Seattle Film Maker Todd Coughlin sets June 7th for release of "A Nation of Many Faces"

400 students from 14 countries speaking 27 lauguages, all in one primary school, just outside of downtown Seattle.

For White Center Heights Elementary Principal Greta Salmi an average school day is anything but easy. Each day, the leader of the 400 plus K-6 school has to manage an escalating trend that makes her school stand apart from most. Salmi leads a faculty whos classrooms are filled with students from as many as 18 non-English speaking countries.

This unique learning atmosphere caught the eye of Seattle filmmaker Todd Coughlin. Originally looking to document the changing face of the White Center community as a whole, Coughlin's film crew found a compelling story within the four walls of the school, the result of which is the June 7th release of his film entitled-A Family of Many Nations. "Right here in the neighborhood where I grew up is an amazing cross culture that tells an interesting story of how much
change has occurred in a very short period of time," said Coughlin.

Language is the main challenge for the students and the faculty. 80% of the children speak no English at home and 90% qualify for lunch at no cost. Producer/Director Coughlin sees this as a sign of things to come for our nation. "This film clearly documents that student age immigration is on the rise as a result of refugee families from war torn parts of the world."

Each day Salmi's faculty takes a virtual trip around the world as her enrollment includes many children from the middle-eastern countries of Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

Teachers are also met with assisting the needs of students from India, Laos, Vietnam, Mexico, Nicaragua and El Salvador. "One of the benefits of doing this film project was getting to think about what we do at a deeper level," explained Principal Salmi. She believes her staff received a benefit from the project as well. "We all learned a lot about ourselves in the process."

For film editor Matt Krzycki, "A Family of Many Nations" is a film about the good happening in today's schools. "The teachers and students are the real hero's of this story and it's a positive look at what educators are doing right in the face of challenging realities and far from perfect support" explains the award winning Krzycki.

Director Coughlin is confident his project will find it's way into some form of distribution. " We've been contacted by the New York Film Festival and public broadcasting companies," says Coughlin. The U.S. premiere of the film is set for 1 PM June 7th and 14th at The Des Moines Cinema 22333 Marine View Drive South. Media Contact #: 206-870-7334