Timestorm Bonus Las Maestras Transcript

MUSIC: NARRATION MUSIC.

NARRATION
Hello Timestorm listeners. We’re celebrating women’s history with this sampler episode where we revisit scenes from last season that feature women educators. This bonus episode is part of the Kids Listen Women’s History Sweeps taking place during the beginning of March. Stay tuned after the episode to hear more about this playlist.

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SFX: WHOOSH.

NARRATION
If this is your first time listening to Timestorm, welcome! The show is an ongoing series and the following scenes contain minor spoilers for individual episodes. It’s free of any major spoilers but we do recommend that you listen to the first three episodes of season one so you’re familiar with the characters and general storyline. We’ll start with a scene from episode four, La Maestra, which takes place in 1838. Alexa has spent the day in Celestina Cordero’s school for girls. In the following moment, Maestra Cordero speaks about her fight to receive the same educational resources as the school for boys run by her brother Rafael.

SFX: WHOOSH.

MUSIC: TRANSITION - "LA MAESTRA”

CELESTINA
Sometimes it’s hard, being new in town.

ALEXA
Yeah, you could say that.

CELESTINA
Where’s your family from?

ALEXA
Ponce.

CELESTINA
A long way. You’ll do fine in my classroom. You've got quite an imagination.

ALEXA
That's what everyone says about my brother. Loves stories and all that.

CELESTINA
I'm glad he's encouraged for it. But it is important for others to credit your strengths as well.

ALEXA
Oh, I totally get credit.

CELESTINA
Totally?

ALEXA
What I mean is...my other teachers let me know that I'm smart.

CELESTINA
I didn’t realize they had a girls’ school in Ponce.

ALEXA
It was more like homeschooling. Family members who taught me and my brother.

CELESTINA
I'm glad they understand the importance of educating young women. Many still don't, even here, in the capital. I'm fighting hard for my girls to get an equal education. Just today, I sent Román with a request for supplies.

ALEXA
A plea for equality.

CELESTINA
I intend for it to be published en La Gaceta. In the past, I've appealed to the governor directly, but my words have fallen on deaf ears. Here’s hoping it makes its way to print.

ALEXA
En la Gaceta. Uh, I should start heading home. It’s a bit of a trek.

CELESTINA
You aren’t walking alone, are you?

ALEXA
My brother, Benito, should be here any moment.

CELESTINA
See you Monday.

ALEXA
I won't be...my mother might need my help around the house in the coming weeks. I'm not sure when I'll be back.

CELESTINA
Hasta la próxima. Whenever it may be.

ALEXA takes a couple of steps.

ALEXA
Maestra...

MUSIC: "SO LONG, AND THANKS"

CELESTINA
Yes?

ALEXA
Thank you for the warm welcome into your classroom. And for everything you're fighting for. Even if you don't ever get the government to treat us equally, I'm sure generations of girls will benefit from your efforts.

CELESTINA
There you go predicting the future again. I'll make a prediction of my own.

CELESTINA takes a couple of steps toward ALEXA.

CELESTINA
I think you'll do amazing things, Aleksandra Ventura. Buena suerte.

ALEXA
Thank you.

ALEXA takes a few steps and opens the classroom door.

SFX: WHOOSH.

NARRATOR
The next scene is from episode seven, Broken, which takes place in 1907. The twins have just witnessed seventeen-year-old Lolita Tizol’s dream shatter when she’s forbidden from pursuing life as a musician. In the following moment, Alexa tries to console Lola knowing she’ll one day become the beloved educator, Maesta Tizol.

SFX: WHOOSH.

MUSIC: "CONSOLACIÓN" TRANSITION.

LOLA:
You know, if I were a boy she'd probably throw me a party.

ALEXA:
It's so unfair.

LOLA:
What are you? Thirteen?

ALEXA:
Twelve.

LOLA:
A couple of years until people start setting limits for you.

ALEXA:
I think it'll be different for me. Things change with time.

LOLA:
I thought things would be different for me, too. When my father took me to see Brindis in concert, and I saw him on that stage playing his Stradivarius - that was it. The life I wanted. To perform. To command an audience's attention. To capture sound then let it ripple away.

ALEXA:
Sounds incredible.

LOLA:
But that wasn't even his greatest gift to me.

ALEXA:
The bow.

LOLA:
The bow's special, but no. Brindis made me believe in my promise. How I wish I could have studied with him longer. But he's busy performing on the most famous stages in the world.

ALEXA:
You said he changed your life. Not the performer, but Claudio Brindis, the teacher. Maybe that's how you can change lives, too. Lola Tizol, the teacher.

MUSIC: "CONSOLACIÓN" TRANSITION.

NARRATOR
This final scene is from episode nine, Invisible, which takes us to 1975. The twins have just left the University of Puerto Rico after successfully completing a quest with the help of a young student, Monsi Román. In the following moment, Señora Ramirez, a teacher who has access to the resources Maestra Cordero never did, gives a pep talk to her student, Monsi. A girl who is encouraged to follow her dreams.

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MUSIC: DISCO!! TRANSITION.

MONSI:
I'm glad I did this model of a space station. You know how much I love the invisible world, but it was pretty cool to think about something so huge.

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
Second place is still impressive.

MONSI:
Not impressive enough for Profesor Reyes to remember me.

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
Ay, Profesor Reyes.

MONSI:
He didn't remember me at all. Or the mold project.

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
Forget the Profesor Reyeses of the world who can't be bothered to acknowledge your efforts. And the Estelas? Eh, they think know where you do and don't belong. Forget them, too. Stick with your love of science, Monserrate. Go with your gut, nena.

MONSI:
You sound like mi abuela. She says when she was my age, she had limits placed on her. But she tells me, Not even the can sky can limit you, Monsi.

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
Smart woman. She's right, you know. There's no limit to the heights you'll reach.

MONSI:
The question is what kind of microbes will be there?

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
(laughs) I'm sure you'll let us all know, Monserrate.

SFX: WHOOSH.

MUSIC: "IN THE TIMESTORM" (INSTRUMENTAL).

NARRATION:
This bonus episode was written by Dania Ramos. Sound design and original music by Michael Aquino. Featuring Leilany Figueroa, JF Seary, Isabel Pask, Maria Diaz, and Liliana Zertuche.

Timestorm is produced by Cocotazo Media with support from PRX and the Google Podcasts creator program.

If you want to hear more episodes celebrating women’s history, check out The Past and the Curious, a history podcast for kids. Their new episode, Okay Bloomer, features the story of Emilia Bloomer, promoting the bloomer costume which, years later, becomes popular with bicycling women — like Tillie Anderson, the leading professional bicycling woman of the 1800s. We also recommend This Week in the Multiverse. In the latest episode, meet pirate queen, Anne Bonnie, notorious old west outlaw, Bell Star, and other ghostly members of the Famous Female Felon Book and Movie Club. Find the entire Kids Listen Women’s History Celebration Sweeps Playlist on Kids Listen dot org, including episodes from Be Calm on Ahway Island Podcast, Girl Tales, Good Words Podcast, Book Power for Kids, The Past and the Curious, This Week in the Multiverse, and Timestorm.

Timestorm is recorded and produced in Essex County, New Jersey, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Leni Lenape people.

As always, thanks for listening.

ATABEY:
Witness. Find. Remember.

END OF TIMESTORM - BONUS: LAS MAESTRAS