How to Build a Snowman
Kids sit in a large classroom while the principal presents the snowman project. An American Sign Language interpreter signs as the principal speaks. A snowman sits atop a cart as he presents. Added text: Hoosier Hills Career Center.
Principal: So the peppermint snowman. This is kind of bits and pieces of how it came to you all. This is the old peppermint snowman.
The camera zooms into closeups of children’s faces.
Principal: Is this good? Should we just stop here?
Kids: No.
Principal: All right. 123. Whoa!
Animated screen. Text: How to Build a Snowman.
Three kids stand against a wall. Various exterior shots of Fairview Elementary School.
Teacher in background: Are you ready? Yeah. 123, eyes on me. Great.
The camera shows closeups of children’s sketches in a classroom atop desks.
Adam Maltese, teacher: MyMachine starts with getting younger kids to come up with ideas that they want to see built — their dream machine.
Maltese speaks to the camera.
Maltese: And then that idea and drawings and other things goes on to university students.
Camera pans to three IU students.
Maltese: And they use their skills that they’re developing to try to create designs and often and in this case, an initial prototype of what that is.
Camera shows beginning prototype. Design students are seen working.
Maltese: Their end-user is that they’re going to pass those designs off to secondary students who are in vocational and technical schools. And those students are going to use their developing skills to actually build and create a manufactured finished product.
Children are seen inside a classroom making funny faces. Moné, a fourth-grade student, speaks to the camera from inside a classroom.
Interviewer: What’s your name?
Moné: Moné.
Interviewer: How old are you? Nine, almost ten, my birthday is Aug. 16.
Teacher is seen inside a classroom. She speaks to the camera. Text: Ms. Thompson.
Thompson: Moné is super interesting. I love talking to her because you never really know how she’s going to word her perspective, which always keeps it pretty interesting.
Briley is seen on screen.
Briley: I have bubblegum.
Thompson: Briley.
Thomspon works with kids on screen.
Briley: She’s very much invested in trying to help me, like do my classroom duties like she really wants to be involved with, like, if I need help with anything, she’s super into it. Like if I asked her to pass out papers or run an errand for me, she’s always like one of my go-tos.
Car’reanna raises her hand in class.
Thompson: Car’reanna can be a little bit quieter. But then whenever you do get those moments with her where you have those one-on-one conversations, again, it’s a really enjoyable conversation like she’s very lively.
Moné speaks to the camera in the library.
Moné: Well, my friend planned out — my my friend drew it and my other friend wrote about it. And then I I built, so I had the idea. So I put like a cup on top of his fur hat because it was it was winter then, so we decided to make it.
University students speak to the camera in a classroom.
Zelton Kay: Hi, my name is Zelton Kay.
Raul Quiroz: I’m Raul Quiroz.
Mitch Runkle: Mitch Runkle. I’m a comprehensive design major in my third year, and I’m one of the design students that’s working on MyMachine project.
Kay: So when you’re given a project that doesn’t have a lot of constraints, it’s really important to kind of start thinking outside the box.
Runkle: We really have to get creative and kinda problem-solve with their, with their original designs.
Quiroz: I remember one of their iterations that they set back to us. They wanted us to add lasers to the snowman. Obviously that’s not possible, but I just love how creative they got with it.
Runkle: First thing we did was we got this idea and some simple sketches from a fourth grader.
The three students are seen sketching in pads and on tablet, discussing the project.
Runkle: So we took those sketches and he started kind of ripping off them through phase we call ideation and brainstorm.
Screen shows closeup of their design. Text: initial design 1, crossbow launching system. The snowman is pieced together on a design table.
Runkle: Next we start narrowing down, okay, which of these is feasible?
Screen shows closeup of their design. Text: initial design 3, side launching system. The snowman is pieced together on a design table.
Runkle: And we kind of narrowed it down to like three or four models which get critiqued. And then we’ll choose the best one out of the critique.
Screen shows closeup of their design. Text: snowball catapult. The snowman is pieced together on a design table. Text: movement and structure.
Runkle: Then we take like real materials for, in this case, we made a half-scale model and then we made a full-scale model of the head and the catapult.
Students work in the workshop with tools. Tablet with design specs is seen.
Runkle: So then we take those, we present them again. And that was that was pretty much all we did.
Hoosier Hills Career Center exterior shots. Kids work on the design in the workshop, painting the prototype white.
Black screen.
The three inventing children stand against a wall in Fairview.
Interviewer: Can you guys describe how you came up with the idea for Peppermint?
Car’reanna and Moné point to Briley. They say: Her.
Car’reanna speaks to the camera in the library.
Car’reanna: Because we were going to do something different, but instead, we didn’t have most of the stuff so we just came up with that one.
The three stand against a wall.
Briley: I just decided to combine boxes together. And then it ended up looking like a snowman.
Moné speaks to the camera in the library.
Moné: Briley, she made a thing where when you pull it back it shoots.
Car’reanna speaks to the camera in the library.
Car’reanna: And they was like, what should the name of it be? And then we came up with a different name. It was like like you love peppermints or something? And we was like yeah. And then Briley said we should name it peppermint snowman.
The three stand against a wall.
Briley: And then we were like Peppermint is like a good name for a snowman.
Moné: She came up with that the name, we agreed but you did it.
The principal speaks to a crowd of children, presenting the project. The ASL interpreter signs as he speaks.
Principal: Yeah. So how about the peppermint snowman inventors come up here and join me.
The kids walk to the front, and their project is unveiled.
Principal: 1, 2, 3.
The kids play with the prototype.
Thompson: Getting to see them put so much effort into designing something and working out the kinks and working as a group as well has been awesome, like seeing that collaboration between them is probably my favorite part because I think collaboration can bring out a lot of the best qualities in them.
Principal: And we’re going to have her fire the ceremonial first piece of ammo, ready? There you go. Hey, what do you think? Peppermint snowman, hey, pretty cool, right?
Maltese: Often, arts programs, music programs, theater programs: Those are some of the first to get thrown out with the belief that if we just focus more time on tested subjects, our students would do better.
Kids work on their designs.
Maltese speaks to the camera.
Maltese: Whereas if you do the opposite where you bring in more of these opportunities, even though it seems like it’s giving less time to learning the basics, their performance usually goes way up on those because they’re engaged.
Kids work in the classroom.
Kay: I had a lot of creative potential in the fourth grade that wasn’t, I didn’t really have an outlet for until really I started this program. So I think it’s important to give kids, you know, things that are, that are more problem-solving and design rather than just strictly like memorization.
The kids’ hands go to the camera.
Background: Okay, cool. Hi.
Screen says: How to build a snowman.
Screen shows headshots of the three fourth graders. Text: Briley Sissman. Moné White. Car’Reanna Isabell. Screen shows childhood photos of the design students. Text: Mitch Runkle. Zelton Kay. Raul Quiroz. Created by: production students Melanie Roberts. Taiah Wilson. Ce’Aira Waymon. Their headshots are seen.
Screen shows thanks. Text: Special thanks to Ms. Thompson, Adam Maltese, Mr. Valenta, Fairview Elementary, Hoosier Hills, David Pillar, Jon Racek, Susanne Schwibs. Music: Dippu, All Betz Off, Finetune Music. Folk guitar optimistic reflect, Future Vision, Finetune Music. Grand Heist, Prime Number, Finetune Music. Maple Leaf Rag, Akashic Records, Jamendo. Middle Path, Eden Keyes, Keyframe Audio. The First Step, Eric Feinber, Epidemic Sound.
Text: Thank you!
Students in MSCH-P435 Advanced Documentary Workshop documented the making of the “Peppermint Snowman,” a concept created by Fairview Elementary School fourth-graders and brought to life by students in the IU Eskenazi School of Art and the Hoosier Hills Career Center, in partnership with the Wright School of Education.