Mobile Ed has a lot of performers on the road. Many of these great and wonderful individuals offer more than one show to our schools. And frequently, performers will be so well liked by a school that they will be invited back with another of their shows for the following year. This is a story about one such performer and one such school.
David Mitchell is a hard working man. David crisscrosses the country for us every year, and he manages to haul around five different shows with him in his travels throughout the country. He is, of course, our spectacular Ben Franklin, but he is also the creator and performer of Imathimation, Reading:More than Words!, Stronger Than a Bully and Stronger Than a Bully 2:You’ve Got a Friend!. Like I said, David is a hard working guy!
David often proves such a hit at the schools he visits that he is back with them again the next year. And he is such a sweet and wonderful man that he usually makes friends with the staff at each school. So it is that David became friends with Mr. Tom Jerles, the principal at Redkey Elementary in Redkey, Indiana. 
Following the tragic events in Connecticut last week, David was thinking about some of his friends in small schools around the country, and he dropped a friendly note to Tom to let him know he was thinking about them. In the conversation that ensued, David learned about the impact of one of his shows at Redkey. He performed there at the beginning of this school year with Stronger Than a Bully, having been there in the past with three of his other programs. Part of that program involves the use of the word “hero” as an acronym for steps a bystander should practice in the case of witnessing an act of bullying. These steps are “Help out”, “Empathize”, “Respond and Report” , and “Open Communication”. In the show, a particular student is brought up and used to demonstrate the various actions and, in the process, given a “HERO” cape to wear, as a sort of anti bullying super hero.
At Redkey, the concept was followed up on by one of the first grade teachers. She created two of her own red super hero capes to use in the wake of the bullying show. Now, when students are “occasionally witnessed going above and beyond expectations” they are rewarded by getting to wear one of the capes for a while. And it seems to be having a great affect on the kids as they are now competing to see who can be the “best”.
We just thought you might enjoy seeing some of the kids in their “hero” capes!
Good job, David! And a big shout out to our friends at Redkey. Keep up the good work!
