Television technology has become an intrinsic and indisputably important part of our lives. Computers, the internet and video are on a collision course with each other and with our future. The adults of tomorrow will need to know and understand this technology in ways most of us do not, and they will need to be able to make use of the fusion between these areas in new and creative ways as they roll through the world they are inheriting. So it is important that they be introduced to some of the basics at an early point in their development that they are then able to determine the degree they may wish to delve into these brave new worlds as they progress toward career choices.

We are celebrating a birthday here at Mobile Ed Productions today! Mobile Ed is, of course, located in Michigan where we were founded more than thirty years ago, and from where we have launched super cool school assemblies on tours taking them to most of the states in our country. But Michigan is our home, and today is the birthday of the State of Michigan!

January is a full month when it comes to the history of Native Americans. A lot of things happened in past Januarys. Going all the way back to 1689 when the Abenaki Indians attacked a settlement in Saco, Maine and killed nine settlers. In 1706, Spanish leaders, trying to improve relations, met with leaders from the nearby Pirtle Indian tribes. In 1830, Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha), the great Seneca leader dies. Born around 1779 he was known as a great speaker and for his refusal to adopt “white ways”. And in 1863, the Bear River massacre takes place in which hundreds of California volunteers attacked Northern Shoshone Indians and killed several hundred, possibly including women and children.

Being a Midwest based company, with offices here in Redford, Michigan, and a large number of our school assemblies taking place in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, we often forget to write about the great school shows that we send into schools in California. It is time to rectify that situation!

Stronger Than a Bully, the new Anti Bullying school assembly Mobile Ed premiered last August, has enjoyed a smashingly successful freshman season this school year. Winning rave reviews everywhere from Massachusetts to Texas, the tour is virtually sold out for the remainder of this school year (a few odd slots do remain in some select areas, so be sure to check if you are interested!). 

OK, time for a little blowing of our own horn. Year after year, all over the country schools offer up acclaim for our awesome portable planetarium, The Sky Dome. Four separate tours carrying this brilliant inflatable planetarium travel all over the country every year.

I finally got out to see a performance of our newest science assembly last week! Wow! I am so pleased, and so were the kids in the audience at the school in Clio, Michigan where this awesome show show took place!

These days many schools are felling the weight of state mandates testing and are opting to reduce time for assemblies and school shows. Those that do continue using school assemblies often try to focus them exclusively on tested areas such as Math and Reading.

One of the nicer aspects of working in the school assembly business is hearing from our clients when they just love a program and cannot wait to tell us. 

I know you have all been waiting desperately for this, so here it is, our newest School Assembly Dog of the Month. I must confess to a shortage of School Assembly Dog of the Month entries at present, so this month we give the award to not a specific animal but rather to a kind of animal. May we have a drum roll please .... The Mobile Ed Productions Dog of the Month Award for January 2012 goes to ....  The Family Dog!