Friends' Central Junior Heads to the White House for Winning Film

Friends’ Central Junior Heads to the White House for Winning Film 

Daniel Nemroff, a junior at Friends’ Central School, was selected to visit the White House on Friday, February 28, to show his film at the first-ever White House Film Festival.

Nemroff’s film, “Technology in Education: A Future Classroom,” was one of 16 films chosen out of nearly 3,000 submissions received by the White House. View Daniel's film here: http://youtu.be/uZ73ZsBkcus 

The Competition, which took place from November 25 through January 29, was open to U.S. students in grades K-12. Entries needed to address either how technology is currently used in the student’s school or classroom or the role technology will play in the future of education. Nemroff says, “My interest in visual effects is what initially motivated me to create a futuristic film, but as I started to plan it out, I realized that there would need to be a whole lot more to it than just effects. Through this film, I wanted to show people how the classroom dynamic might actually change in the future.”

After two rounds of judging, conducted by White House staff, Nemroff’s film was selected based on creativity in expression of theme, originality, and technical quality of final video. Nemroff knew he wanted to create a film based on a future classroom and what that would look like in terms of technology, particularly the role of the teacher. “I spent a lot of time talking with my teachers about how technology would be used in the classroom in the future. Al Filreis {Friends’ Central’s 2013 Distinguished Visiting Humanities Lecturer] also encouraged me to think about what the role of the teacher would be in the future,” Nemroff said.

Nemroff had some help from friends Sam Kruger and John Gallagher, as well as Noah Silvestry, who helped Nemroff with filming, brainstorming, and recruiting classmates and teachers to be in the video. Then, Daniel had to bring his vision to life, including finding props, dreaming up exciting ideas for what a future classroom would look like, and directing all who appear in the film, as well as a considerable amount of editing and adding all the special effects, making the film a truly innovative work of art.

After getting word that his film was selected for the White House Film Festival, Nemroff’s first thought was “Oh My God. Either way, I was happy with what I’d made, but I was honored to be chosen.”

Nemroff, Kruger, and Gallagher traveled to the White House last Friday, where the Nemroff’s film was screened in front of President Barack Obama, who told Nemroff and his fellow filmmakers how outstanding their movies were, “In my official capacity as President, let me just say these movies are awesome. Like all great movies, yours do something special -- they tell a story. They help us understand, in this case, the amazing things that are going on in classrooms and how technology is empowering our students and broadening their imaginations and challenging them to dream bigger and reach further." Other special guests at the Film Festival included Kal Penn, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Conan O’Brien, and Bill Nye, who welcomed the boys to the Film Festival and interviewed them after entering the White House. 

Congratulations, Daniel!

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Friends’ Central School is a Quaker, independent, co-educational, college preparatory day school for nursery school through grade 12. Located on two campuses in Wynnewood, Pa., Friends’ Central blends a rigorous curriculum with enduring Quaker principles of kindness, compassion, and generosity of spirit to create a solid foundation for a future of opportunity and success. Students at Friends’ Central are taught to think critically and creatively, and learn the value of good character and strong work ethic to develop into thoughtful and determined citizens. The graduates of Friends’ Central and their impact on the world are proof that Quaker Works at Friends' Central School.