Suwannee County Exceptional Learning Program (ELP) students learn a lot in school, but lately they’ve taken on the task of movie making.

ELP students in grades one through 12 recently created the first movie about Suwannee County ever produced by students. And in the process they learned a lot about the county and movie producing.

“The People and Places of Suwannee County” was produced by lots of hard work from students and their teacher, Roberta Richmond. Students researched history, industry, agriculture and many other facets of the county to prepare interview questions.

Throughout the month of February, Richmond took her students on the road to interview and film people and places in the county. Students visited public officials, civic and business leaders, various farmers, museums and many places of interest.

Once the travels were complete and information

gathered, Richmond wrote a script for the movie based on students’ notes, and film major Nicholas Serenati compiled and edited the film.

In a visit to one of Richmond’s classes to discuss the film, ELP students were eager to share their experiences with the project.

Third, fourth and fifth graders visited Ted Jones, who tailor makes western and English saddles for people all over the world.

Richmond said Jones makes saddles for movie stars that are featured in films and to be used for the re-enactment of the Civil War in Olustee.

“Mr. Jones showed us how he soaks the leather to make it soft so you could put impressions on it. He let us practice it with metal and a hammer. It was really cool,” said ELP student Lindsay Brothers.

“What I liked best was visiting Sonny Nobles,” said ELP student Wesley Thomas. “He is our current mayor. He talked about what changes could be made in Suwannee County and what changes have already been made.”

Thomas said though he wasn’t one of the students who visited Shenandoah Dairy, he learned a lot from reading the movie script.

“They pamper every single cow and give them three square meals a day,” said Thomas. “They give each cow a tag number that tells how many gallons they milked or how many calves they have had to track which cows are producing.”

In recalling the visit to the Recreation Center, ELP student Brandon Furry said he learned about how many employees they needed to run the center.

Furry’s, dad, Jason Furry, the Recreation Center coordinator, introduced the class to employees in the office and then engaged the class in a soccer game.

ELP student Taylor Randell spoke about the experience of visiting the University of Florida (UF) Research Center.

“Mr. Jason Chandler (UF agriculture extension agent) showed us different kinds of plants and invited us inside the greenhouses. Mrs. Linda Landrum (UF horticulturist) told us about horticulture,” Randell said. “I learned there are some types of plants that can’t grow in certain places.”

Richmond said the research center is trying to get tangerines to start growing in North Florida.

In a visit to the Suwannee County Museum, ELP student Destiny Perrin said there was a 1950s telephone on exhibit.

“They let one student ‘talk’ on the old-fashioned telephone,” Perrin said. “It was like a big machine. It had a lot more gadgets than we have now and you had to dial the operator.”

The museum’s director Carol Herring took students back in time to the history of Suwannee County and showed off historical memorabilia.

Branford students visited Leon and Shirley Hatch for some fact finding about Branford history and newspaper. Leon Hatch told the children memories about his dad providing firewood for the steamboats that were anchored at Hatch Landing behind his childhood home. Shirley Hatch, editor of the Branford News, shared her experiences about managing a newspaper.

“Though our class didn’t visit the newspaper, the script said Mrs. Hatch writes it and then it goes through a machine and copies and it prints,” Brothers said.

Richmond said the ELP obtained a grant that covered the cost of a camera, film, tripod and editing program for the project.

During the venture of making the film, ELP students learned a valuable lesson about giving back to the community. They witnessed first hand how businesses, leaders and individuals have used their talents and abilities to serve the community and make Suwannee County what it is.

“The People and Places of Suwannee County” is available for checkout at the Suwannee River Regional Library or for sale at $15. To obtain a copy of the movie, contact Roberta Richmond at 364-3711 or 935-0863. The proceeds will fund similar projects for the ELP Department.

Vanessa Fultz may be reached by calling 1-386-362-1734 ext. 130 or by emailing vanessa.fultz@gaflnews.com.