Kay Dummier, a retired Alabama public school teacher, was working on a jigsaw puzzle when she heard a former student’s voice on the television.
Daniel Scheinert, an Alabama-based filmmaker, was receiving his third Oscar of the night for his film “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which he co-wrote and co-directed with Daniel Kwan.
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To her surprise, Dummier was on Scheinert’s list of people he wanted to thank in his speech. “When he read off the names, I about flipped,” she said.
Overall, the movie, made with collaborator Daniel Kwan, won seven Oscars, including best picture.
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Scheinert shouted out to Dummier and many other Shelby and Jefferson County educators, who he said changed his life and inspired him to pursue a career in film.
Who is Kay Dummier?
Kay Dummier was an Alabama public school teacher for nearly three decades. She taught Scheinert in fourth grade. She was the only elementary teacher to be mentioned in Scheinert’s speech.
Dummier said she placed a strong emphasis on reading with all of her students but was shocked that he remembered her.
She retired from Oak Mountain Elementary about 10 years ago. Currently, she is working part-time with the school system to substitute teach and help with a driver’s ed class.
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Dummied said it was a wonderful thing to hear Scheinert highlight public school teachers. “I often watch the Oscars, and I’ve never heard anyone do that. And I thought, ‘Oh, your heart’s in the right place, boy,’” she said.
According to Good Morning America, Dummier said she did not even realize Scheinert was working in Hollywood until her grandson saw Everything Everywhere All at Once and reported back to her that it was a great movie.
Some of the other teachers Scheinert thanked in his speech taught him at Shades Valley High School, a public school in Irondale, Alabama, where he attended the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School.
