Ossining Fourth-Graders Create Original Films through Jacob Burns Program

The Ossining fourth-graders got off the school bus in front of the Jacob Burns Film Center and waited in line at the front door for their turn to walk the red carpet. Some smiled shyly as they crossed the lobby and walked into the theater. Others waved to the crowd of family members or did a “dab” dance move as they entered.

After working for several months on stop-motion animated short films, several Claremont School classes traveled to the Pleasantville theater for the premiere Feb. 10. The students snacked on popcorn as they watched and cheered the work of their peers. Some of the titles of the 18 films were “The Mischievous Monkey,” “Stuck on You,” “The Ukelele and the Angry Volcano” and “The Terror of McDonald’s.”

The experience is part of “Minds in Motion,” a project-based learning experience that integrates fourth-grade English language arts, math, technology and arts standards. Students work with animators-in-residence from the Jacob Burns Film Center to create their own films.

Four classes of Claremont students worked on films for the first part of the school year. Another four are currently creating films that will premiere at the Jacob Burns in the spring.

“Minds in Motion offers our students the opportunity to learn about storytelling using words, art, movement and music,” Claremont Principal Kate Mathews said. “The collaborative nature of the program fosters a highly creative environment where children build upon one another's ideas to create a wonderful final product.”

Emily Keating, director of education at the Burns, said that no matter what field students go into, they will bring with them the skills they developed by working on a team and learning how to communicate by using images, sounds and stories. More than 400 fourth-grade students from Ossining, Port Chester, Tarrytown, Mount Vernon and Yonkers are participating in “Minds in Motion” this year.

The program is made possible through funding from the Frog Rock Foundation, the Reader’s Digest Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Robert T. Keeler Foundation and the JBFC Program Fund.

Gregory Nemec, animator-in-residence at the Burns, said that the films created by Claremont students were a mix of scary, funny and topical. One current events-based film was about a cow running for president against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Other topics and themes in the films were the transformative power of music and dancing, characters being eaten by other characters, and the secret powers of relatives and friends.

Fourth-grader Lucy Gray wore a white and silver dress and a flower headband to view “The Jungle Adventure,” which she and classmates Mia-Vasiliki Wilkins, Diego Espejo-Lega and Andy Pujo created. The film is about a mouse artist who ventures into the jungle.

“We did it as a group,” Lucy said before the screening. “I think it will be pretty great.”