Students' movies debut at Land O' Pines School
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Megan Hayes, 10, makes her way up the red carpet during a movie premiere night at the Land O' Pines School, Howell, June 14. By participating in "A Novel Idea - Let's Produce a Movie," pupils learned the fundamentals of movie making.

Paparazzi stood on the edges of the red carpet snapping pictures of Land O' Pines School fourth- and fifth-grade gifted and talented students as they entered the school for their very first movie premier.

These young filmmakers had a chance to experience what movie making is all about through a 2006-07 Howell Township Education Foundation grant "A Novel Idea - Let's Produce a Movie."

According to teacher Erin Allen, the students read a series of books by Andrew Clements and then gathered in literature circles to discuss the novels. After their discussions they created story boards for each novel and wrote a script. Guest speakers came out to teach the students how to make scenery. After that, actors were selected and filming began. The students were able to participate in post-production; however, the editing process was handled mostly by the teachers.

Friends and family members head into the Land O' Pines School auditorium to watch the films students made by using a grant from the Howell Township Education Foundation.

To contribute to the atmosphere of the movie theme, Hollywood stars created by the students adorned the outside of the popcorn-scented gymnasium. The movies that were shown were each about 15 minutes in length and based on Clements' novels "Frindle," the story of a student who makes up a new word for a pen and tries to get his entire school to use the word; "A Week in the Woods," a story about a boy who gets lost on a school trip; "Lunch Money," a story about two students who fight against the school board in a bid to be permitted to sell comic books on school grounds; and several others.

Cory O'Donnell, 11, helped to make the movie of "A Week in the Woods." Cory said he enjoyed making the movie because it was a unique experience that was only afforded to the children who were enrolled in the program for gifted and talented students. He said he liked making the scenery the most.

Fourth- and fifth-graders in the program for gifted and talented pupils spent time during the school year making movies and showed the results of their labor to friends and family members.

Christa Andersen, 10, who played a lead role in the movie "Lunch Money," said she had a lot of fun filming the movie. Christa said what she learned the most was the importance of teamwork.

"I learned that it takes a lot of teamwork and cooperation to film something," Christa said.

Megan Hayes, 10, also worked on "Lunch Money." Megan said the best part of the experience was making new friends.

According to Tara Madison, teacher and co-director of the films, the pupils appreciated the uniqueness of the program and knew the opportunity would not be afforded in any other class. She said the gifted and talented students like the academic challenges they are presented with.

The next program funded by the Howell Township Education Foundation that will be introduced to the gifted and talented pupils is Odyssey of the Mind. This is an international program that gives fourth- and fifth-grade students a chance to work together and solve problems through hands-on technologically based experiences. This grant will commence in the 2007-08 school year.