I don’t know if you caught this but it took me by surprise. China recently launched a piece of a future space station into orbit. Coming as it does on the heals of the end of our Space Shuttle program it kind of rocked me back on my heels a little.
As September rolls rapidly toward its conclusion (Boy, can you believe how quickly that went by?), we find ourselves looking ahead toward the rest of the school year. Many schools have now made their plans for school assemblies, though many have not yet even begun. Just some thoughts today on strategically planning your school assemblies for maximum benefit in supporting the curriculum.
With all the hoopla and attention centering on our new Stronger Than a Bully program this Fall, we have somewhat neglected another of our new school assemblies, The Invisible Wonder (All About Air!). That certainly needs to be corrected!
Middle school can be really tough. Miserable, in fact. My own daughter went through it recently, so I can speak with some authority. Kids are mean to each other. Really mean. And girls are often worse than boys. If your kids are in or have gone through Middle School, you will know what I mean. If your kids are not there yet ... prepare for a rough ride!
Hot on the heels of some great reviews in Kentucky and Indiana, our new anti bullying school assembly - Stronger Than a Bully! - is heading out to the East Coast for the month of October and will be visiting schools in New Jersey, New York and parts of New England, as well as some of our schools in Pennsylvania both on the way out and coming back.
This outstanding new program focuses on empowering the victim and teaching kids techniques to use to prevent them from becoming victims. These are very important lessons to learn not just for their time in school, but for dealing with life in general. And Dave Mitchell, the performer behind this program is extremely adept at making the message fun, moving and exciting!
The tour is virtually sold out in most of the country but there are still a few dates left in Michigan and a few left open out East. For schools in New Jersey and around New York City, remember that we also offer a second awesome new anti- bullying program this year with Shine Through and the extremely talented (and pretty!) Kristina Coia.
For the rest of the country, if we cannot find a date for your school for Stronger Than a Bully, don’t forget about The Inspector!
Inspector Iwannano is Mobile Ed’s great school assembly take on Character Counts and the Six Pillars of Character, and it covers some of the same ground as Stronger Than a Bully! Limited dates remain open in most areas, and this is also a really exciting and important program!
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 fields of 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.
Recently we spent time in Illinois attending the annual Centre East school assembly performers showcase in Skokie. One of our performers, Dick Buchholz, was there all day sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with school representatives from all over Northern Illinois.
Rolling into the Labor Day weekend here and couldn’t be more ready for a great holiday weekend!
We just came back from Chicago where we had a booth set up for the Centre East School Assembly Performers Showcase in Skokie, Illinois. Everyone had a great time! It was exciting to reconnect with many of our past clients from schools all over the greater Chicago area as well as to meet many new friends.
A lot of scheduling was furiously taking place in the frantic swirl of events, as performers hustled on and off the main stage plying their wares, while representatives of schools hurried back and forth among the different booths visiting with all the myriad types of presenters and picking their shows for the year. We met with school parents and teachers and other reps as well as many library staff also seeking exciting shows for their sites.
I have to say I also love meeting with different performers. It is amazing the variety of talent available to schools and the vast array of different types of school assemblies they offer! In addition to the science, social studies, creative writing and character issue and anti bullying type school assembly programs offered by Mobile Ed Productions, there were musicians, story tellers, multicultural dance groups and a host of others. We met with many old friends and made new friends of many others.
Joining us in our booth were performers Dick Buchholz and Tom Swenson, both long time Mobile Ed alum's. Dick, of course, is well known as one of the foremost naturalists and live animal authorities on the school assembly scene. With twenty five years or more of experience bringing natural science into schools nationwide, Dick, who is the past president of the Chicago Herpetological Society, is now resident in the Chicago area and available to bring his animals to schools and libraries there throughout the year. Tom Swenson also sat in with us for the day. Tom is a great guy who has performed science programs for Mobile Ed in the past. But now he calls on his great acting background to offer midwestern schools a chance to enjoy awesome visits to their school by Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Mark Twain. All three great school assembly programs are also available throughout the year in Illinois, Wisconsin and other midwest states. Tom had a fun time helping out with some of the snakes and other reptiles Dick had on display during the show.
All in all it was a great time for everyone! Now if you missed the event and are still seeking dates for school assembly programs for your school or library, it would be prudent to call soon. Many dates are now filled, but, at least for now, we do still have available dates for most programs. But that won’t last long! So give us a call as soon as you can!
It's Monday here in Michigan and we are all very excited even before having any coffee! It's because it's almost time for the Centre East School Assembly Performer Showcase in Skokie, Illinois!
We have written before about the great symbiotic relationship enjoyed by summer camps and school assemblies. Usually we are discussing summer camps in Michigan where the majority of our school assembly presenters are based during the summer. But we do also perform at summer camps in other states as well. Around the Chicago area we have two locally based performers who are available for summer camps in that parts if the country. And in Southern California we have three great presenters available to appear as part of summer camp activities. With both a Sky Dome Planetarium and an Earth Dome resident in the Los Angeles area we often are called upon to use these in camp formats, but we are also able to offer a couple of science programs, a social studies unit and a creative writing day.
