Enjoy the 2024 Rensselaer Park Elementary School Holiday Video: School Alone! Since right before the 2020 Holiday School Recess, two RPES teachers in the Lansingburgh Central School District have made it their mission to connect with the students in a creative seasonal way before the break. Thus, the first Annual Rensselaer Park Holiday Video was created by RPES teachers Theresa Eckler and Peter Allen!
The RPES Holiday Video is now in its fifth year and the two teachers’ creativity and ambition show no sign of slowing as they present their take on the 1990 classic holiday movie, Home Alone. In the 28-minute video – titled "School Alone" – Mr. Allen and Mrs. Eckler create an RPES take on the movie where Mr. Allen (in the Macaulay Culkin role of the 1990 movie) finds himself alone in the building during the holidays when, as he puts it, “I made my school disappear.”
The RPES Holiday Video tradition started in December 2020 when the students were learning remotely from home. Mrs. Eckler and Mr. Allen wanted to find a creative way to connect with their students from afar. With practice in virtual meetings, strategically placed props, and some holiday cheer, the first RPES Holiday Video (Santa Claus is Coming to Town) was filmed. The students, school families and faculty/staff loved the video so much that the two teachers made it an annual tradition.
Each year the videos have grown in scale and length. For the 2021 video (All Aboard the RPES), remote learning was over, and Mrs. Eckler was able to film Mr. Allen back at the school as the conductor of The Polar Express. The two teachers upped the ante in 2022 when they made an RPES version of the 2003 movie, Elf, titled Buddy the Elf Visits RPES. The 2023 RPES Holiday Video was the most epic one yet (until now) when they presented their version of the 2000 movie Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, titled The Grinch of Rensselaer Park.
Credit goes to the following members of the Lansingburgh CSD community for all their hard work on the 2024 Rensselaer Park Fifth Annual Holiday Video.
- Directed by Theresa Eckler
- Behind the Scenes Producers and Costume Design by Delmarie Giminiani and Julie Allen
- Special Effects by Jeri Wager
- Peter Allen as Peter Allen
- Ella Ragone and Gracelyn Carhide as The Wet Bandits
- Lexi Nelson as The Assistant Principal
- Tony Buchanan as Jimmy's Pizza Delivery Man
- Christopher Eaton as RPES Security