COLD OPEN – ABIGAIL ADAMS HIGH, MORNING
The bell rings like a jump scare. Flyers scream MIDTERMS THIS WEEK.
August clutches a stack of color-coded index cards. Ava drags a rolling suitcase of… craft supplies? Dewey has a lab coat for no reason. Mikey carries a duffel shaped like it contains a bowling ball.
Ava: We don’t study, we experience. Welcome to the Study Olympics.
August: Opening ceremonies at lunch. No injuries, light snacks, heavy learning.
Dewey: I brought a lab coat to learn chemistry by osmosis.
Mikey: I brought a fifteen-pound medicine ball named “Focus.”
August: That’s… a bowling ball.
Mikey: Focus is heavy.
Smash to titles.
ACT ONE
SCENE A – CORY’S CLASSROOM – FIRST PERIOD
Board reads: “How to Study (For Real).”
Cory: Pop quiz without a grade: Who crams at 2 a.m.?
(Hands half-rise. He glares. Hands sink.)
Cory: This week we test on Revolution & Reconstruction. Don’t drown in dates. Learn the story, then anchor with dates. And—(holds up a rubber duck)—teach it to this duck.
Class: ???
Cory: It’s a thing. You talk it out. If the duck looks confused, you go again.
Dewey: Finally, a student who won’t interrupt me. (to duck) Hello, quacker.
Mikey: Wizardry.
Cory: Today after school: review session. Bring questions. Leave chaos.
SCENE B – HALLWAY → LUNCHROOM – LUNCH
Ava and August have transformed a corner into stations:
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Flashcard Free-Throw: sink a card in a bin only after nailing a definition.
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Memory Palace Obstacle Course: lockers labeled “Boston,” “Yorktown,” “Appomattox.”
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Rubber Duck Theatre: tell the duck why the 14th Amendment mattered.
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Focus Toss: Mikey lobs “Focus” while reciting causes of the Civil War. (It’s definitely a bowling ball.)
Ava: Winner gets a Kindness Cord that says “I passed on purpose.”
August: Or we all win because we learned?
Ava: And a sticker.
Dewey appears in goggles.
Dewey: I will speed-run the Reconstruction amendments while juggling three highlighters.
Mikey: I’ll spot you. Don’t die.
Montage: chaos, laughter, weirdly good recall. A seventh-grader wanders over, learns what “due process” means, leaves taller.
SCENE C – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – AFTERNOON
Shawn paces with a clipboard. Katy sits at the table with a neat folder labeled “School Board – Head”.
Shawn: They asked me to run. That’s… responsibility. I usually run from that.
Katy: Platform: buses that show up, reading intervention, arts funding, decent cafeteria food. You already give speeches to the toaster every morning. Do it to people.
Door swings. Cory bursts in with a poster: “Shawn: People Change School!” (font: chaos)
Cory: Slogan: “Hunter for Head!” Or “Shawn the Dawn.” I’m your campaign manager-slash-balloon guy.
Katy: We’ll take the balloons. We’ll cap the slogans.
Shawn: (to Cory) I need your heart, not your volume.
Cory: I can heart at any decibel.
SCENE D – TOPANGA’S LAW FIRM (NYC) – SAME TIME
Topanga on a video call with Mr. Brogan, a startup client in a blazer and a ring light.
Brogan: The contract should say I’m not liable for anything, including things I haven’t invented yet, and also that I own the sun.
Topanga: We can protect you reasonably. We cannot give you the sun.
Brogan: What about partial sunlight?
Topanga: That’s called “a window.” (beat, kind but steel) I’ll send standard language. If that doesn’t work, we’re not the right firm.
Brogan: Wow, boundaries. You’re intense.
Topanga: I’m fair. And billable. We’ll talk tomorrow.
She clicks off, exhales, takes one centering sip of coffee.
ACT TWO
SCENE E – LIBRARY – LATE AFTERNOON
Study Olympics – Day Two devolves:
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Dewey chases highlighter juggling into a caffeine spiral.
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Ava turns mnemonic dances into a full eight-count routine and forgets the content.
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Mikey drops Focus (the bowling ball) onto the mat with a thud that makes the librarian materialize.
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August color-codes his flashcards until they resemble modern art and his brain short-circuits.
August: We have built a theme park. We have not built… learning.
Ava: New plan: we get boring. Ten-minute blocks. Teach the duck. Write what you remember without looking.
Dewey (wobbly): Retrieval practice. Science. I’m in. But also I see sounds.
Mikey: Water. Now.
They reset. Timer. Whispered explanations. Writing on blank paper. Quiet competence sneaks in.
SCENE F – COMMUNITY CENTER – EVENING
A small stage, folding chairs, bad microphones. Shawn and two other prospective candidates. Katy at the back with cue cards. Cory in the front row with a foam finger that says “DO GOOD.”
Moderator: Mr. Hunter, why head of the school board?
Shawn: Because I was a kid who needed someone to notice the zip code didn’t match the potential. Arts--Photography mostly--kept me in school. A bus route once made me miss a week of homework. We fix small levers; kids have big days.
Light applause. Cory stands.
Cory: Tell them about the cafeteria pizza! And Feeny! And—(Katy grabs him back down with a death-glare) I’m supportive.
Shawn (half-smile): I want less noise, more clarity. Kids need adults who tell the truth and show up. That’s the campaign.
Katy mouths: nailed it.
SCENE G – LAW FIRM – NIGHT
Topanga’s back on with Brogan, who has marked up the contract with emojis.
Brogan: I added a rocket ship where it felt right.
Topanga: (calm) We removed the rocket ship. We kept mutual indemnity. Here’s my final offer. If it’s a no, that’s okay. I won’t argue with you for money.
He blinks. Respect sneaks in.
Brogan: …Yes. Fine. Standard. (beat) Can I keep one rocket ship in the email?
Topanga: Knock yourself out.
She smiles—tiny victory.
ACT THREE
SCENE H – CORY’S CLASSROOM – NEXT MORNING
Midterm time. August squeezes Ava’s hand; Dewey winks at the rubber duck perched on his desk; Mikey taps a rhythm—dates to drums. Cory passes tests.
Quick montage: the core four write. Calm faces. Less flair. More knowing.
Cory (VO): You don’t pass a test by staring at your notes. You pass by turning them into your words… and then trusting them.
Pencils down. Exhale.
SCENE I – HALLWAY – LUNCH
Ava posts a “Study Olympics (Actual Rules)” sheet: 10-minute blocks, retrieval, teach a duck, water, bed.
August: And a kindness cord for helping someone else pass a thing you already know.
Dewey: I got one for teaching Mikey the 14th Amendment with a sandwich metaphor.
Mikey: Equal protection = everybody gets a slice.
Katy and Shawn appear with a stack of petition forms; Cory with a sensible, de-chaosed flyer.
Katy: We need signatures to get Shawn on the ballot. No foam fingers, only pens.
Cory (contrite): I redesigned the poster. (It’s clean, readable, normal.) And I will not shout.
Shawn: (to kids) You four just did politics right. You tried a flashy thing, learned it didn’t work, got clear, helped each other. That’s governing.
Topanga walks in, tired-wired and happy.
Topanga: My client tried to own the sun. I gave him a window. He signed.
Cory: That’s governing.
Ava: That’s lawyering.
Mikey: Wizardry.
They all grin. Pens move. Petitions fill.
SCENE J – CORY’S ROOM – AFTER SCHOOL
Cory erases the board, leaves one line: “Clarity beats clever.” He looks at the duck, chuckles.
Cory (to duck): Did we do good?
Silence. Then August, Ava, Dewey, Mikey reappear in the doorway.
August: We did good.
Ava: We did boring.
Dewey: Boring worked.
Mikey: I like boring.
Cory: Boring is the secret party where A’s live.
They laugh. Ring the little classroom bell. Fade out on a hallway that feels… doable.
TAG – SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE – NEXT WEEK
Shawn hands in his candidacy packet. Katy squeezes his hand. Cory holds the foam finger behind his back like contraband.
Clerk: Welcome to the race.
Shawn: Thanks. What’s step one?
Clerk: You go home. You sleep. Then you show up again.
Shawn: I can do that.
He can. He will.
END.
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