Brookwood graduate Alex Emerson ’13 has been selected as a finalist for The White House Student Film Festival and will travel to The White House with his family February 28 for its screening. His film, Tomorrow’s Classroom, highlights the global cookstove curriculum at Brookwood School. The film illuminates the importance of global education, and the ways in which students can learn from one another and collectively to creatively solve problems.
Rich Lehrer writes “This is so exciting to see how Alex has captured the spirit of what we are trying to do around the idea of connecting kids around the world through collaborations on global problems!” Also involved with the film were fellow Brookwood alums Sam Lincoln ’13, who helped with writing Tomorrow’s Classroom, as well as Olivia Michaels ’12 and Indiana Sobol ’13.
Alex’s passion for filmmaking started early on at Brookwood and was supported and nurtured by many faculty throughout his years here. From helping first grade teacher Jeff Wilfahrt film weekly School Meetings, putting together a digital archive for his class, filming school-wide events, and even providing video expertise to the Parents’ Association, Alex has been a prolific filmmaker and recorder of all things Brookwood.
Alex is very tech-savvy, and understands how to manipulate video technology in an advanced, sophisticated way. He knows the ins and outs of the medium, and to boot, he’s the nicest kid you’ll ever work with.
Alex writes: “It’s an honor for this film to be selected for the White House Film Festival, and I am super excited to attend. Last spring, the same film was selected for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) in Seattle, which was my first time going to a film festival. Getting selected for a festival means a lot to any filmmaker. It means other people are viewing and appreciating your work, which in most cases has taken hours to produce. In addition to the recognition from being an official selection, I have always enjoyed showing my films to an audience. Whether it’s the Brookwood community at School Meeting, internet viewers, or an audience at a film festival, it’s always exciting to see where people react to your film the most, and what kind of impact it has on the people watching. This project wouldn’t have been possible without Mr. Luman and Mr. Lehrer; all of the help and support they gave me with this project was invaluable.”
In addition to his video talents, Alex was recognized for his many contributions to the Brookwood community, and at graduation was presented with the Brookwood Cup, an annual award which recognizes “effort and character, athletics and scholarship which best capture and express the ideals and spirit of Brookwood.”
