CMAP short film shot in one-room, Panoche Valley
schoolhouse
CMAP short film shot in one-room, Panoche Valley schoolhousPanoche’s rural ways will be highlighted at the 2012 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev, in a student film created by kids in the one-room school house in South County.
The students at Panoche School made a short film, “The School in Panoche Valley,” about the region last year that showed in the San Benito Student Film Festival last summer. The film will be shown at the annual gathering that celebrates Western life and rural culture.
Panoche School Principal and teacher Darcy Gillett said the film project came about when the students were set to have an art teacher as part of their time at Camp Pinnacle – a science camp for the students – that didn’t pan out. Instead, they ended up learning the art of video.
“E-cubed got together with CMAP and they sent out Spencer,” Gillett said, referring to Spencer Wilkinson, who works with Community Media Access Partnership and the foundation that supports rural schools in San Benito County. The San Benito County Free Library also supported the project.
Wilkinson came out once a week for three weeks along with someone from the San Benito County Free Library. They worked with the 10 students attending Panoche School at the time on scripting and different aspects of video production.
“The second time they got to do a little hands-on work with the camera and experiment with what it is like to be on the camera,” Gillett said.
The kids divided into two groups and answered a set of questions about their school and the place they live.
“Spencer took it back and edited it into this really great video,” Gillett said.
The video, which is posted on YouTube, shows the remote grasslands of South County. The kids each take turns on camera in the film sharing their name, age, and what they like most about the place they live. Many of them mention the wildlife they see and being close to their families.
“They had to work together as a team,” Gillett said. “Spencer taught them the different roles (in filmmaking.) There’s someone that does sound. Someone has the cue cards. There is a producer and someone who handles the camera. Each one had a specific role and they all had to work together to make the whole experience be successful.”
Gillett said the film accurately relayed what it is like for the kids to live far from a metropolitan area. The kids watched the video once it was edited and they planned to show it to their families at a Christmas recital this week.
“My favorite thing about teaching here is having a small group and being able to focus on individual needs,” she said, “then having the flexibility of being one school, one class, one district to kind of do whatever we want to do.”
Gillett, who became the principal/teacher in July 2010, said she shared the video with family and friends so that they could get to know more about what life is like for her at the school.
“There are definitely pros and cons,” she said. “These kids in a way – they are not sheltered – but they are not exposed to a lot of the goings on. There is not a gang influence here, not a drug influence …”
One of the board members for the E-Cubed Foundation called Gillett last week to give her the news that the student film would be showing at the National Cowboy Poetry Festival. Gillett called someone from the festival to find out about dates and times.
“Right now we are working to put together a group of teachers, parents and the kids that are able to go and make the trip to Elko in February,” Gillett said. “They were very excited. They are very proud of the video and they are excited to be able to go on the trip if their parents allow it.”
Gillett said they were trying to quickly cement the plans for the trip because Panoche School is a year-round school will be on vacation for the next three weeks. They will be back in session for one week before it’s time to make the trip.
“This would be a big trip for many of them,” Gillett said. “Many of them have never been out of the state. Culturally, geographically it will be a large difference from what they are used to. Most of the kids here – Hollister is about as far as many of them travel.”
Gillett said the trip would be a fun experience for the kids, but it would tie into the social studies curriculum for the younger children as well as history, government and geography.
“And it would be great to get out and talk to people about Panoche,” she said. “When we go to Hollister to the grocery store, oftentimes people don’t know where we are.”
The Panoche School film, “The School in Panoche Valley,” can be viewed online at http://cmap.tv/education/youth or by visiting YouTube and searching for Panoche Valley School.
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