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It isn’t every day that Central Illinois schoolkids get a chance to interact with a bestselling author. It also isn’t every day that owls,a snake, and an eagle show up at a movie theater. However, Thursday wasn’t just any day at the Morton Cinema.
For the past few weeks, theater manager, substitute teacher, and part-time librarian John Howard had been hard at work crafting an unforgettable event for local children. Howard’s goal was to “...use the storytelling power of movies to point back to books, inspire kids to read, and support education.”
On the morning of the 14th, schoolchildren arrived at the theater for a special showing of the new film “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” based on the bestselling “Guardians of Ga’Hoole” book series by Massachusetts-based author Kathyrn Lasky.
According to Howard, the movie concerns a young owl who is fascinated by a tale of legendary owl guardians. When the young owl discovers a great evil, he seeks out the guardians to enlist their help. “It’s something of a coming of age tale,” says Howard.
When the kids entered the cinema, they were met with a display of Lasky’s books, provided by the Morton Public Library, as well as, owls, a snake, and an eagle, brought by Wildlife Prairie Park. After being given some time to interact with the animals and look at the books, they were ushered into the theater for a one-of-a-kind experience: a live question and answer session via webcast with author Kathryn Lasky, followed by a screening of the film.
Howard first thought of the webcast late in September on the day before the film opened. As manager of the theater, he was brainstorming ideas regarding a special showing of the film for schools. Since Howard conducts webcasts part- time for a company in New York City, the idea of a webcast came to mind. “I’m very familiar with using technology to bring people together,” he said.
On a whim, Howard decided to visit Lasky’s website and found an e-mail address. Soon after sending Lasky a message regarding the possibility of mounting a live webcast, he received a response. This was the start of a three-day chain of e-mails which culminated in an affirmative answer from Lasky.
“Nobody was more astounded or pleased than me,” said Howard. “She was so wonderful. Just as regular of a person as you could hope for.” From here on out, according to Howard, the scrambling started.
It isn’t every day that Central Illinois schoolkids get a chance to interact with a bestselling author. It also isn’t every day that owls,a snake, and an eagle show up at a movie theater. However, Thursday wasn’t just any day at the Morton Cinema.
For the past few weeks, theater manager, substitute teacher, and part-time librarian John Howard had been hard at work crafting an unforgettable event for local children. Howard’s goal was to “...use the storytelling power of movies to point back to books, inspire kids to read, and support education.”
On the morning of the 14th, schoolchildren arrived at the theater for a special showing of the new film “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” based on the bestselling “Guardians of Ga’Hoole” book series by Massachusetts-based author Kathyrn Lasky.
According to Howard, the movie concerns a young owl who is fascinated by a tale of legendary owl guardians. When the young owl discovers a great evil, he seeks out the guardians to enlist their help. “It’s something of a coming of age tale,” says Howard.
When the kids entered the cinema, they were met with a display of Lasky’s books, provided by the Morton Public Library, as well as, owls, a snake, and an eagle, brought by Wildlife Prairie Park. After being given some time to interact with the animals and look at the books, they were ushered into the theater for a one-of-a-kind experience: a live question and answer session via webcast with author Kathryn Lasky, followed by a screening of the film.
Howard first thought of the webcast late in September on the day before the film opened. As manager of the theater, he was brainstorming ideas regarding a special showing of the film for schools. Since Howard conducts webcasts part- time for a company in New York City, the idea of a webcast came to mind. “I’m very familiar with using technology to bring people together,” he said.
On a whim, Howard decided to visit Lasky’s website and found an e-mail address. Soon after sending Lasky a message regarding the possibility of mounting a live webcast, he received a response. This was the start of a three-day chain of e-mails which culminated in an affirmative answer from Lasky.
“Nobody was more astounded or pleased than me,” said Howard. “She was so wonderful. Just as regular of a person as you could hope for.” From here on out, according to Howard, the scrambling started.
Concerns that needed to be addressed included choosing a web platform for the chat and teaching Lasky how to use webchat, which Howard did the day before the event.
The announcement of the event sparked much excitement at local schools and in the homeschooling community. “In two days, we had almost two times as many requests as spaces,” said Howard.
Among those attending were students from Morton, Deer Creek, and Tremont, as well as local homeschooling groups.
Behind all of it, Howard aimed to “add a little value to the movie and give the kids something they wouldn’t normally have in the classroom.” As Morton Cinema is an independent theater, Howard stated that they can be more flexible with events like this and that he hopes this to be the first of many.
Howard anticipates the next similar event to accompany the release of 20th Century Fox’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”
“This year certainly is going to be a year of trial and error as we go through the first year of the new challenge program,” Saunders said. “But right now we’re pleased with the way things are going.”
