Westerville City Schools
The red carpet will be rolled out again this spring for a film festival featuring life stories of Westerville’s senior citizens.
The event, now in its third year, has seen plenty of success.
The films spotlight individuals at the Westerville Senior Center. The festival was created by Westerville Central High School English teacher Susannah Lee, who helps guide her students through much of the behind-the-scenes work, which involves interviews, video editing and other pre-production aspects.
The event is scheduled for April 28.
The idea for the senior citizens’ film festival began after Lee visited www.edutopia.org, a website for the George Lucas Education Foundation. It led her to www.iEARN.org, a nonprofit organization made up of schools and youth organizations that allow classroom projects to be shared with one another.
Lee discovered one international project that focused on folk tales and interviews with elders across the globe.
“I thought, ‘That’s amazing, that’s a cool idea,’ and it started getting me thinking because I really wanted to have my students do things that have an authentic audience. I feel like school is so much like writing for their teacher, or they don’t see what they’re doing as having relevance, so the project just came from that iEARN project that was going on internationally,” Lee says.
After speaking to someone whose mother had recently passed away, Lee found herself reflecting on her own life experiences.
“It made me start thinking of my own grandparents, and how I didn’t ask the questions that I wanted. Those two things combined made me say that this would be a really great project, and the kids would learn a lot, and (it) would get them involved in the community,” she says.
Westerville Education Challenge, a private organization that provides funding for creative projects in the district, awarded Lee a grant that allowed her to purchase five iPads. In addition, the festival has received monetary support from the Westerville Education Foundation and Westerville Central High School Boosters club.
Juniors and seniors in Lee’s Film and Literature course have edited film and interviewed residents at the Senior Center who were willing to share their stories. Each participant commits to four interviews. Still photos are incorporated into the films as well, says Lee.
“For them, it’s an experience of learning how to interview people and find out information … then they have to do research about what they’ve learned from their senior citizen. It kind of triggers them to go find out more, so they do that, and then they cut and edit films, so they learn how to put that process together in a way that makes sense,” Lee says. “It’s entirely student-driven. They do all the interviews, they design the way the film looks and put it together.”
Seniors are forthcoming in the stories of their lives, Lee says, and the film is powerful when it is finished.
The day of the film festival is anything but ordinary, she says, describing it as a red carpet event filled with cameras and flowers in a setting that allows seniors citizens and their family members to see excerpts of their own films. The event also includes a reception and gift bags with items donated by area businesses.
“I love that point because the kid sees how important this was to the senior citizens because all their family members are all emotional,” Lee says. “It’s magical to watch it, and once that day happens, it’s when all that hard work comes together, and you get to give a gift to someone who’s given so much to the kids.”
Senior Center Manager Jeff Althouse says he also enjoys the interaction that bridges generations.
“(No one) has the same story. They’re all pretty unique to that individual, and just to hear their life experiences and the way they interact with students is one of the things that I enjoy most. I think the public will appreciate that as well,” Althouse says.
Lee is particularly proud of her students for their efforts.
“It is the most rewarding (thing) I’ve ever done as a teacher. I get to witness my students really blossom from these shy, nervous kids. They’re so proud of what they’ve made, and they really understand what they’re giving the people,” she says. “I think the kids get the understanding (that) what they’re doing is much bigger than themselves.”
Matthew Kent is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
