Kagel Students Remake Diary of a Wimpy Kid With A Twist 4th grade students at
Kagel elementary were able to flex their acting muscles when they made their
own version of the film Diary of a Wimpy
Kid. The movie, based on the book series written by Jeff Kinney, is about a
kid's trouble after starting middle school and trying to be the most popular
kid in school. The Kagel students crafted a story
that included extraterrestrials as teachers and a school with no activities except napping and a kiddie prison. The group worked closely with actor
and teaching artist Marcella Kearns to create their own version using
storyboards and brainstorming sheets. Kearns wanted the students to use their
imagination to come up with positive solutions to the story's problem. "Any kind of violence was vetoed.
They had to come up with solutions that would take the power away from the bad
aliens and give them back a school that had lunch, recess, gym and music and
even math...I was surprised that they wanted that," said Kearns. For six weeks, after school at the
Latino Community Center on 14th and National near Kagel, the 4th
graders worked as a team to create, develop and learn the storyline because the final
production would be an improvisation of lines and script Creating and practicing the play
was not only a fun activity for the students, but also a social learning
experience for them, according to Kagel's 4th grade teacher Leslie
Cimermancic; she said the experience brought a new level of unity among the
students. "One of the students is so quiet in
school and the first day I saw her here, she's been vocal, she's smiling, she's
laughing and outgoing," said Cimermancic, "[the special education] students
wrote down [the storyboard ideas] as the regular education students helped them
and told them what to write." There were also opportunities for students to put other talents to use by designing and drawing props for the
performance, something that Cimermancic thinks is all a part of a wonderful
experience. "I just want them to take full
advantage of this opportunity," said Cimermancic. The students performed the play for
the school's Kindergarten class and displayed their own diaries that they created with bookmaker Robin Kinney.
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The poetry club is made up of high
school level students and is led by actor, director, playwright, and singer Sheri
Williams Pannell. Pannell worked closely with the students
to develop their writing abilities and stage presence, while also helping the
students find their own unique voice. 
The students were also visited by activist and poet Margaret Rozga, widow of local civil rights leader Fr. James
Groppi, and Shirley Butler-Derge, former lead-member of the NAACP Youth Council.
The theme of the workshop was "Respect for Ourselves, Others and Our Community"
and it focused on linking literary, visual, multimedia and performing arts to academic
subjects.
e school. 