Exploring Uncle Monday and Other Florida Tales

UNCLE MONDAY GOES TO SCHOOL!

Uncle Monday and Other Florida Tales are on their way to school! The newly developed ACE/FAAE curriculum materials will make their debut in Osceola County at PM Wells Charter School and in Gadsden County at Gadsden Elementary Magnet School, beginning in February. Both schools will exhibit the 55-piece collection of the late Kitty Petterson’s story illustrations; this exhibit is available through the Museum of Florida History’s TREX program. Kathy Lott, McNair Magnet School, Brevard County, is leading this pilot program. Debbie Fahmie, Osceola County Public Schools, and Cari Kupec, Brevard County Public Schools, will provide professional development opportunities for the teachers in these schools.

Uncle Monday has been the subject of much conversation and many flying pencils at the UCF Center for Digital Media. Led by Max Croft, faculty and students alike have embraced the Florida history embodied in the folk tales collected by UCF Professor Kristin Congdon. Max and six colleagues, including Dr. Congdon and composer Dr. Stella Sung, recently demonstrated to an ACE/FAAE delegation the animated Uncle Monday film which is currently in development.

The process leading to the animated film began with Professor Jim Story creating a “beat board” of the “Uncle Monday” folk tale. This led to students becoming involved in researching the context of the story and in developing their own conceptions of the characters. The resulting “story board” became the basis for the animated film currently in production. Moving from 2-D images to 3-D animation is a year-long process. In addition, graduate student Natalie Underberg is creating a video game, based on “The Turkey Maiden” story. Set in Ybor City, this story brings out the Hispanic flavor of Florida’s heritage.

ACE/FAAE plans to collaborate with the UCF Center for Digital Media in the development of curricular materials to support use of both the animated film and the video game in K-12 school settings. In addition, ACE/FAAE anticipates highlighting the process of animation as a “career” video. This unique collaboration would bring student artist-animators together with seasoned professional educators to activate learning in the arts for Florida’s students.

Max Croft stated that “ACE has breathed additional life into our animation work.” For Dr. Mary Palmer, ACE Founder, this type of collaboration is essential. According to Palmer, “Bringing arts and education together to benefit kids and communities is the very basis of what is good in our efforts.” This promising collaboration is well on its way to becoming a national model.