Sunny Strader

United States

Series: 5th Grade Dreams

5th Grade Dreams is a photographic documentary that explores the adult lives of Sunny Strader’s fifth-grade classmates, all of whom attended school in Danville, Illinois, from 2002–2003. The students were selected for a unique ‘gifted’ program based on their above averageIQ scores.
Of the 17 classmates, six are parents, eight graduated from college, eight live in Danville, and one person is married. Two served in the military, two identify as queer, and no one is certain about the future. The work examines millennials through the lens of mental illness, sexual fluidity, class, race, and gender.