The Allen family threw a blanket on the grass of Channing Hall, finding a place where they could see a giant inflatable screen.

“We came to watch some really great student-made movies,” said Chris Allen, who hadn’t seen the film his daughter Adeline and her class created for the second annual schoolwide film festival.

Adeline was excited.

“We got to choose what we’d add to the world to make it a better place,” said the first-time filmmaker. “I said I’d add bad dad jokes. My mom is actually the bad dad joke teller. She tells puns and lame jokes, like ‘I got fired from the calendar store because I took too many days off.’ But, they’re just funny.”

Her mother, Marcy, agreed: “Even if they’re bad dad jokes, especially if they’re bad dad jokes, we can laugh and commiserate all at the same time.”

Adeline said everyone in her class got to contribute, breaking into small groups to come up with an idea on how to improve the world. Then, they figured out how to illustrate it so it could be edited together as an animated film.

“I really liked having the chance to be funny and sharing our ideas. We got to be the voices behind the drawings,” she said.

Other ways the students in her class thought to make the world a better place ranged from a cat to a kindness shield so nobody could feel any unkindness.

Adeline wasn’t the only student who was excited about the film festival. About 20 films created by kindergartners through eighth-grade students were shown on the big screen, along with a teacher film as well. Topics ranged from a comedy about soccer to LEGO animation.  

This year’s film festival topic matches the Parent-Teacher Organization theme, “Space for All,” said Heather Fehrenbach, who helped to coordinate the film festival.

“We left it open to interpretation and creativity,” she said. “We’ve gotten more kids involved and the kids are getting more excited about it. It got started coming out of COVID as a way for our families to have a fun evening together and we also wanted a chance for students to showcase their talents. Almost every kid knows how to put together a YouTube or TikTok video, but our film festival also encourages them to use skills in STEM to get more proficient. It’s been something they’d loved.”

While students have access to the school’s green screen or a device to film, and they can get help from a STEM teacher, “most of them were doing it on their own or with help from their families and friends. We love having the whole community involved,” she added.

Fehrenbach said students not only brainstormed ideas, but they learned to work collaboratively to determine the best topic; created a storyboard; organized their film, actors and time; determined what equipment was needed and learned how to use it; and were able to edit a final product—in addition to setting and achieving a goal.

“It’s an amazing opportunity where they’re engaged and having fun, yet they’re learning all sorts of skills they may not even realize,” she said.

The film festival, which was the idea of librarian Sarah Holland, takes the place of the former harvest festival and is held in conjunction with the school’s annual giving fundraiser. The $55,000 yearlong fundraiser helps support the school from having more paraprofessionals to help students in math and English to purchasing interactive flat panels for the classrooms, Fehrenbach said.

“We welcome people who give $20 per month or maybe their businesses will do a corporate match of $100 to their $100 donation, or we’ll recognize community partners who want to support our school and programs and contribute $300 or more with a sign on our fence,” she said. “Through their support, we’re able to give our students more opportunities, do more activities and have more programs.” λ