Danville, I Remember to screen tonight
The 28 fifth and six grade students at Asbestos-danville-shipton (ADS) Elementary School are getting ready for a big reveal tonight. After a full year of work conducting interviews and learning the ins and outs of storytelling, their video documentary, Danville, I Remember, will be shown to the public for the first time tonight.
Led by Grade 5 teacher Justin Chartrand and Grade 6 teacher Kristen Smith, with the assistance of Community Learning Centre Coordinator Julie Corriveau Wilson, the project paired groups of three to four students with one of eleven local seniors who volunteered to help out, three French and eight English. Students interviewed their chosen senior and those interviews have been put together into a complete, edited documentary film.
“Students started by writing questions, they practiced their interview skills on their own grandparents, and then they had different workshops with Patti Warnock, a local storyteller,” Corriveau Wilson said. “They each chose their favourite part of that interview and wrote a small story about it.”
The CLC coordinator explained that the long-term, intergenerational project was inspired by the discovery of a grant available from the town through its families and seniors policy. Using money from that program as well as the Ministry of Education’s “Culture in the school” grant, the planning team was able to coordinate the initiative and turn it into a reality.
Corriveau Wilson spoke particularly highly of the influence of Warnock,
explaining that it was through her workshops that the students learned about how to conduct a good interview and then transform their notes into a good story.
“They really enjoyed the process,” The CLC coordinator said. “Some of the students are actually thinking at this point of going into journalism.”
Although Corriveau Wilson said she will see the finished product for the first time at the screening tonight, she estimated that the documentary will run about an hour in total. The screening is set to begin at 7 p.m. and will take place at the school, which is located at 217 Water Street in Danville.
“Everybody is welcome to attend,” she said, adding that an effort has been made to make the event festive and fun. Representatives of the town as well as all of the participating seniors have been invited to attend as well.