Holiday High Jinks

Cranberry Elementary staff, with the help of fun-loving state trooper, filmed
​ a short movie to bring cheer to their remote learning students this holiday season

Lights! Camera! ACTION!

Not typical instructions bellowed in a classroom. But for Bob "Martin Scorsese" Horner, principal turned director, his school is anything but typical.

In the after-hours of Cranberry Elementary School last week, Horner B. DeMille turned his cathedral of learning into a movie set.

His actors: a mischievous green suited grade-five teacher, an actual Pennsylvania State trooper, a dog named Milo expected to suddenly answer to Max, a couple wee-whos and a second-grader mini-me in a smaller furry green costume.

They were all part of a sinister plot to bring a little cheer to the Cranberry Elementary School kids who have had to deal with school shut-downs, social distancing and wearing masks all day long since COVID-19 reared its grinch-like head in March.

Horner Spielberg admitted he wasn't sure they'd do anything with the Grinch character this year even though it has been a bit of a tradition in recent years. But his actors had already been brewing up a storm including Trooper Matt Shiley, who has had to endure the Grinch's escaping his custody each year.

Shiley told Horner Kubrick he had an idea for this year, so the principal decided it was worth another shot. But with the shutdown the kids wouldn't be around for the usually during school drama, so they enlisted the help of Anna Wilson, a new teacher at the school with some film and editing experience to create a scripted and fully edited short film perhaps worthy of Cannes.

Scenes included the destruction of some very accommodating teachers decorated classrooms, crawling in windows, knocking over books and Christmas trees, riding around on a floor polishing zamboni-like machine, letting some mechanical mice loose in the cafeteria(rumor has it real mice were considered but the thought of a health department violation may have persuaded the safer, and easier to catch alternative), breaking into the freezer supply of chicken nuggets and several hallway chases. 

Mike Wood, who spent the night sweating profusely inside the Grinch's skin, seemed excited, though a bit apprehensive, about causing so much mayhem to some classrooms. Especially one teacher specifically known for order and perfection. 
​His apprehension only showed before and after the scenes however, as he bought into his character fully and let fly his inner Grinch.

Lilly and Corabel Shiley, the trooper's daughters, went all out recreating the little Who children the Grinch decorated and carried around the school. And Kannon Speerstra, a second grader,  got to be the hero of the show in the end, that is if you were rooting for the Grinch over poor trooper Shiley.

The film was edited by Wilson and released this morning on the school's website and social media.
It has been shared over 500 times and viewed more than 14,000 times in just 12 hours. And apparently was noticed down in the big city where they are looking for a good story after the Steelers have had a rough couple weeks. KDKA did a segment on the effort.

A little something for the Cranberry Elementary family to brighten the holiday season during a very difficult year. And something to perhaps brighten all over the world suffering from a viral contagion(bad) as this viral video(good) is shared and shared around.

​Below, some more photos from the making of the cranberry Christmas film.