When Kayla Hernds’ AP art history teacher decided to host a weekly movie night, Hernds was ready to attend each one.
But when Hernds logged onto Zoom for the first one, she expected to be greeted by many of her 32 classmates.
Instead, it was just her and her teacher, Richard Heilemann. As the minutes ticked by, one other student joined. Eventually, another classmate logged on halfway through the movie.
Hernds wasn’t happy with the turnout and felt bad for her teacher, because he really wanted to do this for the students. So, Hernds expressed her concern on her TikTok account.
Her video quickly gained 13-million views and resonated with an audience of students and educators who are struggling with the challenges of virtual learning.
So, naturally, Hernds decided to put together a movie night that anyone on TikTok could join. And the turnout was pretty great!
On the second ‘Monday Movie Night’, Hernds set up a Discord feed so anyone could join. She estimated between 400 and 500 people sporadically hopped in and out of the conversation as they watched “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”
Heilemann said that he’ll remember this year as “the year that Kayla made Monday Movie famous.”
Now, Hernds and Heilemann are searching for the best way to host the ‘new’ movie nights so anyone can join!