The Rockford Area Arts Council wants your kids to create short videos not just for fun, but for educational purposes.
Alone Together is a film showcase for students in grades 1-12 in Winnebago, DeKalb, Boone and Ogle counties. They are encouraged to shoot a short, creative video about any subject that interests them. RAAC Executive Director Mary McNamara Bernsten said this includes artistic subjects like dancing and drawing but also math, science, and foreign language.
"You know kids are online all the time," she said, "and they're thinking, 'Oh, I'm in my French class right now and I am just memorizing all these vocabulary words.'" She continued, "You could go to our file on YouTube and find some fun, kind of innovative ways to look at your vocabulary words using some film project that a student has created."
Alone Together is the Arts Council's response to COVID-19. McNamara Bernsten said that artistic expression during the quarantine is a way to connect and relate to each other's experiences.
McNamara Bernsten said all videos that meet the criteria will be separated into academic categories and listed on the RAAC's YouTube channel. From there, she said, select videos will be featured on partnering websites. The partners are Transform Rockford, Rockford Public Schools, Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Alignment Rockford.
Films must be no longer than three minutes long and students are to include a link to their videos, not the actual file. There is also a parental consent form that must be included. The deadline to submit films is May 15, 2020. You can learn specific guidelines here.
