After school every Thursday, students meet in room 906 with Homestead’s APUSH and US History teacher, Nicholas Schueller, to watch, debate and decipher different movies selected during prior meetings. The Film Club was started before Schueller’s career at Homestead. He took over the club in his early years at Homestead.

Ever since he was a little kid, Schueller has always had a love for movies.

“When I was kid, there were three movies that made me feel like there was magic in the world and those were The Wizard of Oz, Willie Wonka and ET. Those movies made me feel like there’s a version of this world and there’s a little version of this world that is a part of your imagination – those films require you to have an imagination to go along with the story as they open up your world,” Schueller said.

With the club, Schueller is trying to instill that magic experienced when they were children.

By watching movies that help students think, process and debate, minds are able to explore and ponder the different versions of the world out there. In the Seattle Medium said a film club is a fantastic way for groups to get together and “For those with cognitive decline, watching a nostalgic film can trigger memories and prompt conversation. At the same time, other adults can use films to learn about the world and keep their brains active. By watching movies in a group, you get all of these benefits and the power of socialization.”

As the world of entertainment progresses, the love for movies is seemingly declining. With the rise of entertainment outlets such as TikTok or Instagram reels, society’s attention span is getting shorter and shorter. People’s love for movies has started to deteriorate because they can’t sit still long enough to watch the film as a whole.

“A lot of people get entertainment and new information through screens – but with that, watching movies becomes a challenge for us,” Schueller said. Though technology and social media can create a decline in the feeling to watch a movie, it can create the urge to watch movies with the sub-culture, MovieTok. On MovieTok, creators will either post small clips of movies by themselves or over another clip such as slime videos or even Subway Surfers. For some, it is difficult to want to sit down and enjoy a movie. Society’s attention spans have hit an all-time low, but communities such as MovieTok can convince people to sit down and watch the movie as a whole.