Elementary school class meets actor in virtual visit

Bordewich Bray Elementary School fourth grade teacher’s Allie Davis found an interactive way to get her students excited about reading. After conducting her annual study and movie viewing of Louis Sachar’s “Holes,” she connected them by Zoom with actor, gamer and rapper Khleo Thomas who played Hector “Zero” Zeroni in the movie.

The class, finding out only two days prior to their virtual visit, dressed in costumes of their favorite “Holes” character to ask Thomas about his experience on set making the movie and his thoughts about the book.

Thomas, 35, was 13 during the production of “Holes” and told Davis’ class it took three months to shoot.

“We did two months in the desert and one month on set,” he said. “It was 105 to 110 degrees every day. Cameras were getting knocked over from random sandstorms. We did physical training, and we were really digging holes. They had us climbing trees to prepare us for what we were really going to experience.”

Student Avery Vail Kwas, dressed as Zero, asked Thomas whether he actually had to drink the “Sploosh” solution — representing a jar of spiced peaches and caramelized onions in the book — and what it tasted like.

“Great question!” Thomas told her and the class. “That mixture was made of bananas, maple brown sugar and oatmeal (for the movie). We shot the scene at 8 in the morning, and I remember being wired until about 11 at night.”

Kwas told the Appeal her grandmother helped to sew her orange jumpsuit pants to help get her jumpsuit costume ready for the part.

“I love reading,” she said. “I just love how chapter books get you trapped in a story.”

Nathanael Cook, also one of Davis’ students, said he enjoyed reading “Holes” and learning about Thomas’ role of Zero.

“(I like) seeing the age differences and seeing how he looks now and (learning) about funny stuff like bloopers,” he said.

Davis said the book serves as an excellent literary transitional guide for fourth graders even though there are some “darker elements.”

“We always talk about them and it’s also very fun and very adventurous,” Davis said. “And for them, meeting the actor really means it’s bringing the book alive for them, which we’ve never done this before.”

The process to request a virtual meeting with Thomas began in December, she said, when her class began reading “Holes.” She took time to hold discussions about it in between required state testing and school breaks and then they finally watched the movie. Davis contacted Thomas’ public relations representatives, who were gracious to accommodate her class in his schedule.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’m sure he’s a very busy man. This was a movie he did 20 years ago, and the fact that he’s willing to pass it on to the next generation is amazing. He’s very humble.”

Davis said as an avid reader herself, she was excited to provide an opportunity to have the students meet Thomas as an extra connection to the literature they had just read. She said when she announced to her students they would be able to meet Thomas, they screamed so loud from excitement, it was deafening.

“It’s going to foster that love of learning for the rest of their lives, and being a teacher means you’re trying to give the kids as many memorable experiences as you possibly can,” Davis said. “And connecting a book to the real world and getting to meet the actor was definitely one of those experiences.”