How Art Can Start Conversations
About the Educational Program
FREE LUNCH is the award-winning coming-of-age comedy about a straight-laced sixth grader and the mischievous new girl who lures him into a school heist. Making good decisions is a constant presence in students' lives, but with peer pressure and bullying, doing the right thing isn’t always easy. The movie FREE LUNCH provides a springboard for discussions & an opportunity for role-playing. Our educational program allows
audiences to analyze the behavior of the characters in the movie, collectively discuss positive alternatives, and apply this learning to real world situations.
The Student Experience (grades 4-6)
Students will watch a private screening of FREE LUNCH. Afterwards, members of FREE LUNCH cast and crew will engage students in meaningful discussions where students will offer positive, alternative solutions for how the characters could have handled situations differently. The actors/filmmakers will lead students through their suggestions in theater role-play exercises.
Key Concepts
THEATER PROGRAM
This program adheres to the following California Framework Standards:
CREATING—Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
PERFORMING—Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Through this program students will learn:
• How to identify and deal with peer pressure & bullying
• How to make good decisions
• To appreciate the role of the actor, director, writer, audience & more!
The Educators
Cristina Nava, Director
Cristina Nava has a BA from UCLA and a Masters in Education from Concordia University in Irvine. She was a middle school teacher for over a decade before moving to film and television. Today, she is a veteran writer/producer of films, most notably “In Other Words” originally acquired by HBOMax and “Divorce Bait” originally acquired by Samuel Goldwyn. Cristina previously directed young actors in theater, bringing her talents to the set of “Free Lunch”, making this family movie her directorial debut.A few years before becoming a teacher or filmmaker, Cristina toured the country performing Theater for Social Justice plays which included a post-show assembly discussion incorporating Boal Techniques to work with kids K-12 to use theater to discuss discrimination in their schools. She is thrilled to be using these techniques with students alongside her directorial debut FREE LUNCH.
Forrest Hartl, Writer
Forrest Hartl holds a Masters in Education from Biola University and an MFA in Theater from USC. He is a theatre educator who has worked in the classroom for the past 20 years with all grade levels K – College.
Forrest worked with Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs where he created interactive theatrical interventions on a variety of health topics where they presented the programs to students K – 12 across Southern California. Forrest is currently a theater professor at Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA.