Literary Film Studies Class Comes to Grand Ledge

Imagine walking into class to see a film cued up on the white board. Victory! It’s a movie day….Now just imagine having a class where that wasn’t just an occasional treat, but the norm, every single day. Welcome to Mr. Cook’s Film Studies Class. Cook, who has previously only taught Spanish classes, is excited to teach an English class that explores one of his favorite topics.
Students can email their counselors or speak to Cook in order to switch into the class during fifth-period of third-trimester. Students interested in watching and interpreting films are encouraged to add the class to their schedule.
“I’m so stoked that there’s a class that teaches something interesting,” said junior, Jasper Nolan.
Though the class is currently an elective credit, Cook hopes that in the future it will be an English credit. In spite of this, the class will only be open to students who have completed the prerequisite of English 9 and 10.
“I think that there are as many merits to watching, analyzing, dissecting, and talking about movies than there are in reading a book,” said Cook in an interview, “but grade-wise, it won’t be nearly as hard as an English class. You determine your own grade by how much work you want to put in.”
For the past two years, Cook has advised the Grand Ledge Film Club. The Film Club watches and discusses movies and has also volunteered at both the Capital City and Grand Rapids film festivals. He hopes to connect the club to the class in some way, but he isn’t certain of what he wants to do with the class. His ideas range from allowing students to pick a film to write an essay on, to having students take notes on movies seen in class.
“I don’t really have any restraints or restrictions, so I can kind of explore whatever I want,” said Cook, “I think it would be fun if from a film standpoint if we took something thematic and did some sort of debate or discussion with the class.”
Cook is looking forward to the class and is hoping that his students feel the same.
A curriculum is currently in the works for a Literary Film Studies Class taught by Vincent Cook. Cook, who has previously only taught Spanish classes, is excited to teach an English class that explores one of his favorite topics.
Students can email their counselors or speak to Cook to switch into the class during the fifth-period of third-trimester. Students interested in watching and interpreting films are encouraged to add the class to their schedule.
“I’m so stoked that there’s a class that teaches something interesting,” said junior, Jasper Nolan.
Though the class is currently an elective credit, he hopes that in the future it will be an English credit. In spite of this, the class will only be open to students who have completed the prerequisite of English 9 and 10.
“I think that there are as many merits to watching, analyzing, dissecting, and talking about movies than there are in reading a book,” said Cook in an interview, “but grade-wise, it won’t be nearly as hard as an English class. You determine your own grade by how much work you want to put in.”
For the past two years, Cook has advised the Grand Ledge Film Club. The Film Club watches and discusses movies and has also volunteered at both the Capital City and Grand Rapids film festivals. He hopes to connect the club to the class in some way, but he isn’t certain of what he wants to do with the class. His ideas range from allowing students to pick a film to write an essay on, to having students take notes on movies seen in class.
“I don’t really have any restraints or restrictions, so I can kind of explore whatever I want,” said Cook, “I think it would be fun if from a film standpoint if we took something thematic and did some sort of debate or discussion with the class.”
Cook is looking forward to the class and is hoping that his students feel the same.