LOS ANGELES — As Black History Month comes to a close, some LAUSD teachers are committed to teaching U.S. History in a whole new way, with a little help from Hollywood.

Array 101 is an educational resource based on films and TV series from writer, director and producer Ava DuVernay's film collective, Array.

It’s not every day you walk into a high school classroom with students extremely interested in learning, but Ethan Faulkner says this is the case every time his lesson plan includes Array 101 curriculum.

"Why would Dr. King need to show respect to the president?" he asked his students at Edward R. Roybal Learning Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

Faulkner uses a dynamic social impact learning guide that goes hand-in-hand with movies distributed by Array, founded by DuVernay. In a recent case, Faulkner used the movie "Selma" to teach the students about the art of persuasion with ethos, pathos and logos.

Faulkner says it’s important for him to use these lesson plans because he’s teaching mostly kids of color.

"As a white person, I don’t have shared experiences with them," he said. "The Array 101 lessons are designed by people of color who have shared experiences with the curriculum, so it allows me to make sure that what I’m teaching my students is authentic."

It's an authenticity that the VP of education and understanding for Array 101, Tammy Garnes, says was the core of their mission for this.

Garnes helped develop a lesson plan for "Selma" and the other free online learning companions based on the TV series "When They See Us," "Colin in Black & White" and "Queen Sugar."

Watching Faulkner teach it in person brought tears to Garnes' eyes.

"It’s just amazing to watch, and he’s relating it all back to other things the kids have done, which is reading letters from the Birmingham Jail," said Garnes. "The man is so layered, so multifaceted, and it’s all American History."

Sixteen-year-old Yonytan Silva and his friend Jose admitted they aren’t usually this invested in class. But here, Yonytan can be himself and says the lesson plans are easier to relate to.

"It teaches us what’s been going on throughout history and what has been changed and how people, they put in time to fight for what’s right," said Silva.

It’s gratifying to see his students so connected, Faulkner noted, especially as he struggles to combat severe learning loss as we come out the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They’re interested in learning, but COVID did have a big impact on them," he said. "So having lessons that are really relevant to them help them kind of get away from their phones and draw into the lesson."

There are learning guides that go hand in hand with several movies and TV shows, which are free for teachers and parents who want to dive deeper into certain topics. To learn more, visit here.