MANSFIELD — Uneek Brown stepped into the shot, a black and white clapboard in her hands.
“Scene 8B, Take 1,” she announced, then pulled up the top of the clapboard and let it fall. Then she stepped back, found a seat and followed along in the script as the scene unfolded.
On the other side of the set, Evan Brown (no relation) listened to the audio through a pair of headphones. She monitored the recording for any irregularities — crackly audio, an odd scuff or footstep, a glitch in the recording.
Uneek will be a senior at Mansfield Senior High School this fall. Evan just graduated. They’ve both taken classes with Mark Morich, Senior High’s interactive media career tech teacher.
“I’ve always been into graphic design and (Morich) talked about being able to use different Adobe products, so that was the original reason I took it,” Evan said.
“I kept going because all the topics that he taught were really fascinating. I guess you can say I fell in love with all the different things — using cameras and stuff. I’ve never thought about it before then.”
The Browns were chosen to help with a new Leapyear Films project last week.
The Mansfield-based production company recorded video portions of a new elementary curriculum from Mind Body Align.
Jennifer Enskat, who runs Leapyear Films with her business partner Andy Gardner, said it was the perfect way to expand on the company’s educational mission. Leapyear founded a film school, Leapyear Studios, in 2023.
“We’ve managed to make this all about education. It’s been great,” she said.
Curriculum videos feature actor Cynthia Gray, a 2009 Lexington grad
Enskat and Gardner also serve on the advisory board for Mansfield Senior’s interactive media program. They recently helped run a summer film camp, which Uneek and Evan attended.
“We don’t see ourselves as a film school for people who are just interested,” Enskat said. “We see ourselves as teaching what people need to know to get a job in the business.”
Evan is attending the Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus in the fall, where he’ll study moving image animation.
Uneek said she’s not sure yet what facet of the production industry she wants to pursue.
“A lot of people are trying to tell me to be an actor or a DP (director of photography),” she said. “I’m trying to figure it out, trying to get involved in it as much as I can before I have to decide what I want to do.”
Enskat’s daughter Cynthia Gray was in front of the camera, reading through the curriculum in the soothing, slightly exaggerated manner typical of children’s programming.
“I didn’t get lessons like this on being mindful and talking about emotions. I think those are really important,” said Gray, who graduated from Lexington High School and now resides in New York.
“I learned things, too. I’m wondering what lessons I’m going to take away from this.”
Labyrinth Adventures incorporates mindfulness into social & emotional learning
For years, Mind Body Align educators have offered social and emotional learning services to area schools and workplaces using a third-party curriculum.
But founder Annamarie Fernyak said she and her staff felt something was missing in the K-12 experience. So they began developing their own curriculum with an increased focus on mindfulness.
“We realized that there were some areas we could improve and we can also make it more interactive,” Fernyak said.
The company’s new curriculum, Labyrinth Adventures, combines lessons, activities and storytelling. The goal is to help students develop self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.
Children learn simple techniques like breathing exercises and paying attention to your senses — practices that can slow down the mind and keep emotions from spinning out of control.
“Mindfulness is learning to pay attention. It’s not super complicated,” Fernyak said. “However, the act of noticing means you have to shift what you’re paying attention to. That’s the hard part.”
Fernyak said the emphases on mindfulness and equity are what makes the Labyrinth Adventures curriculum unique.
“Mindfulness practice, which is in support of paying attention, is the missing piece to most social and emotional learning curriculums,” she said.
“A lot of social and emotional learning curriculums will teach the kids different things like how to play together and kindness, but they don’t necessarily teach the kids how to notice what’s happening.”
The curriculum’s equity questions and reflections help educators examine their own beliefs and if they impact their interactions with students.
“It’s embedded in the curriculum itself, rather than just being added on,” Fernyak said.
Labyrinth inspired by ancient meditative walking paths
The curriculum includes 16 lessons that are about 20 minutes each. Teachers can deliver the lesson using the curriculum script or play the videos.
Each unit also comes with a story set in the Labyrinth, a garden inspired by the ancient meditative symbol.
For centuries, labyrinth walks have been used by people of different faiths for spiritual centering, contemplation, meditation and prayer.
The twists and turns force the walker to slow down. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no dead ends or false paths — it’s a single path in and out.
“It’s meant to facilitate meditation, because you don’t have to think about where you’re going,” Fernyak said. “You can’t get lost.”
The characters inside the Labyrinth include a monarch butterfly named Tia, a grasshopper named Dwight and a wise Tree.
The curriculum’s first version is designed for 2nd- and 3rd-grade students. Fernyak said the company plans to develop age-appropriate versions that span K-12 in the future.
