There is a problem in Florida. No, I don’t mean their voting machines. There is a huge problem in the Florida Everglades, and it could be coming your way.
This weekend we will all get a day off for Memorial Day. And that means backyard barbecues, getting together with family, maybe going to the lake or the beach (if the weather is good) or a ball game. Relaxing and enjoying some time off. And everyone needs that.
But somewhere in there it wouldn’t hurt to remember that this time honored holiday was established to honor the brave warriors who have served our nation and who gave as Mr. Lincoln observed “ the last full measure of devotion.”
People argue over the exact birth of this traditional day. Some say it began in the southern states as war widows placed flowers on graves of fallen rebel soldiers. But as an officially recognized holiday it came into existence through a proclamation signed in 1868 by General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Potomac and intended as a day to honor the fallen from the great Civil War which had ended but three years earlier.
Following World War I the holiday was changed to include honoring the dead from all wars fought by soldiers of our nation.
Sadly, our nation has in so many ways forgotten the meaning of this day, and in doing so, forgotten the sacrifices so many have made to support our freedoms. On Monday, at 3 PM local time (wherever you are) try to take part in our National Moment of Remembrance. Just take a moment, wherever you are, and for a few seconds give thought to those who gave their lives for you. It may seem a small gesture, but it is, indeed, after they gave so much, the least that you can do.
Our children need to know our history. They need to understand the challenges, difficulties and sacrifices of those who have gone before. A wise person once observed “you cannot know where you are going unless you know where you came from.” I would add to that the words “and why.” Teaching our children to truly understand how we got to this moment in time is crucially important. And despite what many Americans think, history does not need to be boring. Far from it! History is just the telling of what is happening today, as told by those of tomorrow. All our great traditions of theatre and entertainment come down to us from origins in story telling and oral history. Warriors around the fire at night retelling the story of the previous days hunt. Or the previous week, or the great hunt of the previous year. This is how the practice of recording history originated. As entertainment. Reliving the excitement of previous times. Your kids can follow in this great tradition and learn their own exciting history quite easily through a school visit from a costumed actor in the role of someone great from a previous time and place. Mobile Ed offers living history for schools through a broad range of educational school assemblies spanning several different era’s and all told with excitement and flair that will keep kids attentively alive just as their ancestors were mesmerized by tales of the hunt. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and more are alive again and waiting to help your students relive the events of the past that they might better understand the problems of today.
So as you plan for the next year of their lives, please consider arranging a visit from one or more of these great Americans. And maybe they will grow up to remember that “the last Monday in May” is about more than hot-dogs and swimming pools and ball games.
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
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But somewhere in there it wouldn’t hurt to remember that this time honored holiday was established to honor the brave warriors who have served our nation and who gave as Mr. Lincoln observed “ the last full measure of devotion.”
People argue over the exact birth of this traditional day. Some say it began in the southern states as war widows placed flowers on graves of fallen rebel soldiers. But as an officially recognized holiday it came into existence through a proclamation signed in 1868 by General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Potomac and intended as a day to honor the fallen from the great Civil War which had ended but three years earlier.
Following World War I the holiday was changed to include honoring the dead from all wars fought by soldiers of our nation.
Sadly, our nation has in so many ways forgotten the meaning of this day, and in doing so, forgotten the sacrifices so many have made to support our freedoms. On Monday, at 3 PM local time (wherever you are) try to take part in our National Moment of Remembrance. Just take a moment, wherever you are, and for a few seconds give thought to those who gave their lives for you. It may seem a small gesture, but it is, indeed, after they gave so much, the least that you can do.
Our children need to know our history. They need to understand the challenges, difficulties and sacrifices of those who have gone before. A wise person once observed “you cannot know where you are going unless you know where you came from.” I would add to that the words “and why.” Teaching our children to truly understand how we got to this moment in time is crucially important. And despite what many Americans think, history does not need to be boring. Far from it! History is just the telling of what is happening today, as told by those of tomorrow. All our great traditions of theatre and entertainment come down to us from origins in story telling and oral history. Warriors around the fire at night retelling the story of the previous days hunt. Or the previous week, or the great hunt of the previous year. This is how the practice of recording history originated. As entertainment. Reliving the excitement of previous times. Your kids can follow in this great tradition and learn their own exciting history quite easily through a school visit from a costumed actor in the role of someone great from a previous time and place. Mobile Ed offers living history for schools through a broad range of educational school assemblies spanning several different era’s and all told with excitement and flair that will keep kids attentively alive just as their ancestors were mesmerized by tales of the hunt. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and more are alive again and waiting to help your students relive the events of the past that they might better understand the problems of today.
So as you plan for the next year of their lives, please consider arranging a visit from one or more of these great Americans. And maybe they will grow up to remember that “the last Monday in May” is about more than hot-dogs and swimming pools and ball games.
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
Mike Carrell is a veteran school show presenter for Mobile Ed Productions. Originally from Oklahoma, Mike is a very friendly, funny and gregarious fellow with a wonderful happy outlook on life. He has worked in the field of school assemblies for many years and has worked all over the country. He is one of our presenters for our Earth Balloon assembly “The Earth Dome” and also brings our television production assembly “Lights Camera Action” into schools.
Every year I say goodbye to friends. Friends I have worked with for years. That’s because every year principals with whom I have become good friends pack it in after many years of shepherding children through their formative growth. While I am always happy for them personally, I am also always so sorry to see them go. Not because I won’t be doing business with them anymore, but because I have honestly grown to value them as friends. I know their kids. I have never met their kids, of course, but I remember when they were sick in elementary school or when they left for college, when they got married, had children and so on. I remember because my friend and I talked about it at the time. I know where they went on vacation, and I know about the time a tornado knocked down their house, or their wife won the lottery or their town flooded. I know them because we are friends. This year alone, I will be losing touch with several good friends in Ohio. In Bryan, Ohio alone I am losing two good friends. Over near Canton, Ohio there is a gentleman I consider a very good friend who is retiring after more than forty years. I have been to his school myself several times, and we have worked together, picking his programs since 1992. I have listened as his son, whom I am sure is a great guy, left high school and applied at colleges, settling on a prestigious military academy. I listened as his son went off to war in the Middle east, and I listened to the relief in his fathers voice when he returned home safely, then married and began to raise a family of his own. These people are my friends and I will miss them!
It’s May and our phones are ringing off the hook. Clients from schools here in the Midwest and all around the country are calling to set their school shows and school assemblies and enrichment programs for next year. Wise schools like to schedule in the spring because they know they get the best selection of dates and also because they can then relax all summer knowing they don’t have “the sword of Damocles” hanging over their heads. Their season is set. Many times I have concluded a conversation with a school principal in which we set their dates for the following year and then ask what they were doing for the summer. The reply is always something like “ I am going to Hilton Head to play golf, and I am really happy to get this off my plate so I can relax and not worry about next year!”
Last week we had an adventure, of sorts, here in our office. We began to hear strange noises emanating from an interior wall in the back room where we store unused equipment from our school assemblies. Hmmm.
Well, I didn’t know this existed, but apparently today is a special day! Today, May 17, is apparently Museum Memory Day when we are supposed to share a great memory of a visit to a museum. Look here:
No, this isn't about school assemblies, just the wonderful, fluffy little critters that keep us happy with their good company while we create the shows that please, entertain and educate your kids!
I just listened to an amazing piece and I want to share it with you. Our kids today are so much more internet savvy than I am. Of course, when I was that age we did not have the internet. When I was a kid we were still writing with quill pens!
We have written before about the poor performance of our children (and many grown-ups, too, unfortunately) in the area of geography. It is a sad state of affairs, but one, given today’s amazing technologies, does not need to exist.
