't get aides, maybe we can get new rugs?

aides rugs

↓

All I'm hearing is, "New, new, new, need, need, need."

hearing

↓

And, yet, Barb,

barb

↓

one of our best and most senior teachers here,

best teachers

↓

she never complains. What is your secret, Barb?

barb secret

↓

Knowing there's not much you can do, Ava.

↓

So understanding.

↓

Be like Ms. Howard, people.

howard

↓

-(school bell rings) -(chuckles)

bell bell-rings chuckles rings school school-bell school-bell-rings

↓

(sniffles) But I'm not Ms. Howard.

howard

↓

Oh! Tina, look, just try some counting exercises.

counting

↓

Somewhere between 1 and 40, the kids calm down.

calm kids

↓

Uh...

↓

Oh. (sighs)

sighs

↓

You know, a little support

support

↓

might help make things happen, ladies.

happen ladies might

↓

My support was gonna do about as much

support

↓

as that five-year-old bra you've got on right there.

five

↓

Hey, it's not impossible to get things.

↓

Melissa asked for those new toy cash registers

asked melissa

↓

for her classroom and got them.

classroom

↓

Yeah, those aren't toys.

toys

↓

I know a guy who worked a Walmart demolition.

worked

↓

I got a guy for everything.

↓

I know a guy right now working the stadium build.

build stadium working

↓

-Need rebar? -No.

↓

Melissa is resourceful, capable.

capable melissa

↓

Well, I think the younger teachers are capable.

capable teachers

↓

Really? Then why is it

↓

that Ms. Schwartz's hair is falling out?

falling hair schwartz

↓

Why does Jacob here need a smoking break

break jacob

↓

every five minutes?

five five-minutes minutes

↓

I switched to an herbal vape.

↓

And why can't any of you stick it out

stick

↓

longer than two years?

longer years

↓

More turnovers than a bakery.

↓

(door opens)

door door-opens opens

↓

Ouch. (chuckles)

chuckles ouch

↓

(door closes)

closes door door-closes

↓

You know what? Hell, I think we should still try for rugs.

rugs

↓

Yeah.

↓

You know, before I taught here, I was in Zimbabwe.

taught

↓

I was doing Teachers Without Borders,

teachers

↓

-and what I learned -- -Jacob,

jacob learned

↓

what did I say about, like, not talking

↓

about your time in Africa?

↓

-You -- You told me to -- -I told you to stop.

↓

Yeah, it's weird.

weird

↓

The new-teacher track record here isn't great,

record teacher track

↓

but, ultimately, we are passionate

↓

and capable of doing this job.

capable

↓

Janine, Ms. Schwartz just kicked Rajon,

janine kicked schwartz

↓

and everyone's in the hallway going crazy.

crazy everyones hallway

↓

Wait. What?

↓

(indistinct shouting)

indistinct shouting

↓

All right, all right. Calm down.

calm

↓

-Calm down. -What happened?

calm happened

↓

-He hit me first! -Liar!

liar

↓

I'm a liar?! I'm the liar?!

liar

↓

Okay, aspetta. Calm it down.

calm

↓

I wonder if she tried counting. (chuckles)

chuckles counting tried wonder

↓

JACOB: All right, let's get you to the nurse.

jacob

↓

You do not hit a kid.

↓

It's like the one thing you don't do.

↓

-You could threaten them. -You can yell at them.

↓

Threaten the parents.

parents

↓

Mildly embarrass them.

↓

I threatened a grandfather once.

↓

You just don't kick a kid.

↓

There was the bet. You didn't do --

↓

-Okay. -Oh.

↓

So, not good.

↓

Ms. Schwartz was out of line

line schwartz

↓

and clearly didn't know how to handle her class.

class handle

↓

-You hired her. -And fired her.

fired hired

↓

They give me a lot of power around here. It's crazy.

crazy power

↓

In the meantime, Mr. Johnson will be watching her class.

class johnson watching

↓

Wait. Sorry. Mr. Johnson, the janitor?

johnson

↓

That's who runs the world, kids.

kids world

↓

I think maybe we should alert the school district to this.

district school school-district

↓

I mean, a child was harmed.

child harmed

↓

Hey! H-Harmed? I handled this.

harmed

↓

No need to let them know that a child was harmed on my wa--

child harmed

↓

on the school's watch, to be clear.

clear school schools watch

↓

Ava, this is not handled.

↓

There is a 70-year-old custodian who voted for Kanye

↓

teaching social studies right now.

social teaching

↓

We need help. Look, I know we don't have any money --

money

↓

Okay! All right, I'll make a small

↓

emergency budget request to the district,

budget district emergency request

↓

and you guys can get pencils and hire aides

aides pencils

↓

or whatever else you need.

↓

-So even rugs? -Sure! Just e-mail a request.

mail request rugs

↓

Okay, I can -- I can write an e-mail.

mail write

↓

Another day in principal life.

another life principal

↓

♪ I believe the children are our future ♪

believe children future

↓

Yes! Hear that?

yes

↓

-Ask and receive. -Mm.

↓

(school bell rings)

bell bell-rings rings school school-bell school-bell-rings

↓

-I'll get you two. -Okay.

↓

Um...hello?

↓

I'm looking for Ms. Coleman.

coleman looking

↓

Oh, yeah, she --

↓

Hello.

↓

Hi. I'm Gregory Eddie. I'm the sub for the teacher

eddie gregory teacher

↓

who, uh... punted a student.

student

↓

Oh! You're the sub. Forgive me.

↓

I thought one of my colleagues here hired a stripper for me.

hired

↓

(laughs)

laughs

↓

Okay.

↓

Nice to meet you, young man.

meet young

↓

-Yeah, you too. -Yeah, nice to meet you, Ryan.

meet

↓

It's Gregory.

gregory

↓

Eh, let's see how long you'll be here.

↓

Then I'll remember your name, okay, Tim?

name remember

↓

Yes! My dude.

yes

↓

(chuckles) Oh, yeah.

chuckles

↓

Yeah. Keepin' it profesh. I like that.

↓

I'm Jacob.

jacob

↓

It's nice to see another male teacher in here.

another teacher

↓

-Hmm! -There's not a lot of us.

↓

Hey, now I got somebody to talk sports with.

somebody

↓

You like women's tennis?

↓

Or, as I call it, you know, regular tennis.

regular

↓

I'm subbing here because I need a job

subbing

↓

until I can become principal.

become principal

↓

It's what I studied for.

↓

I actually interviewed here and got it, but then --

↓

I don't know -- something happened.

happened

↓

I go to the same church as the Superintendent.

superintendent

↓

Caught him cheating on his wife with the deaconess.

caught cheating wife

↓

I needed a job.

needed

↓

"Is your school sick? Try prescription rugs." Classic.

classic rugs school sick

↓

CHILD: (cough, splatter)

child

↓

-CHILDREN: Ewwww! -Oh, my God!

children

↓

-Bria, what happened? -I threw up.

bria happened threw

↓

Great communication skills, Bria.

bria skills

↓

Okay, let's get you cleaned up.

↓

I actually throw up all the time, so it's okay.

throw

↓

-Argh! -(screams)

↓

Random man! Child pants!

child pants

↓

-Security! -Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no!

security

↓

I'm -- I'm Gregory, the, uh -- the sub for Ms. Schwartz.

gregory schwartz

↓

-Okay. Oh. -Yeah.

↓

But that's still not explaining the pants.

pants

↓

-Security! -Hold on. Hold on.

security

↓

-Wait, wait, wait. -Okay, one of my kids

kids

↓

had to go to the bathroom, so I brought him,

brought

↓

but then he accidentally went on himself.

↓

Oh! Okay.

↓

And I tried to flush the toilet,

flush toilet tried

↓

and the water shot back up in the air.

water

↓

-And then I'm -- -Oh, God.

↓

No one told you about Reversy Toilet then?

toilet

↓

-Okay. -No. Why is that even a thing?

↓

I know. I'm sorry. Okay.

↓

Um, could you just watch her for a second?

second watch

↓

Um... Hi.

↓

-How you doing? -I threw up.

threw

↓

All right.

↓

Okay. I'll be back for her, and I have some spare clothes

↓

for him in my room.

room

↓

I will get him changed

↓

and then send him back to you, all right?

send

↓

Oh, w-wait. What was your name?

name

↓

Oh. Silly me.

silly

↓

I'm Janine. So, nice to meet you.

janine meet

↓

-Oh, sorry, pee. -There's vomit.

↓

-Yeah. -Um, make a wish.

wish

↓

(both laugh)

laugh

↓

Okay, welcome to our school.

school welcome

↓

-Okay. -Thanks.

thanks

↓

It's okay. Everyone pees, you know?

↓

Yeah, that was disgusting, but she seems nice.

disgusting seems

↓

Is that me? (sniffs)

sniffs

↓

(school bell rings)

bell bell-rings rings school school-bell school-bell-rings

↓

(indistinct conversations)

conversations indistinct indistinct-conversations

↓

-All right. Remember... -♪ Good morning, Mrs. Howard ♪

howard morning remember

↓

-2 and 2 equals... -ALL: 4!

↓

-Yes! -Sorry.

yes

↓

I wanted to get your expert, classy eye

wanted

↓

on my rug request e-mail to Ava.

mail request

↓

Janine, we are not getting new rugs.

janine rugs

↓

We are not getting anything.

↓

Barbara, have some faith.

barbara

↓

Ava literally said she'll get us whatever we need.

shell

↓

Janine, I have been working in the Philadelphia School District

district janine philadelphia school school-district working

↓

for 20 years,

years

↓

and Ava is just the latest

latest

↓

in a long line of people who do absolutely nothing.

absolutely line

↓

-Just do your job. -But this is me doing my job.

↓

I think the job means trying to make things better.

↓

And I think the job is working with what you've got

working

↓

so you don't get let down.

↓

-(intercom beeps) -AVA: Good morning, teachers.

beeps intercom intercom-beeps morning teachers

↓

During passing, please come to the front entrance

front

↓

for a special announcement

special

↓

about some much-needed improvements to the school

needed school

↓

that I made happen.

happen

↓

Yes! Oh, did you hear that?!

yes

↓

Optimism wins again! (gasps)

gasps

↓

"Oh, thank you, Janine."

janine

↓

No problem, Ms. Howard.

howard problem

↓

"You're doing your job so well,

↓

I see a little bit of me in you."

↓

You do? 'Cause I always felt we had a lot in common.

↓

"Oh, Janine, ♪ You're so lovely ♪"

janine

↓

I got a good feeling about this.

feeling

↓

-Right? Me too. -Good morning. (laughs)

laughs morning

↓

-Good morning. -Gregory.

gregory morning

↓

The district was so moved by my plea

district moved

↓

that they approved the emergency budget

budget emergency

↓

and sent us the money right away.

money sent

↓

Okay, we could have hired aides,

aides hired

↓

we could have got rugs, but then I thought,

rugs

↓

"No. We need something more immediate."

immediate

↓

Oh, no, no. The rugs are immediate.

immediate rugs

↓

They're -- they're like instant Xanax for kids.

kids xanax

↓

I explained it all in my e-mail.

mail

↓

Girl, who told you to send an e-mail?

girl mail send

↓

-You did. -Anyway,

↓

I always feel better when I get my hair done.

hair

↓

Thus, I do better work, like I'm doing now.

↓

You know, fix the outside, inside takes care of itself.

care takes

↓

Y'all seeing this?

seeing yall

↓

-A plastic sign? -AVA: Thank God

plastic sign

↓

for the school district, 'cause they gave us $3,000,

district school school-district

↓

and I had to spend all of it.

spend

↓

You spent all of the money on this?!

money spent

↓

AVA: Rush job. Can you believe this quality?

believe quality

↓

How's that optimism taste?

taste

↓

JANINE: This is ridiculous. She has gone too far.

janine

↓

Somebody needs to do something. I --

needs somebody

↓

Yes, yes. Somebody should do something.

somebody yes

↓

You know what? I'm gonna do something.

↓

Okay. All right. Whatever you do,

↓

-I will cosign it. -Yes!

yes

↓

That is how change works -- someone does something,

change works

↓

and somebody cosigns it.

somebody

↓

JANINE: Ava can't win here,

janine

↓

because if she wins, then Barbara's right.

barbara barbaras

↓

And if Barbara's right, then what does that say about me?

barbara barbaras

↓

I mean, am I even a Sagittarius?

↓

Hey, you two. Wait up.

↓

I'm going out to lunch, too.

lunch

↓

Oh, yeah? Where you going for lunch, pip-squeak?

lunch

↓

Bird feeder?

bird

↓

I thought you'd be working on your next miracle

miracle working

↓

from Saint Ava.

saint

↓

Ha ha. No.

↓

I don't think I'll need anything from Ava ever again.

↓

-(chuckles) -What does that mean?

chuckles

↓

Well, I e-mailed the superintendent

mailed superintendent

↓

and told him everything that Ava has done today.

today

↓

No way she doesn't get fired.

fired

↓

-Oh, for the love of God. -What?

love

↓

The superintendent never sees our e-mails.

mails superintendent

↓

He has them bounced back

↓

to the person in charge of where they came from.

charge person

↓

Wait. I'm sorry.

↓

Person in charge?

charge person

↓

That means the e-mails go back to...

mails

↓

-(intercom beeps) -AVA: Teachers,

beeps intercom intercom-beeps teachers

↓

it's come to my attention that some of you -- one of you --

attention

↓

think it's okay to go over my head.

head

↓

So during lunch break -- this lunch break --

break lunch

↓

we'll be having a trust workshop

having trust

↓

so that we can learn how to become a work family.

become family learn

↓

It's gonna be fun!

↓

We are at a crossroads. This is a crisis.

crisis

↓

No, a crisis is eating the cafeteria pizza for lunch.

crisis eating lunch pizza

↓

Uh, why are we here, exactly?

↓

Well, chocolate drop, I learned

chocolate drop learned

↓

that someone here doesn't respect me.

respect

↓

But it's not about me, 'cause if you don't respect me,

respect

↓

how can you respect this school?

respect school

↓

You can't. It's mathematically impossible.

↓

W-Whoa. Who doesn't respect you, Ava --

respect whoa

↓

-I-I mean, the school? -It's not important.

school

↓

We're gonna make this a group matter

matter

↓

as to not single any one person out.

person single

↓

Let's try an exercise where we say

↓

whatever we want out loud to each other,

loud

↓

no matter how critical.

matter

↓

It'll be fun! Let's start with Janine.

itll janine start

↓

Janine?

janine

↓

Yes?

yes

↓

You're pushy, squeaky, and annoying.

annoying

↓

-Excuse me? -That's just --

excuse

↓

No, it's not bad. No.

bad

↓

We're sharing with the goal of making us all better.

↓

Constructive.

↓

Hershey Kiss, why don't you try? Start with Janine.

janine start

↓

-I really don't want to. -You're right.

↓

It should be someone who knows her better.

knows

↓

Jacob, Barbara?

barbara jacob

↓

-Well, her hair is -- -Absolutely not.

absolutely hair

↓

Yeah, absolutely not.

absolutely

↓

Ava, no one's doing this to anyone.

ones

↓

Hold on. I came prepared for this.

↓

Sheena, come on in.

sheena

↓

Ava, that is my student. She should be at lunch.

lunch student

↓

I am kind of hungry.

hungry

↓

AVA: Sheena, remember what we talked about?

remember sheena talked

↓

What was the thing that you wish was different

wish

↓

about Ms. Teagues?

teagues

↓

She got some big feet.

feet

↓

Okay. Everyone, (sighs) that's enough.

sighs

↓

I am the person who disrespected Ava.

person

↓

I e-mailed the superintendent to tell him

mailed superintendent

↓

that she spent the school's money on a sign.

money school schools sign spent

↓

I'm sorry, Ava.

↓

And I'm sorry everyone missed lunch,

lunch missed

↓

especially you, Sheena.

sheena

↓

But I did it because I care about the kids in this school,

care kids school

↓

and that shouldn't be a bad thing.

bad

↓

I -- (sighs)

sighs

↓

Okay. You know what?

↓

Actually, Sheena, you should have this.

sheena

↓

-I'm so sorry. -No, thank you.

↓

Okay.

↓

(door opens)

door door-opens opens

↓

Not a compelling speaker. (laughs)

laughs

↓

-(door closes) -Charisma vacuum, am I right?

closes door door-closes

↓

You know what, Ava? Janine is a lot of things --

janine

↓

naive, a bit clingy, too cheerful.

↓

Oh, this is good stuff. Let me call her back in.

stuff

↓

But she is also right.

↓

You know, actually wanting to help the children

children

↓

at this school shouldn't be a bad thing.

bad school

↓

(clicks tongue) Mm!

clicks clicks-tongue tongue

↓

And where is everybody going?

everybody

↓

-To check on Janine. -To eat lunch...

check janine lunch

↓

after I check on Janine.

check janine

↓

(door opens)

door door-opens opens

↓

Janine, ignore Ava.

ignore janine

↓

Big feet are a sign of fertility.

feet sign

↓

Every lunch period, Barbara.

barbara lunch

↓

Every single one, Amir comes and naps on the rug.

comes single

↓

Mm-hmm. He was in my class.

class

↓

Mom's got a lot of kids.

kids

↓

Dad's not around, and when he is, the parents fight.

fight parents

↓

JANINE: Right. So he doesn't get much sleep.

janine

↓

I told him to sleep at his desk,

↓

but he says the rug is softer --

↓

softer than his bed at home.

home

↓

You know what? I don't care

care

↓

if you think I'm good at this or not anymore.

anymore

↓

I care about whether or not I can make a change.

care change

↓

Janine, teachers at a school like Abbott --

abbott janine school teachers

↓

we have to be able to do it all.

able

↓

We are admin. We are social workers.

social workers

↓

We are therapists. We are second parents.

parents second

↓

Hell, sometimes, we're even first.

sometimes

↓

-MELISSA: Mm-hmm. -Why?

melissa

↓

Heh, it sure ain't the money.

aint money

↓

Mm-hmm.

↓

I could make more working the street -- easy.

easy street working

↓

Look, we do this 'cause we're supposed to.

supposed

↓

-It's a calling. -Mm.

calling

↓

You answered.

answered

↓

I believe it was Brother Cornel West --

believe west

↓

-Don't. Not right now. -Don't!

↓

You want to know my secret?

secret

↓

Do everything you can for your kids.

kids

↓

We'll help.

↓

Hey, I suggest we put our money together

money

↓

and buy Janine the rug.

janine

↓

-What y'all think? -Absolutely.

absolutely yall

↓

-Yes. -Guys, you can't.

yes

↓

You don't have it.

↓

I know because I have the same salary as you

↓

and I overdrafted on a doughnut hole this morning.

hole morning

↓

Well, what are you gonna do?

↓

Steal a rug?

↓

Not me, but I know a guy who knows a guy?

knows

↓

(cellphone clacking)

cellphone

↓

Way ahead of you.

ahead

↓

I'm gonna have to bake a ziti.

↓

Hey, Tony, you big strunz, listen,

↓

you still working that stadium build?

build stadium working

↓

This day hasn't been easy, but it's been good,

easy

↓

because I finally get what Barbara has been saying.

barbara finally

↓

-Oh, my God. He came. -Go get it.

↓

-Hello! Hi. -Yeah!

↓

JANINE: You have to find a way.

janine

↓

Get things done yourself.

↓

Hey, thank you so much. What's your name?

name

↓

-I got no name. -He doesn't got a name.

name

↓

Okay.

↓

Even if the way you do them is...

↓

outside of the system. (chuckles)

chuckles system

↓

You're on a mission. It's cool to see.

cool mission

↓

Thank you.

↓

It's just a day in the life of being a teacher here.

life teacher

↓

You get used to it.

used

↓

And that smell in the walls?

walls

↓

Oh, no, you're never gonna get used to that.

used

↓

-Okay. -So...

↓

But, um, you're subbing to go full time, right? Like...

full subbing

↓

-Um, we'll see. -Mm.

↓

The job definitely surprises me.

↓

Well, I hope you stay.

hope

↓

For the kids.

kids

↓

Yeah.

↓

Okay.

↓

(chuckles)

chuckles

↓

GREGORY: I'll stick around for a little while.

gregory stick

↓

(clears throat) You know, for the kids.

clears clears-throat kids throat

↓

(cheers and applause)

applause cheers

↓

JANINE: I provided for my students today.

janine provided students today

↓

That's huge. It's all any of us want to do.

huge

↓

"And gave him a piece of tough ash.

piece tough

↓

But no sooner had the man fitted it into his ax-head

head

↓

than he quickly began to use it..."

↓

I was called, I answered, and now I know,

answered called

↓

even with no help from the higher-ups

↓

and no money from the city,

city money

↓

I can get this job done.

↓

MAN: All right, Step 3,

step

↓

you flush the toilet to empty the tank.

empty flush toilet

↓

Now you're all set to go.

↓

Now, remember, you got to redo Step 1

remember step

↓

before trying to flush.

flush

↓

But money would still be nice, though.

money

↓

-- Captioned by VITAC --

captioned vitac