Middle School students from Alternatives for Girls (AFG) created a film about a topic youth are always hungry to discuss: school lunch. We are excited to present the long awaited product of their research from the 2018-2019 school year, “Dream Lunch.” This colorful stop-motion film was created by AFG students in Southwest Detroit with help from their coordinator Christiana Castillo and guidance from PIE teaching artist Cyrah Dardas.

what is stop-motion animation?

Cyrah began by introducing stop-motion animation to the students, showing them films like “Nightmare before Christmas” and “Coraline,” many of which they’d already seen but didn’t realize were stop-motion. They then tried their hand at creating a short version of what would precede their final project. 

Stop-motion Animation:

Moving images created by filming an object and moving it slightly between each frame

-Cambridge University Press

leaning into school lunch

When we pose one of our signature questions in classrooms across Metro Detroit, “What about school is inhumane?” we know school lunch will be a primary point of conversation. For decades, school administrators -- and society at large -- have rolled their eyes at young people’s complaints about lunch. But last year, PIE leaned in. In preparation for this project, we did a focus group with a group of teenagers, which produced profound insight about the interaction between food and what it means to be human. One student connected nutrition with performance in the classroom: “If we’re eating bad food, expect bad grades and test scores.” And another wanted their teachers to “remember, it's one of the few times youth can chill.”

The lunch discussion at AFG reflected similar sentiments: "A lot of them just don’t eat lunch because they don’t like what’s provided,” said AFG youth Coordinator, Christiana Castillo. “I heard a lot of complaints about food being burnt or under cooked, or girls finding bugs on their food and things like that. Or it just being really soggy or just not flavorful." Inspired by these sentiments, AFG middle schoolers wrote a short story based on a true experience of one of their classmates. One day during lunch at school, she found a bee under a slice of pepperoni on her pizza. With help from Cyrah, they reimagined the story while exploring the question, how can we use media to change the food we are served?

They then illustrated the story, acted out the narrative and scored the film. One AFG student, Diana, spoke about her experience during this process - press play on the media player to check her out.

DREAM LUNCH

“Dream Lunch” is a nostalgic collage, mixing the reality of school lunch with what we always wished it was. The film follows a Southwest Detroit middle schooler, Alma, through the cafeteria lunch line and into her most delectable dreams about what school lunch could be. It’s a showpiece for young people’s reflections on Detroit schools serving safe, healthy, culturally familiar foods. Colorfully, creatively and intentionally, “Dream Lunch” incorporates the local community economy of food trucks and street vendors in schools and showcases youth’s desire to foster a more interactive, communal lunch experience. Take a look: 

PIE media projects are supported by compassionate people like you. Join our mission to humanize schooling through connection, curiosity and reflection with educators in learning spaces in Metro Detroit and across the country.

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