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  • 2022
  • Students document the making of 4th-graders’ ‘dream machines’

Students document the making of 4th-graders’ ‘dream machines’

By: Jillian Waslawski

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

A student films a presentation in an elementary school classroom.
Junior Ce’Aira Waymon films a presentation by Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design students of their design of the Peppermint Snowman to Fairview Elementary School students. Susanne Schwibs | The Media School

The Dog Distractor, the Homeless Helper, the Imagine Brush and the Peppermint Snowman are inventions dreamed up by Bloomington fourth-graders and brought to life by students from IU and the Hoosier Hills Career Center. Media School students documented the collaboration.

Fourth-graders across the Monroe County Community School Corporation competed in the MyMachine Challenge, which asked students to invent a “dream machine” and create a prototype. Students in Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design senior lecturer Jon Racek’s Intensive Seminar in Comprehensive Design class refined four of the designs and created more sophisticated prototypes, and Hoosier Hills Career Center students built the machines. Students in senior lecturer Susanne Schwibs’ Advanced Documentary Production Workshop created documentaries about the projects.

These machine ideas were not only fun ways for young students to learn about science, technology, engineering and math and tap into their creative side, but also to show them the power of community collaboration. David Pillar, assistant director at the Hoosier Hills Career Center, said each project demonstrates how creativity and helping others can make a larger community difference.

Senior Duke Moosbrugger films a presentation by Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design students of their design of the Homeless Helper to Unionville Elementary School fourth-graders. Susanne Schwibs | The Media School

The students began filming when each idea was only a plan on paper and followed the machines’ progress throughout the semester.

“This collaboration has been such a good challenge for students because they’re getting great, real-life planning and documentary experience,” Schwibs said.

Senior Grace Fox films the construction of the Dog Distractor at the Hoosier Hills Career Center. Susanne Schwibs | The Media School

Students in Schwibs’ class were divided into groups of three, and each group was assigned a machine to document and explore. Students were given free reign creatively, and each group picked the direction of the short film. Grace Fox, BA’22, project lead for the Dog Distractor, said her group wanted to portray how collaboration works on various levels.

“After learning about the fourth-graders’ project, we really wanted to go deeper into the process of non-traditional education and how a dream is made,” Fox said.

Students were in charge of coordinating film times, interviews with community members, and video and sound edits. Sophomore Paige Falcon said the project provided her with a diverse set of experiences. She said her group and others were learning and adapting as they went.

“I went into it not knowing much about the documentary filmmaking progress, and when you’re filming a documentary you have to plan so much but also do things on the fly,” Falcon said.

Schwibs explained that one of the goals for her students in this class was to learn how to work with different types of people, and how to effectively plan a documentary. Each student was required to troubleshoot and adapt at times because documentary filmmaking is so unpredictable, she said.

“We kept referring to this project as a moving target, because there was a lot of unpredictability, but that’s exactly how you learn,” Schwibs said.

Sophomore Brody Lassner films the construction of the Imagine Brush at the Hoosier Hills Career Center. Susanne Schwibs | The Media School

Another aspect of this project that made it exciting for students was the wide range of interview subjects. Fox said her interviews with fourth-graders were the most fun, but also a learning experience. She said she has usually just worked with other college-age students on film projects.

“The biggest thing for us was making this project about the kids, and getting to interview them was so much fun,” Fox said.

The physical, working dream machines were unveiled at the end of April.

“Being filmed and clearly documenting the process has been neat,” Pillar said. “It has really helped the younger students feel really important.”

The Homeless Helper | by Jose-Luis Amsler, Josph Ermey and Duke Moosbrugger
The Imagine Brush | by Tricia Petit, Paige Falcon and Brody Lassner
How to Build a Snowman | by Melanie Roberts, Taiah Wilson and Ce’Aira Waymon
The Dog Distractor | by Grace Fox, Wyatt Fritz and Dominick Rivers

Source: The Media School

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