We have written recently about using science school shows or a school assembly based in history or social studies to entice kids to visit the library over the summer or on holidays. Well, here is an article about a pair of librarians in two completely different parts of the country collaborating on a series of projects to achieve the same end.

I started out today to just wish everyone a Happy July 4 celebration of the birth of our nation. And, by all means, Happy Independence Day to you all! (a day or two early because I will certainly be at a barbecue or a pool or both on Monday!) But along the way I was sidetracked by an article concerning scientists  who have apparently discovered a way to link strands of DNA through chemistry. 

California is a huge state, with many schools. As a result, though various tours of ours visit there each year, Mobile Ed has several performers who are full time residents on the West Coast, servicing schools there year round.

Sky Dome Planetarium is one of the most popular school assemblies in the country. And why wouldn’t it be? For kids there is hardly a more awesome experience than to enter their gym and discover a huge silver dome occupying half the room and standing some sixteen feet high. And then to enter the dome itself through a mysterious tunnel, sit in the dark inside and then to be treated to a wondrous journey into outer space and beyond! We have never met a child (or adult!) that did not think this a totally awesome experience.
With curriculum based instruction embedded thoroughly throughout the program this great school assembly is also a huge hit with teachers, as it reinforces educational benchmarks in several areas.
And so we are happy to alert you that we have made more than one tour available this year in the midwest. Michigan and Ohio schools, being right in our backyard so to speak, ave always had great opportunities for scheduling this show, but with extra performers now available, Skydome will be able to visit several states that have not had great access to this portable planetarium school assembly before.
Sky Dome (sometimes confused with the older Star Lab program) is available this school year to midwestern schools in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minneapolis and even Texas, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota!
For those in other parts of the country, do not despair, as we have additional performers resident on the East and West coasts and available to service schools both in California and the eastern states of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and all of New England.
So let the stars shine over your school!

Issues of Character have become an important part of the education of our children all over the country. Several years ago an initiative was launched to develop good character in children through the Inspector Iwannano program. This drive features the philosophy that there are different pillars of character such as Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Citizenship, and Fairness. Not a bad package of virtues, to be sure.

Good news for Texas schools! This Fall Texan schools will have a chance to enjoy a brand new science program steeped in exciting demonstrations of physical science, and performed by one of our best school assembly performers.
Toma the Mime is well known across the country for his stellar Young Authors Day school assemblies which have been dazzling audiences for twenty years and continue to encourage kids to write creatively. Additionally, for the past year or so, Toma, also a talented actor, has been visiting schools in the guise of Mr. Thomas Edison, and bringing to life the great inventor for countless delighted school audiences.
This year  Toma adds a new program to his repertoire, taking on the performer duties for our newest science assembly The Invisible Wonder! This awesome new school show explores the physical properties of air, atmosphere, vacuums and a host of other scientific phenomena through super cool demonstrations including air cannons, vacuum spheres and a working hovercraft for kids to ride on!
Toma will be returning to the Lone Star State in  October with all three of these great programs. So Texas schools will have some hard choices to make! Do they want a fantastic new science program, a mesmerizing historical recreation of the life of a famous American inventor, or do they want an amazing day of creative writing their kids will never forget?
Then again, why choose? Since Toma does not visit Texas often, why not schedule him for two days and enjoy all that he has to offer? A cross curriculum whirlwind in a brace of days might be just the ticket to wake up your  kids this Fall.
I can see it now... scores of young Texan children all dressed as mimes for Halloween!

Got your attention didn’t I? Well, the truth is there really isn’t any way to tell you what “the best school assembly” is, because it all depends upon your school and what you are looking for. Truthfully, there are many great assemblies for schools. And, equally, we have seen some that are really bad. And most likely there are many in the middle. But among the very best school shows there is one thing they all have in common: one size does not fit all!

California School Assemblies Teach Kids That Writing is a Blast!

One of the most difficult tasks a teacher has is teaching kids to write. Children are usually put off by this task and don’t realize how much fun it can be to engage in creative writing.

Many schools, seeking to excite students and prod them into writing turn to famous or not so famous authors of children's literature and arrange a visit from such an author. And, indeed, sometimes this can help. But often the writer of great books is not a great or engaging speaker. Moreover, since writing itself is their principal love, many only visit schools reluctantly and therefore charge exorbitant rates or impose outlandish conditions upon the school. Not quite as bad as rock stars insisting that green M&M’s be removed from the dish backstage, but oftentimes times almost as bad!

Thankfully, a real and delightful alternative exists. Frequent readers will have heard me speak before about Young Authors Day, our creative writing program performed by a classical mime.
This thoroughly entertaining and important program was created by Toma The Mime, a student of famous French classical mime Marcelle Marceau. Toma has drawn rave reviews in this program for almost twenty years and is still getting kids excited about writing all over the midwest, Texas and the East Coast.

But what is a West Coast school to do?
Well, Mobile Ed has you covered! Young Authors Day is such a popular and “in-demand” school assembly that we have had Toma train other performers to carry the program into areas time will not permit him to visit.
In California we are exceptionally fortunate and blessed to have the talents of Karen Lorshbough available to visit our schools and she is magnificent! A skilled and highly trained classical mime in her own right, Karen came to us some years ago and she and Toma hit it off immediately. I have to say it was amusing having them both here in the office simultaneously during training! We never knew what was going to be waiting around any corner in the office!

Karen now lives in Southern California, but travels all over the west for Mobile Ed bringing her performing skills to play and instilling in children a wonderful love of creative writing.

The day starts with a 45 minute program in which Karen demonstrates to the delight of her audience how a story may be told through mime. In the process, the children are not only highly entertained, but also learn how a mime may play multiple characters in the same story. During the program she occasionally breaks character as the mime and becomes “the author”, explaining how she comes up with ideas for stories, how she puts them down on paper, the differences between writing for a reader versus writing for a performer and so on. The children are mesmerized. Toward the end of the assembly she sends the children back to their rooms armed with a simple plot-based rubric for writing stories, and challenged to write their own. During the balance of the morning Karen visits classrooms while the children are writing and offers support, suggestions and other assistance. In the afternoon, students are treated to a reprise performance when in a large group assembly, Karen proceeds to perform stories written by the students that  morning. The excitement and joy is palpable and the day leaves an indelible mark on the kids teaching them that writing is a blast! This energy remains in the classrooms for weeks following a visit.

Some schools capitalize on a visit by also scheduling an evening show so that parents can view the stories written by their sons and daughters. These events are always well attended, as what parent can resist their child begging them to return to the school at night?
So if you are out on the left coast reading this, and you are contemplating picking out the green M&M’s to satisfy some demanding author, why bother? A visit from the lovely Karen is not only more effective, but also so much more fun!

After a three year absence from Utah we are happy to report that Mobile Ed Productions is returning to the Salt Lake area in 2011 and coming back in style with three great school assembly programs!