This week, as we have pointed out already, is Character Counts Week. But there is another area of recognition to celebrate this week. October 25 through October 31 is officially International Magic Week! 

There are many, many performers in this country making their livings, or trying to make their livings, through performing school assembly programs for kids. Some are good, some are great and some are, well ... some are not so great.

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.

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.

Schools across the country have in recent years pondered the problem of how to turn children into moral individuals and good citizens. Many have exerted much effort to introduce good character education into the daily lives of children. Concepts such as respect, responsibility, honesty and so on have been crafted together into various character building programs. Many schools now utilize these concepts on a daily basis to help turn today's children into the good citizens of tomorrow. And this is a great thing!

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. 

We have been back in the Chicago area this week with Sky Dome Planetarium, our portable planetarium school assembly, presented in schools there by the exceptional Rojo. He just appeared at a school in Joliet, Illinois, and judging by the reaction I think they liked him!