The start of school is right around the corner and everywhere school personnel and parents are scrambling to make plans for the new school year. The start of a new year is often seen as a time to set a solid behavioral tone for the year with some kind of plan to encourage strong character among students and also to combat bullying.

I wasn't always Lincoln.

About a million years ago, when I was a kid, I heard a song on the radio. I liked it immediately and so I made my Mom buy me a copy on a 45 (that alone betrays my ancient condition, right?).

Yesterday we spoke a little about middle school assemblies and assembly ideas for school shows that play well at that age level. We just received a really nice e-mail following a performance of our Sky Dome Planetarium in California, and although this was an elementary school assembly, it reminded me how well this inflatable planetarium works for middle school aged kids as well.

Great school assemblies don’t just happen. It can take a little doing to select the perfect program to make a great fit for your school. And finding a great school assembly for a Middle School can be especially tough!

With this being December, and the holidays approaching rapidly, we announced yesterday a special “deal” for Chicago area schools as a sort of holiday “gift” to our friends there. Well, today we have a similar “gift” for all our friends in elementary and middle schools in New Jersey and other eastern seaboard states.

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!

We have looked at State Educational Standards a few times now, examining how school assemblies can so strongly support what children are supposed to be learning. The last few times I used Kentucky as an example, but the results can be similar in any state. This time let’s look at Indiana instead, and instead of science let’s take a look at Social Studies, and, in particular, history!

How do you know which programs and how many presentations to do for your school? This is a question which comes up with any Elementary school or Middle School looking for ideas for school assemblies. Well, as famous detective Sherlock Holmes used to say: “Elementary, my dear Watson!, Elementary!”