Regular Features...
Kids on Your Block ...and Around the World
Meet Some of the Kids on the
Block -
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Justin Campbell
The Kids on Your Block... and Around the World[ YORK--Pennsylvania ]
[ HOUSTON--Texas ]
[ BISMARCK--North Dakota ]
[ EASTON--Maryland ]
[ CLINTON TOWNSHIP--Michigan ] GIRL SCOUT CELEBRATIONS! YORK--Pennsylvania The Penn Laurel Girl Scout Council conducted its Leadership Weekend this past February, just like they did fifteen years ago, with the Kids on the Block as the highlight. In January of 1987, the KOB international staff traveled to Pennsylvania to present a program and conduct a training for the weekend participants who, after learning the skills of puppetry, would become Penn Laurel's first troupe of puppeteers. The Penn Laurel Girl Scout Council started their KOB troupe with four puppet characters and six active puppeteers. According to Program Coordinator Flora Poulos, within the last 15 years, more than one hundred puppeteers from the Penn Laurel Girl Scouts have presented KOB programs to over 37,000 children. Their organization has grown and now owns 44 different puppets. Currently, there are 50 active puppeteers including Girl Scout adults, Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts, mother and daughter teams, staff members and a husband and wife team. The puppeteers perform scripts that cover topics such as multiculturalism, learning disabilities, alternatives to violence and prejudice, gender equality, physical disabilities, personal safety and bullies. HOUSTON--Texas
In Texas, the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council have a lot to celebrate. The year 2002 marks the 90th birthday of Girl Scouts of the USA, the 80th birthday of the San Jacinto Council and another strong performing year for their Kids on the Block troupe. Currently, 50 Girl Scouts ranging in age from 10 to 18 are active puppeteers, performing throughout the Houston area. With the help of more than 15 adult volunteer advisors who assist with puppetry rehearsals, transportation to performances and individual guidance for each girl, the performers have presented KOB shows for over 4,500 people this year alone. The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council owns 20 KOB puppet characters, and their troupe performs more than 40 scripts from various KOB programs. The girls also perform at many community events as well as Girl Scout events, day schools, libraries, United Cerebral Palsy Family Days and even retirement homes. According to Council KOB Coordinator Evelyn Vittone and Program Manager Melinda Gaskill, the senior citizens at one retirement home loved talking with Mark about his wheelchair. They said they could definitely relate. MENTAL HEALTH MOMENTS BISMARCK--North Dakota The Region VII Children's Services Coordinating Committee usually only gives their "Distinguished Individual Award" to one person, but this year a group of middle school students who have served as excellent mentors and role models received the award. Jenny Draovitch, Alicia Hart, Erin Hocking, Peter Knudsen and Kristin Mathern are members of the Horizon Middle School (HMS) KOB troupe. Each has logged over 300 volunteer hours, and they have collectively performed KOB presentations for more than a thousand children and hundreds of adults. These four students started performing KOB scripts when they were in sixth grade and have continued for the last year and a half. Linda Olsrud, who coordinates this troupe as a program for the Mental Health Association (MHA) of North Dakota, began working with them and saw "their commitment and dedication to the program." During the school year, they practiced twice a week under a counselor's supervision, talked with teachers about the KOB performances, set up performing schedules and performed scripts on depression, ADHD, feelings and problem solving. When summer came, none of the students wanted to stop, so they continued practices at the MHA office and are preparing performances dealing with bullies, substance abuse and physical and sexual abuse. Now that's dedication! EASTON--Maryland The Mental Health Association (MHA) of Talbot County has been successfully performing Kids on the Block programs since 1998. MHA conducts free performances for elementary schools in Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset Counties in eastern Maryland. MHA began its KOB program by presenting Children's Mental Health and focusing on the issues of counseling and feelings. Just this past year, MHA added the Bullies and School Safety program to the list of performing topics that puppeteers Bonnie Webster Forgacs and Donna Garman present. In the Winter 2001 issue of their quarterly newsletter Advocate, thank you notes were reprinted to show the enthusiasm and appreciation of their KOB audiences. Statements such as "You taught me not to pick on 3rd graders," "When you bully people you set a bad example for yourself" and "I appreciated you because you did a very good job" encourage puppeteers to realize the importance of what they are doing to promote children's mental health. THE GRANT WAS GRANTED CLINTON TOWNSHIP--Michigan Linda S. Champion, Assistant Director for the Macomb County Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH), took a chance and wrote a grant that was a little off the beaten path. In 1998 Linda submitted a grant for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) to purchase 24 KOB puppets and programs. The unusual aspect about the grant was that LSTA's focus at the time was on "technology." How are puppets and technology linked? For Linda, this was simple. Some of the students who were blind and had reading disabilities were being teased and ridiculed by their peers without disabilities for having to use the large and somewhat awkward equipment provided by LBPH. Linda says that she, "began to think that educating students, both disabled and non-disabled, via the Kids on the Block puppet shows, might be a way to increase sensitivity and understanding among this juvenile population. Perhaps, then, the non-disabled students would not tease their peers with disabilities using the LBPH equipment--or anything else that was perceived as being 'different' or unconventional." After receiving the grant, three of LBPH's employees volunteered to become puppeteers. Since their premiere performance of "The Princess and the Queen" from the Deafness program in February of 1999, these puppeteers have reached approximately 28,600 people. THE VOICES OF VERMONT BURLINGTON--Vermont Since 1982, many of Vermont's children have been able to use their voices to ask questions, write letters and connect with KOB puppets through the non-profit volunteer organization, Kids on the Block--Vermont (KOBVT). Questions such as "How do you know when something is beautiful?" directed to Renaldo Rodriguez from the KOB program on Visual Impairment, or "School is bad for me. Everyone ignores me and never tells me anything. ASSISTANCE LEAGUE ADVENTURES WALNUT CREEK--California
When a group of firefighters went into a local school in Contra Costa County to conduct a fire safety presentation, they were highly surprised by what they heard. The students started singing "Stop, Drop and Roll" from the Kids on the Block Fire Safety program that puppeteers from the Assistance League of Diablo Valley (ALDV) taught them the previous week. The students joyfully remembered the words and knew exactly what to do. The ALDV has been performing KOB programs since 1986, and within the last five years, has performed for 38,879 students. Twenty-five dedicated members of the ALDV make up their KOB troupe that performs 12 shows per month during the school year in elementary schools in central Contra Costa County. You may even catch some of the puppeteers promoting the KOB program on their local television community service program. COSTA MESA-- California
For over 20 years, the Assistance League of Newport Mesa (ALNM) has been presenting KOB programs to audiences such as Girl Scouts, church family groups, parent education and help groups and philanthropic groups. Their troupe consists of 10 active members, of which four are founding members. Janie Kingsley, Gini Robins, Barbara Horne and Kathy Allison recently received charm bracelets with KOB initials as a special thank you for their 20 plus years of service and dedication. The entire troupe looks forward to their next performing season and have already made back to school shopping plans to purchase new clothes for some of their puppets, recruit new puppeteers and learn new scripts. At this year's ALNM's annual fund raiser luncheon and silent auction, the KOB troupe was honored as the featured group and was invited to perform. The troupe shared center stage with guest speaker, Art Linkletter. It seems that this group is not only having fun, but is dedicated to its goal of making "A Better Tomorrow for Today's Child." |
What should I do?" asked to Shaun James from the KOB program on Children's Mental Health, are examples of the connections made between the audience and the puppets. KOBVT coordinator Mary K. Dennison states that letters sent by children to the puppet kids after a performance "indicate lessons learned as well as a need to connect with someone with whom they share a common bond." KOBVT has received many letters from children including one that would make any KOB puppeteer smile. "Dear puppets, Thank you for coming to our school. I learned how to help kids not to bully. Using puppets is a good way to teach children. I wish my teachers were puppets."
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