Carless Drive In

One of the traditions at FLI is the Carless drive in, when we transform the classroom into a genuine, outdoor on the inside movie theater! I got to help set up for this event, and it was so much fun. First we cranked up the country tunes, then we moved all the desks and chairs out into one of the hallway rooms, then we laid out astro turf with popcorn ground into it from who knows how long! Then we decked the walls with black tarps, moved in some lawn furniture, about a dozen bean bags and pillows, several sleeping bags, and about one hundred and fifty plastic balls strewn around…end result, and normal classroom met morphed into a beautiful outdoor theater!

The next night we arrived for the double feature of Toy Story 3 and The Princess Bride. Outside the classroom was Jessa, one of the staff’s eleven-year-old daughter, stationed behind the plywood booth boldly declaring “Tickets! Tickets!” we were given tickets, which she took back and ripped in half, warning us not to loose the other half before the raffle.
We walked into the classroom where a ball fight had already commenced; colorful plastic balls darted everywhere as we chucked them back and forth. Soon it was one side against another, we all had our hoards and our allies.
After while the first movie started, but even as Woody and Buzz tried to escape the daycare the plastic ball war continued, with a random ball arching across the room, creating shadows as they passed the projector.
After Andy gave Woody a teary goodbye, we popped in The Princess Bride, and quote pretty much the whole thing. After which Kjersten called out the raffle, giving away both movies and two theater passes (I won Toy Story and my roommate Emily won Princess Bride :-) finally, together we all disassembled the drive in, and rebuilt our classroom, returning it once again to it’s full glory, leaving behind nothing but the scent of popcorn, and the echo’s of laughter.

The Classroom Before:



And After (Click on the link to see a youtube of us setting it up :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1aCkNZl43c