Springfield High School’s theater room feels a little busier these days.
With new equipment made possible through a SELCO Creative Educator Grant, students are testing just how far their creativity can stretch when the right tools are within reach. Their teacher, Jill Plumb, sees it every day—the spark that happens when students realize they can build something that feels real.
What began as a digital storytelling project has grown into a full filmmaking experience. Students write, produce, direct, and edit their short films as part of Plumb’s curriculum for the Digital Storytelling course at SHS. At the end of the term, they share their completed project with the community at an annual festival hosted at SHS. This year, one of the standout films was Mission Improbable, a spy-movie spoof that made full use of the new gear. The green screen was a fan-favorite, allowing students to create new types of scenes and expand on their own creativity during the filmmaking process.
For the students, the grant unlocked possibilities they couldn’t reach before. Suddenly, a project that might have stayed simple could now become something ambitious and meaningful.
“I was excited that we got a grant, because I knew that I could make my movie and my story more advanced,” said Nadia, student at SHS. “Instead of having a cute little movie, I could have access to all this tech and equipment that I normally wouldn’t have.”
For Plumb, the grant arrived at just the right time. Between nine productions a year and a packed schedule, she nearly skipped applying for the SELCO Creative Educator Grant. But a quick look at the requirements made the decision easy for her. One late-night application helped modernize her digital storytelling equipment at SHS, and now she’s able to see her students’ films catapult to a new level.
