is almost here, and hopefully with it the Spring! We can all use a little nice weather after this winter, I am sure! With the Spring comes the release of schedules and dates for all our awesome programs for next year. But before we do so, we thought it might be nice to look back at some of the reactions we have had in the last month or two to several of our school assemblies.

I know...”there they go, blowing their own horn again!”. But in truth, we work very hard to ensure the programs we bring into your school are going to be the finest you have ever had, so it is really nice when that work is recognized.

Let's start out with our newest program, The STEM Museum, which is in Colorado right now.

Stephanie Turner of Holy Spirit in Overland Park writes

“Great show... the kids loved it...the teachers loved it”.

And Cheryl Sullivan of South Routt School in Yampa, Colorado said:

“Great program – well organized – our parent volunteers enjoyed helping – kids and teachers loved it!”

Meanwhile, our star performer David Mitchell has been enjoying a stay in Texas early this year. David carries several shows. Here is what Leslie Tewell of Baccus Elementary in Granbury, Texas, wrote about Dave's Ben Franklin show:

“Awesome presentation. With a full moon, on a Friday afternoon, I was worried about 550 kids sitting still for 45 minutes. Ben Franklin entertained the kids from the moment he started until the final applause 45 minutes later without one interruption. Kids were lined up in the library to check out Ben Franklin books, the teachers lounge was overflowing with positive comments about the performance, and the kids learned!”

And David's awesome Stronger Than a Bully was equally loved by Rhonda Alm of First Baptist Academy in Universal Academy, Texas.

Now, out in California, the Left Coast residents have a great bonus to compliment the California life style because our wonderful Barry Cutler is resident there year round with a raft of great assemblies.

His The Magic of Science was at Westside Park in the Adelanto system not too long ago and Jeff Steenerson wrote:

“Barry did a great job entertaining and teaching!Everyone was impressed!”

But Barry has also been one of our best Abraham Lincoln performers for years. Check this out from Davis Feldman at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth, California:

“For the past 20 years Barry Cutler has been delighting students at Lawrence Middle here in Chatsworth!”

Wow! Twenty years. Awesome.

But while we are discussing Abraham Lincoln let's not forget our other amazing Lincoln presenters either.

Out on the East Coast our Living Lincoln tour is helmed by the amazing Richard Waddingham. Here is a comment from Kathleen Anderson at St. Bridget in Massachusetts:

”We had two performances K1-3 and 4-8 and at each performance not a child made a peep...they were memorized by the likeness and story telling of Abe Lincoln and his life adventure. At the end of the performance the children were eager to ask questions about Abe's family, and what happened next...the show got everyone talking and interested in learning! Excellent All Around Thank-You!”

And let us not forget the estimable Fred Priebe, carrying the Lincoln story into schools all over the Midwest. Laura Dvornak of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Burlington, Kentucky wrote

“Junior high students (6-8th grades) take a lot to keep occupied and interested and Abraham Lincoln incorporated history and short stories, combined with humor to keep students engaged. For 8th grade Literature we are working on famous American speeches and presentation was timely with our study this week of the Gettysburg Address.”,

...while Becky Downs of Saint Joseph's in Crescent Springs, Kentucky simply said:

“Best in-school presentation I have been a witness to.”

Now, as long as we are talking about historical characters, let's continue in that direction with our shows related to Black History month.

This year our Martin Luther Kings have been wonderful (hee hee, as always). In the midwest we have featured Charles Murray, who is already known to East Coast schools where he has performed in the past. Charles was in Illinois not too long ago. Dawn De Matteo of of Lincoln Prairie in Hoffman Estates had this to say:

"I just wanted to let you know that Charles was great and the teachers and students were engaged and thought that he did a good job of talking about MLK and civil rights events... it was great! Thank you again for your help in booking this performance and we hope to be able to use you in the future.”

Down in Southern Indiana in Haubstadt, John Obermeier, principal at Haubstadt Community School wrote

“I heard many positive comments from both teachers and students. It was educational and entertaining. Charles did a very nice job!!”

Taking over from Charles on the East Coast year we were fortunate to welcome back Robert Pirtle who was absent from our roster for the last couple of years. Here is a comment from Heather Ortiz:

“The MLK assembly was amazing! The Principal and teachers are raving about it and the kids were enthralled. Robert is a class act. What a great performer but also was a kind and delightful man. The Kindergarten teachers would like to send letters of thanks to Mr. Pirtle. May we send them to you to forward?”

And, lest we forget, out in Cali we featured Carl Brown, and apparently school loved him (what a surprise that schools love Mobile Ed!).

Darice Johnson, Assistant Principal at Cascade Middle School in Auburn, Washington was ecstatic:

“I wanted to take a moment to thank you for providing us with such a wonderful actor for our Martin Luther King assembly on 1/14/14. He performed for our entire school of 733 students and had them engaged the entire performance! He was the consummate professional. He engaged the students by asking them questions and when they answered correctly, he asked their name and had everyone clap for them. I watched students who normally don’t receive acknowledgment answer questions and get praised by the whole school. I saw one student sit up proudly when he was called on and he smiled the whole rest of the assembly. As the assembly began he immediately captured the students’ attention with his humor and storytelling, and rapidly drew them into MLK’s life and history of that era with the right level of seriousness.

 I wish the other middle schools in our district had taken advantage of this opportunity. I would highly recommend this performance to anyone. Many of our teachers said this was the best MLK assembly we have had. Please pass this message along to any relevant party who may benefit from knowing how pleased we are.”

Lastly, let's take a peek at the work of Lluanna Jones, who proudly offers The Spirit to Overcome, an amazing work about the struggles and triumphs of women of color. Jason Vivadelli of Evergreen Avenue School in Woodbury, New Jersey, said this about Lluanna:

“Ms. Jones performed the Spirit to Overcome assembly at our school last week. She was well-prepared, engaging, insightful and provided an overall enjoyable experience for our students. She differentiated her performance and tailored it to fit the needs of our primary and upper elementary students. She easily took command of the large group and found ways to incorporate students to make it interactive. Our students left the assembly having learning something new. Thank you for providing such a nice experience for our students.”

One additional historical character to mention...Mark Twain! In the area around Chicago, we enjoy the services of an awesome actor by the name of Jeff Hoge who is utterly wonderful as the witty somewhat curmudgeonly Twain. Brad Ennen of Jackson Township School in Brazil, Indiana wrote: “Professional, well rehearsed presentation of historic, factually accurate content.” while at St. Michael school in Schereville Indiana, they had this to say:

“Jeff was great! The kids had an awesome time while learning character education.”

Well, that's enough for today but look for another entry soon with similar reports about our science assembly programs!

Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fieldsof science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.