movie questions mcfarland usa

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McFARLAND, USA

SUBJECTS — Sports; U.S. 1945 – Current, Hispanic, & California;

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Education; Breaking Out;

MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Responsibility.

AGE : 12+; MPAA Rating — PG;

Drama; 2015, 129 minutes; Color. Available from Amazon.com .

Benefits of the Movie Possible Problems Parenting Points Selected Awards & Cast

Using the Movie in the Classroom Discussion Questions Assignments and Projects CCSS Anchor Standards

Bridges to Reading Links to the Internet Bibliography

DESCRIPTION

This movie is based on the remarkable McFarland High School Cross-Country Team which, until it was recently forced to compete against much larger schools, dominated its division in the sport state-wide for more than 20 years.

Located in California’s agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley, McFarland is one of the poorest communities in California. Its high school students are the children of Hispanic “pickers,” farmworkers paid low wages for back-breaking work in the fields — actually, some of the students work in the fields themselves before school, after school, and on the weekends. It turns out, that some of the students run to and from school and the fields each day and . . . they are really fast.

The film is “based on a true story” of the first McFarland championship team and how the discipline that the students learned in running and the boost to their self-esteem from winning against students from wealthier more advantaged schools allowed the students to go to college and achieve more in their lives than they had ever dreamed possible. The film also presents a fictional tale of the coach who lead the team to victory.

SELECTED AWARDS & CAST

Selected Awards: None.

Featured Actors: Kevin Costner as Jim White; Ramiro Rodriguez as Danny Diaz; Carlos Pratts as Thomas Valles; Johnny Ortiz as Jose Cardenas; Rafael Martinez as David Diaz; Hector Duran as Johnny Sameniego; Sergio Avelar as Victor Puentes; Michael Aguero as Damacio Diaz; Diana Maria Riva as Señora Diaz; Omar Leyva as Señor Diaz; Valente Rodriguez as Principal Camillo.

Director: Niki Caro.

BENEFITS OF THE MOVIE

This film shows Hispanic kids excelling in sports and using their success at running as an opening to achievement beyond the fields of vegetables and fruit in which they grew up and in which they and their parents worked. It shows the hard lives of agricultural laborers in the U.S. and the close Hispanic communities of America’s Southwest. The movie also contains the fictional, but a believable tale, of an adult, suffering from mistakes of judgment who keeps on trying, looks for opportunities, and turns his life around. All of the families shown in this film are close and functional.

Students will be exposed to the beneficial stories described in this film. The benefits of tolerance, inclusion, perseverance, teamwork, hard work and family cohesion will be shown by the film.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Parenting points.

Watch the movie with your child and assure your child that situations have occurred when one juror has turned a jury around.

USING IN THE CLASSROOM

Introduction to the movie:.

Before showing the film, on a map show the class the location of the San Joaquin Valley towns of McFarland and Delano (where Cesar Chavez started the National Farm Workers). Tell students, “A lot of what happened to the character of the coach in this movie was invented by the filmmakers to give the story more drama. There is a real coach White who worked at the high school in McFarland. His story, which I’ll tell you after the movie is over, is also pretty interesting. The character of Coach White in the film is a middle-aged man with a family. However, there is a lot that we can all learn from this character. Think about it as you watch the movie and afterwards we’ll talk a little about the character in the film and the real Coach White.”

Then ask the students to look for product placement in the movie. “Companies lobby filmmakers and some even pay to get their products shown in movies. As you watch this film, ask yourself, “Which brand-named product is featured? In which scenes is it shown? How is this designed to influence your buying decisions?”

After Watching the Movie

Start with Discussion Questions 1 and 2. Then tell the class about the real Coach White, as follows:

Coach White taught in McFarland schools beginning in 1964, the year he graduated from college. He started by teaching science to fifth graders. After nine years, he taught seventh and eighth-grade woodshop and PE. After 11 years of doing that, he taught PE exclusively and coached the high school cross-country team. Coach White had not been fired from any previous jobs and had not thrown a shoe at an insolent student. When Coach White started to teach in McFarland, it was a primarily white community. By 1987 that had changed. He retired in 2003 after teaching in McFarland for 29 years.

Mr. White coached both the girls and the boys cross-country teams. Before 1987, there had been a cross-country team at McFarland High, but it was not outstanding, and in 1986, cross-country track wasn’t even offered at the school. Coach White restarted the cross-country team in 1987 and rebuilt it from the ground up. The McFarland High students dominated California’s cross-country track winning 25 titles in 27 years. However, because of its succes,s it is now being required to compete against larger schools and in 2015 didn’t make it to the state championships.

Coach White did, in fact, find one of his star runners, Thomas Valles, out late one night near a bridge after a bad fight between the boy’s parents. The coach talked Valles into his truck and listened to the boy’s troubles.

The kids really did call Coach White “blanco.” It is true that Coach White on occasion worked in the fields alongside his students. He said in an interview that:

Sometimes I helped them work in the fields, but more importantly, I had practice at a different time. If one or two of those boys couldn’t make practice at four o’clock ’cause they’re just gettin’ in from work, then I might practice at 6 or 7 o’clock with those boys. So I’d have two practices.-KGET 17

Sports Illustrated magazine has this to say about Coach White, “He rarely raised his voice. He’d stumbled upon the sorcerer’s stone of coaching: Give so much of yourself that your boys can’t bear to let you down.” Running For Their Lives: The story that inspired ‘McFarland, USA’ by Gary Smith, 2/16/15, Sports Illustrated Magazine To follow up about the featured brand named product, ask discussion question #3.

Additional Interesting Information to Share With the Class:

How did the parents of these children change from being migrant workers to homeowners residing in McFarland full time and working in the fields? This is how it was described for the family of one runner.

[His father] said the decision to end the life of a migrant and bring his family to California for good was not easy. Like thousands of others who have left [Mexico] for McFarland, he was nudged by Mexico’s deep poverty and the U.S. amnesty law that granted his family legal status in 1987. The shadow of the late Cesar Chavez, whose union improved wages and conditions in the fields, helped ease the way. So, too, have a booming farm economy and new crops that extend the harvest from early spring to late autumn.

With the earnings of an older married son and Jose Jr., the parents scraped together a small down payment and bought their rundown stucco house for $62,000. Ten family members, children and grandchildren, share quarters. They survive on $20,000 a year in minimum wages. Column One Grueling season: McFarland cross-country team toils for the 6th straight title by Mark Araz, LA Times, 12/1/1997

While many of the boys from McFarland’s cross-country teams were able to go to college, others didn’t make it out of the fields and are spending their lives cutting grapes, picking oranges, shelling almonds and harvesting the other crops that appear on American tables.

Something not shown in the film is that veterans from past teams who stayed in McFarland would come out and run with the team. They were a great resource for the boys and coach White, encouraging the boys and helping when there was a crisis.

Some Additional Differences Between What Really Happened and What is Shown in the Film.

• Three of McFarland’s best runners came from the Diaz famly but not all of them competed in the first year.
• The students who competed against them were not disrespectful. Some shouted encouragement to the students from McFarland and shook their hands. Others traded jersies with them after the meets.
• The school was not next door to a prison; the prison was, however, a block or two away.
• Not only the kids featured in the film, but also many students on Coach White’s long-distance running teams went to college.
• Coach White took the boys’ and the girls’ cross-country teams to a beach in 1985, rather than in 1987 as described in the movie. For many of the students, it was the first time they had seen the ocean.
• The student Thomas Valles didn’t win the individual championship in 1987, he placed seventh.
• The slowest Diaz brother, Danny, wasn’t overweight, and because he was in the group of McFarland runners taken to the State Championships, he wasn’t that slow either.
• Coach White had three daughters, not two, and all were in college in 1987.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

After showing the film to students, engage the class in a discussion about the movie.

1. What did you learn from this movie other than from the character of Coach White? We’ll get to Coach White in a minute.

Suggested Response:

There is no one correct response. A good way to organize the responses is that they will be either about young people, Mexican-Americans, or about the country as a whole. Good responses include: 1) farm labor is very, very hard; 2) if you apply yourself, you can achieve great things; 3) families should stick together, even in hard times like the families of the workers and the coach’s family; 4) there is a great value in Hispanic culture, especially in the strength of the family; 5) our country works best when there we accept people of all different cultures and combine together to be Americans, like coach White and his students.

2. How would you describe the character of Coach White in the film, not the real Coach White but the character who was invented by the scriptwriters?

There are many ways to say this. The Coach White character didn’t give up when he was down. He kept on trying. After throwing the shoe at the insolent student, he treated everyone with care and respect. He was able to admit his mistakes even to others and try to do better.

3. Which brand-named product was featured in this film? In which scenes is it shown? How is this designed to influence your buying decisions?

It seems to be Coca-Cola. Mr. White is seen drinking it at least twice. On one of those occasions, is dehydrated and needs something to re-hydrate himself. There are many products, including water, which would have been better for this purpose and less harmful than Coca-Cola.

4. What is the most remarkable thing about the story of the McFarland High School Cross-Country Team, the coach or the success of the boys who have made up the teams?

They are both quite remarkable. The coach is a role model for a great teacher. He gave of himself, fully, year after year, with sensitivity and insight. The fact that the boys were able to learn and profit from his coaching and that many of them went to college and later worked in jobs their parents could only dream about, is the most important story. Hopefully, this type of inspiration of young people is something repeated in the U.S. and other countries in sports and education year after year.

5. What did the boys learn from their experience running for the McFarland High School Cross-Country Team?

They learned the value of discipline and that with hard work they could compete with and beat students from wealthier and more privileged backgrounds.

6. This movie has been criticized as being another in the long line of “White Savior” movies, in which minorities benefit from the intervention of whites. What is your reaction to this criticism?

First, it is true that the real Coach White was a facilitator by which the boys saved themselves. No one made those boys run mile after painful mile in the blistering heat. The point is, you cannot save anyone who doesn’t want to be saved. The savior is only the facilitator. The true hero is the person who takes the facilitator up on his offer and does the hard work. An interesting thing about this story with the fictional Coach White is that the boys saved him, as much as he saved them. So, it’s not a classic “white savior situation.”

A Reflection on non-White saviors in American History Dr. Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez are both non-white saviors of white Americans. Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, awakened the conscience of America to its own racism and the evils of segregation. He (and the Movement) were the facilitator for the recognition by whites that they had to change, that they had to improve themselves, that we had to improve as a country. Cesar Chavez facilitated the recognition that conditions for farmworkers were terrible and had to improve. Of course, the removal of racism and improvements for the farm workers are not complete efforts, there is some backsliding, but things have improved substantially in both of those areas from where they were before Dr. King and Cesar Chavez performed their facilitating, i.e., saving, work. And again, the extent that positive changes were made, the American people had to do the work within themselves to change.

7. What is responsible for the fact that this one small high school, year after year has so many good long distance runners?

There is no one correct answer of which TWM is aware. However, strong responses will include the following: long-distance running is a sport of endurance, where the athletes must endure fatigue and pain; the success of these students appears to be based on superior training (the consistent practices and the summer running, for example) and the fact that their tedious, hot, and painful work in the fields, hour after hour, forced them to learn how to endure physical discomfort; this combined with the natural talent of some of the runners seems to have made the teams successful.

See Discussion Questions for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction .

ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Any of the discussion questions or the questions on the Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction can serve as a writing prompt. Additional assignments include:

1. [This assignment is for strong readers. There are two really excellent articles that have been written about the McFarland Cross-Country Team and Coach White. The articles are available on the Internet and linked in the Bridges to Reading Section below.] Read, compare, and contrast the style and the content of the following two articles on the McFarland Cross-Country Team. Then write out the three most interesting facts set out in these articles and describe why you found them to be interesting. The two articles are: (1) “Column One Grueling season: McFarland cross-country team toils for 6th straight title” by Mark Arax, LA Times, 12/1/1997; and “Running For Their Lives: The story that inspired ‘McFarland, USA'” by Gary Smith, 2/16/15, Sports Illustrated Magazine.

2. Describe three major lessons that the filmmakers were trying to impart through this story: one relating to the students, one relating to the coach, and one relating to the United States as a whole.

3. Based on Internet research [or based on the class discussion] make a list of three important facts that the screenwriters changed. Then, for each fact that you listed, describe why you think the filmmakers made the change in terms of the needs of creating an interesting and emotionally appealing story.

4. Research and write an essay describing the current status of farm laborers in California.

See also Additional Assignments for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction .

BRIDGES TO READING

The story of the McFarland cross-country track teams has inspired some excellent journalism. Here are two examples of the best.

• Column One Grueling season: McFarland cross-country team toils for the 6th straight title by Mark Arax, LA Times, 12/1/1997; and
• Running For Their Lives: The story that inspired ‘McFarland, USA’ by Gary Smith, 2/16/15, Sports Illustrated Magazine.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

• For a film showing how poor kids from the Barrio can master calculus, see Stand and Deliver . . . and engineering, see Spare Parts/Underwater Dreams .
• For other movies on the Hispanic experience in the U.S., see My Family , A Better Life , For Love or Country — The Arturo Sandoval Story , West Side Story , and El Norte . For college-level classes, check out Lone Star, an excellent film with a unique twist on white-Hispanic relations in a small Texas town.

LINKS TO THE INTERNET

The two articles listed in the Bridges to Reading Section and

• From History vs. Hollywood ;
• Interview with Coach White about the movie ;
• McFarland’s Family of Champions ; part information and part selling the benefits of the film; 24 minutes;
• Wikipedia article on the movie ;
• How Accurate Is ‘McFarland, USA’? by Jon Gugala, 2/17/15 on OutsideOnLine.com;
• Disney’s ‘McFarland, USA’ Tackles Latino Themes With Inspiring True Story by Carolina Moreno; 11/12/14; Huffington Post,;
• Meet the Real-Life Hero Coach Played by Kevin Costner in McFarland, USA By Johnny Dodd, 02/20/2015; People Magazine;
• McFarland cross-country runners’ quest touches strangers by Mark Arax, LA Times, 12/1/1997; This is about the public reaction to the first story linked in the Bridges to Reading Section.

CCSS ANCHOR STANDARDS

Multimedia: Anchor Standard #7 for Reading (for both ELA classes and for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Classes). (The three Anchor Standards read: “Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media, including visually and quantitatively as well as in words.”) CCSS pp. 35 & 60. See also Anchor Standard #2 for ELA Speaking and Listening, CCSS pg. 48.

Reading: Anchor Standards #s 1, 2, 7 and 8 for Reading and related standards (for both ELA classes and for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Classes). CCSS pp. 35 & 60.

Writing: Anchor Standards #s 1 – 5 and 7- 10 for Writing and related standards (for both ELA classes and for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Classes). CCSS pp. 41 & 63.

Speaking and Listening: Anchor Standards #s 1 – 3 (for ELA classes). CCSS pg. 48.

Not all assignments reach all Anchor Standards. Teachers are encouraged to review the specific standards to make sure that over the term all standards are met.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See the web pages referred to the Bridges to Reading Section and the Links to the Internet Section. Also, selected film reviews listed on the Movie Review Query Engine were consulted.

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Pca resource center, search resources.

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Discussion Guide: McFarland USA

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The downloadable resource below is a part of PCA's collection of movie discussion guides, which aim to help you make the most out of movie viewing with your team or child. Movies provide a plethora of "teachable moments" that can be seized upon by coaches and parents to help young athletes take away lessons that will help them be successful, contributing members of society.

McFarland USA is the true story of cross-country coach Jim White who transforms a team of athletes in a small California town into championship contenders. Themes presented in this film include teamwork, hard work, and respect.

Click here to see the full collection of movie discussion guides.

Click the link below to download the discussion guide questions.

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McFarland, USA

February 20, 2015

Drama, Live Action, Sports

Inspired by the 1987 true story, “McFarland, USA” follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. Coach White and the McFarland students have a lot to learn about each other but when White starts to realize the boys’ exceptional running ability, things begin to change. Soon something beyond their physical gifts becomes apparent—the power of family relationships, their unwavering commitment to one another and their incredible work ethic. With grit and determination, the unlikely band of runners eventually overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well. Along the way, Coach White realizes that his family finally found a place to call home and both he and his team achieve their own kind of American dream.

Rated: PG Release Date: February 20, 2015

Directed By

• motionpictures.org
• filmratings.com

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Latin music superstar Juanes has written an original song titled “Juntos (Together)” specifically for Disney’s “McFarland, USA,” which he recorded for the end title track of the movie.

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Now streaming on:

Kevin Costner reaches a welcome career high in this new movie, a live-action based-on-a-true-story inspirational tale of school sports, produced by Disney. It sounds a little over-determined when described that way, I know. But one thing I almost forgot going into this picture is that this kind of picture is the kind of thing that Disney can do very well. And it is very well done here, thanks in no small part to the superb direction of Niki Caro . Caro, a New Zealand-born woman, might seem to some an unusual fit for the story of an all-Latino cross-country running team coached by a white man who’s working, against his will for all intents and purposes, at an underfunded high school in the California town that sometimes advertises itself as “the fruit basket of the nation.” But Caro, who established some good cross-cultural uplift bona fides with her first feature, 2002’s “ Whale Rider ,” brings huge reserves of both curiosity and empathy to the story, and her abilities as an entertainer keep the movie generous in both heart-tugging and smile-inducing moments. Costner’s uncanny evocation of Gary Cooper masculinity and Gregory Peck compassion in the role of coach Jim White is the glue that holds it together, but the rest of the cast is equally inspired.

There’s been a lot of talk in cultural criticism of the last several decades about “white messiah” narratives: stories in which the intervention of a Caucasian rescues ethnic minorities at risk. (You may remember “ Dangerous Minds .”) Many representatives of ethnic minorities in academia and media find this irritating, with good reason, and despite its based-on-a-true-story status, “McFarland, USA” could very well be just such a story. But Caro, along with writers Chris Cleveland , Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson do something unusual. It’s not something as obvious and crass as the “and she saves him back” trope of “ Pretty Woman ,” but more along the lines of a family values cultural exchange. Costner’s Jim White is a high school teacher and coach whose passionate temper gets him fired from a series of gigs in the white-bread towns of which he’s a product and has been a fixture.

On arriving with wife ( Maria Bello ) and two daughters, teen and pre-teen, in a town where the rooster next door wakes everyone up before five and Jim can’t get a burger, the teacher is almost immediately assailed by colleagues and students who think it’s hilarious that his name is “ White .” Despite his chafing at his fish-out-of-water status, White also gives a damn, and he, like Caro, is a keen observer. He knows the school’s football team isn’t, and likely can’t be, worth a damn, but once he sees more than one of his students running, rabbit-like, to get to their after-school jobs helping their parents and other family members with produce-picking, he resolves to create a cross-country running team.  

To make it work he has to gain the trust of both the kids and their parents, and that means he needs to give a little of himself. Getting involved in the lives of these self-described “pickers” gives White a painful understanding of the economic realities of his environment and the privilege that he’s long taken for granted. He misses the birthday celebration for his teen daughter Julie, which is a common enough device in the too-busy-doing-good-white-guy scenario, but here it pays off in a dividend, as White gets educated by his prize runner and the local grocery store owner in the Latin American tradition of the Quinceañera. As White steers his initially ragtag crew to victory after victory, he attracts the attention of tonier towns and schools, presenting a challenge to his own commitment to family and community.

Because, finally, “McFarland, USA” is a paean to family and community. And a story about why, even as so much of what we see about the so-called “ American Dream ” is tinged with disillusion and corruption, the United States remains a land of some kind of opportunity for millions of people who come here to do back-breaking work, day in, day out. It is also, of course, a really entertaining and enjoyable movie. Caro is particularly deft at handling supporting character roles. All the young runners make an impression, particularly Carlos Pratt as the troubled, gentle, and lightning-fast Thomas, and Ramiro Rodriguez as Danny, the chunky anchor of the team who’s all heart. But Valente Rodriguez as the harried principal and Danny Mora as the aforementioned store owner are also outstanding, bringing un-stereotypical life to their archetypal roles. And while for this viewer, who’s also a sometime runner, cross-country running is perhaps the least cinematically-engaging sport ever, Caro and company imbue each of the race scenes with more than sufficient drama to give the proceedings a good share of “ Rocky ”-triumphant moments. Tear-jerking ones, too. The result, as far as I’m concerned, is a feel-good movie that pretty much anyone can feel good about feeling good about. Particularly Costner fans. 

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

McFarland USA (2015)

Rated PG for thematic material, some violence and language

Kevin Costner as Jim White

Maria Bello as Cheryl

Ramiro Rodriguez as Danny Diaz

Carlos Pratts as Thomas

Johnny Ortiz as Jose

Morgan Saylor as Julie

Vincent Martella as Brandon

Elsie Fisher as Jamie

Daniel Moncada as Eddie

Diana Maria Riva as Senora Diaz

Vanessa Martinez as Maria Marisol

Chelsea Rendon as Sonia

Ben Bray as Ernesto Valles

• Chris Cleveland
• Grant Thompson
• Bettina Gilois

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McFarland USA

7th - 12th grade.

30 questions

Introducing new   Paper mode

No student devices needed.   Know more

In which state does the film take place?

What is McFarland High School's mascot?

What is the term used for the coach's daughter's 15th birthday?

Quinceañera

The captain of the team was ________________ .

Thomas Valles

Victor Puentes

Damasio Diaz

The anchor for the team was __________ .

The cross country team had _______________runners.

Which student wrote the poem about feeling like a bird soaring?

What did Coach White forget to pick up?

Julie's dress

Julie's cake

Julie's new car

Julie's report card

What was the nickname given to Coach White by his runners?

How many championships did McFarland win for Cross Country?

What was the custodian working on when Coach White first shows up at McFarland High School?

painting walls

fixing the fire alarm

cleaning the floors

washing tables

What does Danny Diaz do for a living now?

He's a teacher.

He's a police detective.

He's an accountant.

He's a farmer.

Coach White still lives in McFarland, CA.

What was Coach White's wife's name?

What does Coach White get Julie for her Quinceaǹera?

a yellow dress

What is Coach White's youngest daughter named?

According to the movie, how old do you have to be to work in the fields?

What is Coach White's first name?

How many years had it been since the shop owner closed his shop?

Which student helped the Coach recruit kids to the Cross Country team?

How much money does Coach White say he has when he tries to get in the state park (in the bus)?

What does Julie want Coach White to do with the rooster that wakes them up?

bring it inside

wring its neck

keep it as a pet

What city does the English teacher assume Coach White lives?

Los Angeles

Bakersfield

What state is Palo Alto in?

Coach White paints over the painting of the lady in their house.

Coach White still lives in McFarland, CA today.

How many daughters does Coach White have?

What does the family order at the restaurant when they first get into town?

Who helps Julie White pick up her books in the hallway at school?

All seven runners from the movie attended college.

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What We Can All Learn From the Movie McFarland USA

• Post published: February 7, 2017

California supplies more produce than any other state in the country. A lot of the agriculture that takes place in California is located throughout the Central Valley. In those small towns, many of which are still underdeveloped, there exists a thriving agriculture business. The field and facility workers might not demonstrate the wealth of their work, but they work harder than anyone I have ever seen. I think that is something that we, as a society, very often take for granted. The movie McFarland USA helps demonstrate the amount of work that it takes to be an agricultural worker, as well as the perseverance of the human spirit.

In the movie McFarland USA, which is based on the true story of a white man, Mr. White, who moved his family from the Midwest to McFarland, California (a small town near Bakersfield). McFarland consists of a large Latino population, filled with families who work in the fields, and Mr. White’s family has to deal with the cultural differences between themselves and the rest of the people living in McFarland. Mr. White overcomes these obstacles and forms a successful track team, and as a result, many lives are changed in a positive way, including those of Mr. White and his family.

Here are just a few of the things that we can learn from this movie that are still relevant today:

Table of Contents

The power of accepting cultural differences.

People will always be able to separate themselves from others. In the movie, the town of McFarland is separated by both race and social class. For example, the students in the movie mainly consist of Mexicans, whose parents are field workers. Not only do they exhibit resistance toward the new white, “gringo,” coach, but they also feel as though he cannot relate due to his lack of understanding related to how their families live and work. However, throughout the movie, you can see the tolerance build between the two when the coach eats dinner at the Diaz’s house, helps pick in the field (which had to have been the greatest scene in the movie) and incorporates the team into his family’s events. That, plus the earned trust, between the two showed how tolerance and acceptance can be built between different people, and ultimately lead to appreciation for the differences and what they can introduce to each others lives. It is not always easy, but that does not mean it is impossible.

What it Takes to Work in the Field

Ever since the first harvesting field I walked onto, I have been amazed at how hard the harvesters work. We, as end users, might look at our food and sometimes remember to appreciate all of the work that was put into getting that piece of produce to us, but we will never understand the backbreaking work that goes into working in the field if we have not experienced it ourselves, as Mr. White does in the movie. 

Some crops are more difficult than others, but there are some where I really worry whether the workers will be able to stand by the time they are 40 years old. My favorite part of the movie was when the coach went to work in the field, harvesting lettuce, with the Diaz family. This scene really showed how easy it is for bystanders to judge the amount of work because the coach started out with a good attitude that quickly dwindled, and ultimately led to him having to lay down and have one of the boy’s crack his back because his back was in so much pain. The team member described it as though his body were going into shock trying to adjust to the work, and that he will get used to it.

Not only is the work physically demanding, but it is very time consuming. The hours are long, and are even longer during the summer months when the sun is up longer. Harvesting starts early in the morning for most crops to “beat the heat.” In the movie, the Diaz brothers would wake up at 4am to go work in the fields and would also work there on the weekends. At one point, their parents would not let them be on the running team because the dad, who was a foreman, needed the boys to help work in the fields during practice times because he was getting paid by the field, so the faster the field was harvested, the more money he would make. The example given in the movie was that of a foreman. However, in terms of harvesters, they either work with a harvest crew and get paid hourly , or they work piece-rate , where they are paid by the amount that they individually harvest (a common practice in strawberry harvesting during peak season).

The Job Uncertainty Agricultural Workers Face

The fact is that a lot of field work is seasonal. So, what does that mean for workers when their crop is out season? If there are other crops being grown in their area, they can attempt to get work there. If not, they have to look elsewhere for work. As was very briefly mentioned in the movie, the workers will look for other work elsewhere in California, or in Arizona, or even as far as Texas. So the workers will leave their families to continue making a living, and come back when the season returns. I covered this in a recent post when describing how some agricultural workers work in the Salinas Valley with leafy green crops for a portion of the year, and then spend the rest of the year working on those same crops in Yuma, Arizona.

The Misunderstanding Toward Agricultural Workers

There is a common misunderstanding that agricultural workers do not know English and do not immerse themselves into the “American” culture. This was also brought up in the movie when the coach went to eat dinner at the Diaz’s house, and he attempted to speak to their father through the sons, assuming he did not know English.  However, their father knew English, as did many of the other parents represented in the movie. It is true that there are some field workers who do not know English that well, but there are a lot of workers that do know English. Also, a notable moment at the end of the movie was when the teammates and their parents were at the big race, and all of the Mexican parents sang along to the Star – Spangled Banner.

What Agricultural Towns in California Consist Of

Although the movie is set in 1987, the movie was filmed in 2014, mainly in McFarland, CA. However, the situation depicted in McFarland USA is still relevant today. The houses, small corner stores, living conditions and even the stray dogs roaming the streets can all be seen today in most small, agricultural towns in the Central Valley.

Your Past/Present Does Not Determine Your Future

I am sure all of us can relate to this idea at some point or another. All of the running team consisted of people whose parents had not finished high school, and all seven of the highlighted team went on to attend college. That is pretty phenomenal! Even though they had to continuously prove themselves and work harder than everyone else, the coach helped show them that their past and current conditions did not have to determine their future. However, it is important to remember another life lesson explained in the movie, that although education, and the wealth and social status that can come with it is uplifting, it is not the key to happiness. In the movie, the parents of the successful track team students were always thankful for the little they did have, and they were happy with less because they valued family and love above all else.

The Power One Person Has to Change the World

This is such a powerful idea, and something that I think of often. Changing the world does not have to be on a large scale, but the coach depicted in the movie had such a great impact on the lives of the team members by believing in them and by pushing them to reach greatness. One of the other teachers went to the coach and read them the work of one of the team members that said that by running, he no longer felt as though he were defined as an “immigrant” or “stupid Mexican.” Those students that he empowered went on to do better things with their lives than what they ever thought possible. That is not only a good coach, but a good human being. This movie was really such a great reminder that it is not about what the world can do for you, but what you can do for the world.

Current Update on the Students of McFarland USA

Although this movie was based on a true story, there are a few differences. In the movie, the Diaz brothers make up three of the seven team members, and the video below (from KGET TV-17) tells the story of their and the rest of their family’s lives. It is pretty incredible to see the resilience of the human spirit.

When I was performing food safety audits and going to a different produce operation every day, I often asked the workers if they had seen the movie and what they thought and the resounding answer, is that the people who work in agriculture really enjoyed the movie. However, it was not made for agricultural workers, it was made for the general public because it is a touching, family story from which we can all learn something.

As I am sure you can imagine that if you have not yet seen McFarland USA, I highly recommend it!

Also, for all of the teachers that are using this as a teaching tool, you can see additional videos depicting different harvesting practices in the produce industry that are current today at The Produce Nerd’s YouTube channel , and you can also download a free lesson plan below!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• Commercial Lettuce Harvesting, Packing & Processing
• Why You Should Watch ‘Fear No Fruit’
• Why I Chose to Teach Agricultural Education

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I do deliveries around the South San Joaquin Valley and I see a lot of truth to what you have written here.

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McFarland, USA

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Can a white coach, played by Kevin Costner , turn a track team of poor, mostly Mexican-American kids into cross-country champions? Silly question. Would Disney make the movie otherwise? Inspiration is for sale in McFarland, USA . And though more than a spoonful of sugar is slathered over the fact-based script, the movie delivers as promised on the thrill of the race and the lump in the throat.

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Costner is solid and persuasive as Jim White, a coach who gets fired in Idaho for being a hothead. So in 1987, he packs up his wife (Maria Bello) and two daughters (Morgan Saylor and Elsie Fisher) and accepts a lesser, lower-paying job teaching science and PE at McFarland High in California farm country. At first, the students don’t cotton to this Mr. White gringo they call “Blanco.” But then he persuades the principal (Valente Rodriguez) to let him start the school’s first cross-country track team. The students aren’t as easily influenced. They have jobs to do before and after school, grueling work that helps support their families. But when Blanco shows them how the stamina they’ve developed by picking crops under a blazing sun can be a useful tool in running, they’re hooked.

So are we, thanks to the fleet direction of Niki Caro ( Whale Rider ) and no-bull performances by the boys, notably Carlos Pratts as the team’s best runner and Ramiro Rodriguez as the worst. Along the way, McFarland, USA gives us a vital sense of hardscrabble lives and dreams of glory deferred. All cheers here are fully earned.

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McFarland, USA

• Jim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach, and at his new school he turns seven disappointing students into one of the best cross-country teams in the region.
• A struggling coach and teacher who has had to move around for different incidents in his career finally comes to one of the poorest cities in America: McFarland, California. There he discovers buried potential in several high school boys and slowly turns them into championship runners and brings them closer than even he could ever imagine.
• Jim White, a school football coach at odds with the system and players, takes a job as an assistant football coach at McFarland. White finds the potential for cross-country in few students at the school. He gets interested in building up a cross-country team, but has to adjust his ways to suit the system. White and his team overcome poverty and personal turmoil, and get to the pinnacle of success. — Thejus Joseph Jose
• 1987. Jim White, a high school teacher and football coach, has been fired from one job after another, as the desired end of getting people to do the right thing in his mind has not always justified his sometimes impetuous and spontaneous actions as the means. He, his wife Cheryl White, and their daughters, mid-teen Julie White and preteen Jamie White, have only lived in largely white homogeneous environments, so when Jim accepts the only job he can get as life sciences and phys ed teacher and assistant football coach at McFarland High School in Central California, they are somewhat ill-prepared mentally for the relatively poor conditions and the largely homogeneous Hispanic population in the town, most of their neighbors Mexican immigrants who work as pickers in the surrounding agricultural fields. Within this situation, many of those in the next generation have little chance of getting out of this life, many turning to crime as a means to survive. Regardless, the Whites decide to live in McFarland instead of Jim making the commute from nearby Bakersfield, where most of the school's Caucasian teachers live. While the school's football team is as bad as most that he has coached, the one thing he does notice is that out of necessity many of the boys have the stamina to run long distances quickly. Beyond not respecting Mr. White who they mockingly call Blanco or Homey, the boys see running cross country, a team which Jim wants to establish at McFarland despite he having no history coaching runners, as an activity of the country club set. Jim does whatever he can to get the key boys in any way he can to be the core of the needed seven member team. For them to gel as coach and team members, they will have to understand the other better and fully embrace the opportunities. As the boys manage to reach one goal after another on the march to the state championships, their newfound support as a collective may be threatened by the realities of McFarland and Jim catching the attention of other, more prestigious schools in predominantly white, upper middle class communities. — Huggo
• Fired for his temper and impatience with brat pupils at several privileged white high schools, Californian P.E. teacher and football coach Jim White must move him family to accept the life sciences and phys ed teacher and assistant football coach post at the poorly reputed school of McFarland, where mots kids are from poor Mexican migrant laborer families, who seem to lack ambition. Training a football team proves wasted effort, but Jim spots some running talent and convinces the principal, by pointing out lucrative state subsidies, to let him set up a track and field team. It takes lots of convincing and nudging to lure boys even to try out, say rather then do detention, but Jim's relentless efforts start paying off, even if he too must learn this new sport on the job. Jim learns how hard Hispanic life is, even does one day of back-breaking picking, and starts binding with their families, who even draw in his own. Champion runner Thomas Valles even starts dating his eldest daughter, the first non-Latino to get a "quinceanera", but a bigot attack gravely tests this 'forbidden friendship' between the classes, yet a shot a the state championship is too goof to miss out on. — KGF Vissers
• Boise, Idaho. Year: 1987. Football coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is chastising his players for a rather underwhelming game. One of his players starts to give off a bit of an attitude. After having had enough, Jim orders the player to leave. When he doesn't, Jim throws a shoe at a locker, which bounces off and strikes the player in the face, cutting his cheek. Following this incident, Jim is forced to move away with his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and two daughters, Julie (Morgan Saylor) and Jamie (Elsie Fisher). They settle down in McFarland, California in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. On their first night there, the family goes to a small restaurant and leaves to find a large gathering of Latinos in cars surrounding the place. One man makes suggestive motions toward Julie, prompting the family to leave faster. Jim starts his new job as the life science teacher/PE and football coach assistant at school the next Monday. He meets Principal Camillo (Valente Rodriguez), who pairs Jim up with the current football coach. Jim later sends the students to do a lap, while three boys, the Diaz brothers - Danny, Damacio, and David (Ramiro Rodriguez, Michael Aguero, and Rafael Martinez) - are forced by their mother to leave. The football team plays a game against another school. One of the players, Johnny Sameniego (Hector Duran), gets injured on the field. The coach wants him to get back out there, but Jim orders Johnny to sit this one out. The home team then loses the game to an embarrassing 63-0. As the family continues to adjust, Jim's neighbor gives him a rooster as a gift. He goes to the store to buy it some feed. Outside, he sees some of his students drinking water from a hose. A man named Javi (Rigo Sanchez) picks up his nephew Victor Puentes (Sergio Avelar). The other boys tell Jim that Javi just "got out" while Victor's dad is still in there. The coach complains to Camillo about Jim's actions during the game and demands that he step down. Jim later sits out on the bleachers and watches the boys run a lap around the track with Jamie joining him. She comments that the boys, particularly Victor and Johnny (who got cut from the football team) move very fast. This sparks an idea in Jim. Jim goes to Camillo to convince him to let him start a track team to compete in the upcoming state championships. Jim also enlists Johnny's help to recruit six more runners for the team, starting with Victor. Johnny also asks the Diaz brothers, as well as two other students - Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz) and Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts). Thomas has gotten in trouble at school for being involved in altercations with other boys that mocked his younger sister for getting pregnant, so Jim negotiates for him to join the team to avoid suspension. Although the boys are initially reluctant, they agree to join the team and run with Jim across the town, with Danny lagging behind as he is the fattest of the team. After some training, the team goes to their first meet in Palo Alto. The boys from the other teams taunt the McFarland team with derogatory comments. The race commences, and the McFarland team lands in the final spot. Knowing the boys are disappointed, Jim takes full responsibility for the loss to not let them get discouraged. Jim learns of some of the boys' personal issues during their practice session. Thomas expresses his frustration due to his not seeing a better way out for himself and that he and his friends are only suited to picking fruits and vegetables in the fields all day. At home, Thomas's father has returned after a long absence. Thomas returns home one afternoon to find his parents arguing. His father starts punching the wall, and Thomas runs in to stop him. Jim takes up a lot of practice time that it causes him to be late for a birthday dinner for Julie, and he forgets to pick up a cake for her. She goes to her room, angry and disappointed. Jim later drives by a bridge and sees Thomas sitting over it. He approaches the boy and notices a bruise on his eye, which Thomas says was his own fault because he tried to stop his dad from hurting his hands so that he could keep working. Jim talks the boy down and tells him that he has good things ahead of him, encouraging him to continue doing something worthwhile. The Diaz brothers are pulled out of the team by their father, who wants them to keep working the fields. Jim goes to their home and offers his services to them. He even gets up as early as they do to go to the fields to pick produce in the blazing sun. By the end of the day, Jim is exhausted. The team goes up for another race to qualify for the championships. Danny notices the hill they must run over is VERY tall, to his dismay. The team competes, and they manage to just break into the top four teams, enough to qualify. Meanwhile, a coach from Palo Alto gives Jim a card in case he is interested in an open full-time position. Cheryl befriends Javi's girlfriend Lupe (Martha Higareda) when her car breaks down in the streets. Lupe invites Cheryl into her salon for a free manicure while Javi fixes the car. The Diaz family later shows up to the White home to make tamales and organize a car wash for team fundraisers. The Diaz matriarch says the team ought to use better uniforms and shoes. She says Jim is a good man, and then tells him to go take a shower. The team continues to practice harder, allowing Jim to bond with the boys. They name their team the McFarland Cougars. They even get new uniforms and shoes to go with it. The people in town learn that Julie just turned 15 and decide to help organize a quinceañera for her. They bring Cheryl, Julie, and Jamie to the salon while everyone sets up at home. Jim gets Julie a pretty dress, and she loves the party. Thomas gives her a bracelet that his grandmother made. Later, Javi and Lupe offer to take Julie out for her own "parade", with Thomas accompanying them. Not long after, their car is confronted by a group of punks that bother Javi. They attack the group, while they push Julie out of harm's way. The authorities contact Jim, forcing him and Cheryl to drive to the scene and find Julie on the ground, unharmed but with scrapes on her legs and shaking tearfully. Jim is angry over this, despite being assured that Julie was protected. Jim meets with the Palo Alto district for the coaching position. The boys and his family know about this, and they are upset with him. He tells Cheryl that he could bring them the better life that he promised them. Cheryl argues that they have settled in just fine here and it would be wrong for Jim to abandon the team and the friends they have made. The day arrives for the state championships. The whole community goes out to support the team. The race commences, which already sees a problem when Jim notices that Jose is moving too fast and worries that he will overexert himself. Thomas runs faster to pick up the slack as Jose starts to slow down. Thomas ends up crossing the finish line first, while the others come in closely. Jim worries when he doesn't see Jose, but to both his and Thomas's surprise, it is Danny that runs faster and picks up the slack. The judges tally their scores together, and, coming in first place is...MCFARLAND! The townspeople cheer for their team. Jim approaches the Palo Alto coach, which his family and the boys see. He comes back and smiles, simply stating, "McFarland." He hugs his family and then gets a hug from his team. The ending text says that the McFarland team won nine state titles over 14 years, all of which Jim White coached. We see the real coach and team running by a hill, all of them now grown men. The boys went off to college, and some, including Thomas Valles, the Diaz brothers, and Johnny Sameniego, went on to teach at the McFarland schools. Victor Puentes served a sentence at the penitentiary, but continued his education and got a good job. Jose Cardenas became a writer for The Los Angeles Times and is currently serving his country in the U.S. army. The McFarland team continued to run races in North America, Europe, and Asia. Jim White retired from coaching and still lives in McFarland.

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McFarland, USA Questions

These questions are perfect for keeping students engaged while watching McFarland, USA!

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Do you have emergency sub plans on hand? Are you stressed about coming up with different activities for every level you teach or having something on hand a non-Spanish-speaking sub can do? Check out these questions for students to answer while they watch the movie McFarland, USA!

These questions are included in my discounted Spanish Movie Question Mega Bundle . With the mega bundle, you save 20% on all my engaging movie questions, PLUS you get all future additions to the bundle FOR FREE! Click HERE  to see it.

This Spanish sub plan will not only save the day because it is  print-and-go , but the  39  questions in Spanish and English  will keep your students engaged throughout the entire PG-rated movie. There are questions for students to answer before, during, and after the movie. There is even a link to an article that compares the movie to the true story and questions for students to answer related to the article.

Disney has this to say about the  2hr 9m  movie: “Inspired by the 1987 true story, “McFarland, USA” follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. Coach White and the McFarland students have a lot to learn about each other but when White starts to realize the boys’ exceptional running ability, things begin to change. Soon something beyond their physical gifts becomes apparent—the power of family relationships, their unwavering commitment to one another and their incredible work ethic. With grit and determination, the unlikely band of runners eventually overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well. Along the way, Coach White realizes that his family finally found a place to call home and both he and his team achieve their own kind of American dream.”

Check out the trailer on YouTube  HERE .

***THE MOVIE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RESOURCE. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON DISNEY+ OR YOU WILL NEED TO RENT/PURCHASE THE MOVIE ON AMAZON. ***

There are two versions of the questions and answers included in the file, one in English and one in Spanish. Perfect for use with different levels!

This PDF file includes:

• 2 questions for students to answer before watching the movie
• 35 questions for students to answer while watching the movie
• 2 questions for students to answer after watching the movie
• Spanish version
• English version
• Answer keys
• Links to watch or purchase the movie on Disney+ or Amazon

These no-prep questions are great for:

• Choice boards
• Independent activity while you catch up on grading or need to take a breath (we’ve all been there!)

OTHER RESOURCES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN:

Most Dangerous Ways to School Bolivia Questions

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McFarland, USA Movie Guide | Questions | Worksheet | Google Slides (PG - 2015)

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McFarland, USA Movie Guide | Questions | Worksheet | Google Slides (PG - 2015) challenges students to analyze this powerful story about persistence, community, family values, and teamwork. Ask students to compare the average student at their school with a student at McFarland. Explore how Coach Jim White's approach allows him to learn about the values and characteristics of the Mexican-American culture in McFarland. Write an essay about how to integrate some of these positive aspects of McFarland's community into your own community.

Note: This movie is based on the true story of Jim White and the McFarland cross country team that won the 1987 state championship.

Check the preview file for high resolution sample questions to see if this movie guide is suitable for your students. This resource consists of 12 high-level, short answer reflection and essay questions that will do more than just ask your students to regurgitate information. 

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Although this movie guide doesn't have many ratings yet, please don't be overly concerned as it was posted more recently than my other resources. Please visit MY STORE to see over 5,000 ratings with a ★★★★★ average.

This product includes:

• A student movie guide, PDF print version (4 pages)
• A student movie guide, PDF digital fillable form version (4 pages)
• A Google Slides Version of the Movie Guide
• An answer key (4 pages) IS included with this movie guide, however many answers will vary as students are encouraged to construct their own meaning from the characters' dialogue and behavior.
• A generic movie guide permission slip (1 page)
• CCSS alignment indicating standards met, PDF (1 page - see also preview image)
• CCSS Note: I’ve taken the liberty of aligning certain reading standards with the act of consuming content via the movie instead. Although students aren’t reading they are asked to perform the same cognitive functions on the content that they consumed from the movie.

Do you teach a film literature or analysis elective class?

A version of this movie guide is now featured in a full Film Literature Curriculum. Check it out on CurricuLimb's TPT store here : )

Google Classroom Distance Learning Tips:

• Create an assignment using the Google Form
• Use the screen sharing tool on your conference calling software to play the movie
• Pause the movie at each question to give students time to write/discuss
• Make sure students input their name, so when you open your copy of the form, you can see each student's individual response they submitted
• Note: If you are using the movie guide for multiple classes and want to separate responses by class, create multiple copies of the google form with file names such as [Title]MovieGuideClassPeriod[2] and then create assignments for each copy of the Google Form movie guide

General Tips for Using this Movie Guide:

• Print one, double-sided movie guide for each student
• Preview the next question on the movie guide as you complete each one, this can help students pay attention to important upcoming events.
• Pause at the times designated on the movie guide, encourage students to debate, discuss and talk about their ideas before writing their answers.
• Discourage students from simply copying answers.
• Randomly choose a student to share their answer and defend it if necessary.
• If time allows, feel free to rewind and show important parts of the movie again for additional analysis.
• After completing the short answers, allow 5-10 minutes for each essay question at the end of the film.
• On average, this movie guide will require about 45-60 minutes in addition to the length of the movie.

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