Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Mon, Apr 14, 2014 @ 07:42 AM
Today is April 14, a day most Americans know as the day in which they madly scramble to finish their taxes before the deadline for filing tomorrow, April 15. But something of great moment happened on this day, a long time ago.
On April 14, 1865, it was Good Friday of the Easter weekend. The Civil War had just ended and celebrations and jubilance were in evidence all over at least the North of the United States, where a people were weary from four years of warfare and carnage and death.
No where was this more evident than in the nation's capitol of Washington, DC.
That morning, at Ford's Theatre in Washington events took place that set in motion a plan that would rock the country and the world and the ripples from which still affect us today.
At the theatre there was a bustle in the air. One play had just closed, and another was scheduled to open that night. The outgoing piece had starred a well known actor, John Wilkes Booth, the less critically acclaimed younger brother of the greatest actor in the country, Edwin Booth. It was said that watching Edwin Booth perform a work by Shakespeare was like reading the work by flashes of lightning. The new play opening that night was called Our American Cousin, and starred an audience favorite named Laura Keene. A packed house was assured for the opening.
That morning, young John Wilkes Booth stopped by the theatre just one last time to pick up his mail. There he learned that it had been announced that the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, would attend the opening with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. With the revelation of that news, a series of events was set in motion that would lead to the assassination that night of the great American leader, and the beginning of the largest manhunt in American history. 
John Wilkes Booth would return to the theatre that night and fire a bullet into the head of the president who would die the following morning. Booth would elude capture for another twelve days before being run down by troops in a barn thirty miles from Washington and shot dead. This assassination would lead to the near deification of the president, and to untold suffering for the newly subdued Southern states. The affects of these events carry great weight even today.
At Mobile Ed, we have been telling this story along with many others from history, to excited students all over the country for more than twenty five years. Doubtless, there are children hearing these stories from us today, whose parents heard the same stories from us when they were in school. The stories were exciting then, and they are exciting now. Students, usually not interested in history at all, will hang, literally on the edge of their seats, as they hear again the tale of the death of a president or of a young girl, blind, deaf and dumb, and her first communication with another human. They will sit dumbstruck at hearing the story of a young African American who rose to lead the country out of racial intolerance and toward the light of freedom, or of the life of founding father Ben Franklin. They will be amazed at the story of a young man from Ohio, raised in Michigan, and how his ideas brought light to the world.
History is full of grand adventures and amazingly exciting stories. These stories inspire greatness in our young. But these stories require a great story teller to truly motivate and hold the attention of the young. Mobile Ed hires the very best story tellers and actors that we can find, so that the stories we bring to your children are illuminated …..as though by “flashes of lightning”.
It has been said that it is impossible to truly know where you are going if you do not know where you have been. In the race to educate students today in science and technology, we at Mobile Ed, while we applaud that goal, also feel that teaching our students about their past is also of paramount importance. We hope you will feel the same way.
And today, knowing him as well as we do, we take a moment to mourn the premature and tragic passing of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the greatest American president ever, and certainly a true and authentic genius who also happened to possess a heart of gold and a brilliant sense of humor. Rest in Peace, Mr. Lincoln. We will do our best to be sure your memory is never forgotten.
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Fri, Apr 11, 2014 @ 06:58 AM
Here at Mobile Ed, we all know what a great performer David Mitchell is, but we often forget that not everyone is as aware of this as we are.
David does several shows for us, including two great anti-bullying programs (Stronger Than a Bully and You've Got a Friend), as well as a super mathematics show called Imathimation and an awesome reading show called Reading! More Than Words!. But he is perhaps best known for the first show he brought to us, an absolutely perfect program about one of our Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin. The Ben Franklin show holds a special place in Dave's heart, and it shows every time he performs this masterpiece.
Just recently students at Batesville Intermediate School in Indiana were treated to a performance of Ben Franklin by David, and the reception was understandably wild. Here are some of the remarks we heard from teachers and staff there.
“Wonderful!!!! Dave has a real gift. All four presentations were very well-received by students and staff. It's only 3 p.m. and I've had numerous teachers stop by to tell me that this "was the best program" that we have had in years. As the organizer of our Arts in Education programming, it was a pleasure to host such an easy going, professional and self-sufficient artist!”
“Very enjoyable... Performer did an outstanding job!”
“This was one of the best programs we have had! It was very educational and enjoyable.”
“One of the best visiting performers I've ever seen! The students were engaged during the entire presentation. “
“Wonderful presenter...perfect for the part! Students were very attentive with no discipline problems throughout the presentation. Well done!”
“This show was EXCELLENT! The kids were engaged the entire time and the performer was very funny and entertaining! We loved this performance.”
Now we all know David is awesome, but it is always nice to hear it from our happy clients!
And happily for some, David will be available again next year to almost all of our client schools across much of the country. Now David does leave off on touring to spend time with his family at home in Tennessee during the summer months, but if you happen to operate a library or summer camp in Tennessee or Kentucky then you can still take advantage of this amazingly talented performer and any of his great shows during the summer. Let us know if you would like further details on bringing Ben Franklin (ooops, we mean David Mitchell!) to your site sometime soon!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Mon, Apr 07, 2014 @ 09:08 AM
Just a quick bit of excitement this morning! This year we premiered our flagship school assembly The STEM Museum. That program has sold out quickly and is selling out quickly again for 2014-15. And well it should! This cutting edge school assembly brings a hands on science museum, complete with state of the art 3D printing and robotics into your school for the day. Already a major hit, with universal acclaim following its groundbreaking tour, The STEM Museum is being further improved in several ways for the new year, including the addition of the fabulous NAO Robot.
But not to be forgotten in the rush to glorify The STEM Museum, are our two other mobile hands on science experiences – Kidz Science Safari and the newly redesigned Physics Museum.
The latter, The Physics Museum, was an outgrowth of our renowned school show Physics is Fun, and has been touring in an expanded hands on format for a few years now, under that title. But for 2014-2015, we will be making some really exciting changes to this already great show. The Physics Museum will retain many characteristics from before but will be improved and expanded leaving behind all portions of the previous Physics is Fun program. In the meantime, Physics is Fun will also receive an overhaul bringing it into a brand new form for the new year as well. All very exciting! More details to come in the months ahead.
But we have more news as well!
Our third mighty all school hands on workshop event is Kidz Science Safari which toured nationally on a limited basis in 2012-2013. Last year this tour was maintained solely in the great state of Texas. But this grand show will, in 2014-2015 once again take to the road and visit schools in many of the other states we service. We are pleased to announce the program, already awesome, has now been improved even more with new exhibits and activities which did not appear the last time the program toured.
So, 2014-2015 is shaping up to be a banner year in school shows. Mobile Ed, long the leader in high quality school science assemblies, now has some great science experience for virtually everyone, from our simple 45 minute presentations such as The Magic of Science and Chemistry! It Really Matters! to our always popular Sky Dome Planetarium and Earth Dome (aka The Earth Balloon) programs on through to the stunning wonder of our mighty trio of all day science extravaganzas The STEM Museum, The Physics Museum and Kidz Science Safari.
Give us a call soon and let's see what we can do for you!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Fri, Apr 04, 2014 @ 09:26 AM
Just a short note today to remind you that April 4 marks a dark day in American history. Today in 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was slain by an assassin in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. King is now an icon of the Civil Rights movement in this country and his legacy of peaceful, non violent protest has become an inspiration to oppressed people across the globe. His eloquent words still echo in the grand consciousness of our nation and help light the path ahead as we bend the arc of history slowly toward progress and a better, more equitable life for all. His place is secure for all time as one of the greatest leaders in American history.
And today, we take a moment to honor this great man.
His loss haunts us to this day, as we wonder what other mighty tasks he might have fulfilled in life, and yet, we take comfort in the thought that in death his power grew even greater. His martyrdom, as is often the case with the truly great, magnified and expanded his influence in ways impossible to ignore. Rather than silencing the man, the assassin's bullet served only to inflate the influence of Dr. King in ways impossible to ignore, and thus served to cement the impact of his success. The equal rights advances of the past several decades all, in one way or another, stem from the work and legacy of this man, and others of his generation, who stood proudly against intolerance and injustice and refused to be cowed by the brutality of past ignorance.
So, today, we take a moment to reflect on this man and his legacy. And we take note that though evil is relentless, and may sometimes triumph in the short term, that justice and light are stubborn, and that the primary path of human progress toward a better world for all will eventually carry the day.
Thank you Dr. King.
If you would like to honor the memory of Dr. King, and bring him to life before your students, contact us for information on Mobile Ed's Martin Luther King school assembly program. Dates are now available for the 2014-2015 school year.
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Tue, Apr 01, 2014 @ 12:17 PM
Have you heard about STEM? It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. If you have not heard the term before, you will shortly, make no mistake.
These four components are integral to the future of education in the United States. With technology and science rapidly coming to dominate our economic future, and with stiff competition in these fields coming from many other nations, American educators and school districts are rushing to fill the void and produce a new generation well schooled and literate in these expanding fields.
Mobile Ed is, as always, ahead of the curve.
From our very inception Mobile Ed has always practiced innovation in the field of educational school shows and assemblies. In fact, we virtually invented the field. Back in 1979, when Larry Thompson first created The Amazing World of Light, school assemblies were essentially composed of a variety of magicians, jugglers and story tellers. Those early programs were (and still are) fun, but they broke no real ground nor made any educational impact on children. Rather they were a fun way to interject a little levity into school life. Enter Mobile Ed Productions.
Founded in Michigan with the introduction of The Amazing World of Light, swiftly followed by The Wonderful World of Chemistry, Mobile Ed offered schools something they had not really seen before. Mobile Ed offered schools the new opportunity to have a show that was fun and entertaining but was also educational and provided a boost to that process.
The introduction of science based school assemblies in the late 70s and early 80's was rapidly followed by an expansion into shows that supported Social Studies and History and other key curriculum areas.
Knowing that kids learn better from actual hands on involvement, Mobile Ed added hands on workshop formats to many shows.
Competitors watched and began to copy what we were doing, but Mobile Ed remained the leader in educational assemblies, nationwide, and continues in that role today, offering more than 30 different programs across the majority of states in the country.
This year we proved once more that innovation is part of our DNA with the introduction of our sell out success The STEM Museum. This day long event broke the mold in school assemblies by eliminating the presentation show altogether in favor of a full day of outstanding, cutting edge hands on activity stations the entire school can use. We also added Kidz Science Safari, another all day hands on activity science program. And for 2014-2015 we are moving a step further ahead with plans to revisit our stalwart Physics is Fun, spinning off the extended day workshops into a newly improved and expanded Physics Museum, a counterpart to the STEM Museum.
These science based shows, rife with hands on activities sure to engage the minds of the young and propel them forward with excitement.
But in the midst of all this we have not forgotten the essential basic programs that schools have relied upon from us for the last thirty plus years. We recently went out to visit Tom Johnson at one of our client schools here in Michigan. Tom, for any who have not had the pleasure, is one of our stable of many superb school show performers, that we consider the very best school show performers in the entire business.
Tom created our wonderful Young Authors Day, and also portrays a wonderful Thomas Edison. But on this particular day we caught up to him engaged in his favorite Mobile Ed science show – The Invisible Wonder:Air. And a great show it is! Here is a clip we just put together from that performance.
So, whether in your quest for school shows that support your curriculum you find yourself in the market for a cutting edge hands on event that will rock your school, or whether you are seeking a more traditional presentation that will have your kids laughing and learning at the same time, Mobile Ed has you covered.
We do “wow” really good!
Give us a call. Let's bring some “wow” to your school!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Mon, Mar 31, 2014 @ 03:02 PM
Today is a day many of us wait anxiously for all winter long. The opening of a new Major League Baseball season, and the unofficial beginning of summer. For some diehard fans like...cough, cough, me,cough cough...it is really the annual beginning of all sports, since for some of us baseball is the only sport that counts. As the character played by James Earl Jones in the movie Field of Dreams observed:
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. …..
And, there is a lot of truth in that statement. Baseball marks a youthfulness and a hopefulness that somehow exemplifies all that is good about us as Americans. And so it begins again today. Another season. Another summer. Another burst of new found hope. Another chance to sit in the sun on a warm summer day and relish the feel of doing absolutely nothing important at all while larger than life heroes live out our dreams before us. It is a great time!
And in much the same way, we here at Mobile Ed begin again every year, starting with blank schedules and fresh ideas, ready to plan out a new season, dedicated to bringing excitement and fun and a little magical pizzaz into the educational lives of school aged kids all over this great country. Education is one half of our DNA here at Mobile Ed, the other half being composed of the flair and magic of show business. We dazzle your students with all manner of excitement and in the process, teach them that learning can be the most fun of all.
This time of year we are always hard at work, planning the new shows for next year and implementing all the newly imagined ways in which we can improve our older shows. And we are hard at work finding just the right date for that amazing experience to come and visit your school. We reconnect with all the old clients who have worked with us for years, going over what shows they have had before, and what will best suit their needs for the coming year. We also share news of personal lives, family, planned vacations...because our clients so often become our friends, and an annual call to book programs is also that valuable opportunity to catch up on all the events since last time. But there are also all the myriad discussions with new clients, just discovering Mobile Ed for the first time. They come searching for the perfect assembly program and they find it here, but they also find in our Mobile Ed school assembly family, a new group of friends to help support them and guide them in making the most of their educational goals. New bonds are forged and friendships begun. All working together in hope of making the new year the best educational year ever!
So go on, watch the game today! I hope your team wins...unless they are playing my team... Go Tigers!
But, don't let your season start for just baseball. Give us a call. Another season of hope, magic, heros and happiness is also beginning...right here at Mobile Ed!
If you call us...we will come!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Wed, Mar 26, 2014 @ 12:29 PM
On this date, March 26, in history one great poet was born, and another passed away.
In 1874, poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco.
In 1892,poet Walt Whitman died in Camden, N.J.
As today marks the anniversary of the birth of a great poet and death of another, I remembered reading the works of Walt Whitman and Robert Frost in AP English class in high school. They wrote their verses to vast audiences and included aspects of nature in their poetry. While Whitman praised himself and life, Frost developed a philosophical view in his poetry that life was a tragedy. A Clear Midnight and The Road Not Taken are two of the favorites.
Mobile Ed's reading and writing assemblies educate students through a variety of methods that make learning fun while at the same time, being entertaining! Where was Mobile Ed when I was growing up? It sure would have helped me not to fall asleep through the 600 pages of Moby Dick!
To assist students in becoming enthusiastic about the power of words, Mobile Ed offers a variety of assemblies for schools. Our Young Authors Day is an all school assembly performed by a classically trained Mime artist introducing students to the "art of silence" in which students write stories for the performer to act out.
Meanwhile, Reading: More Than Words creates a fun environment for students to explore the world of literature, through magical illusions, dramatic storytelling, and exciting props. 
Playing on both words and history, Books Made The Man:Lincoln and Reading introduces students to some of the books Mr. Lincoln eagerly read as a boy and continued to pore over throughout his life.
Why not check these out! We have a few dates yet this school year and are already booking for our 2014-2015 school year! Happy reading!
Cindy Kruczynski is the Office Manager here at Mobile Ed and the one that keeps us all from flying off into space. Despite being the hardest working employee on the planet she found time to write today's blog article!
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Mon, Mar 17, 2014 @ 07:55 AM
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today everyone is Irish, or so they would have you believe. Today is the day for the wearin' of the Green!
But there is another way to “Go Green” that is in some ways far more important, and that is by taking green action to teach about our planet and learn ways to help keep in clean, safe and happy! And we here at Mobile Ed have some great ways to help kids learn these important lessons!
School assembly programs with all the excitement of a live performance in your school are an awesome means by which to stir things up and motivate children toward constructive action. Mobile Ed offers a number of the best school assembly programs designed to instill a respect for and love of Mother Earth and all the creatures that inhabit it.
Obviously, if we are studying our planet, the best way is by studying our planet. Wait... what? But, yes, that's right. The Earth Dome allows us to literally bring the world inside your gym, in the form of an astonishing twenty foot tall globe representing our planet with thousands of high resolution, incredibly detailed photos of our planet printed in seamless panoramic splendor across the skin of a gigantic free standing globe. Jaws will hit the floor when your kids lay eyes on this way cool behemoth! And during their time, both inside and outside this giant Earth balloon, they will learn all about the geography of our planet, it's continents and oceans, as well as about the atmosphere, and geology of our home. The Earth Dome, sometimes known as the Earth Balloon, is one of Mobile Ed's most requested and best loved programs. And it is perfect for Earth Month in April!
But keeping track of changes in the Earth is important as well. Our Changing Climate, hosted by the lovably wacky Dr. Exhaustus, takes the daunting and sometimes controversial field of climate change, and examines all side of the arguments even handedly all the while putting some possibly scary ideas into manageable forms for children to understand, while encouraging a respect and love for the planet. And adding to the delight of this program are a couple of animatronic characters – Doom and Gloom – who provide a wicked comic relief throughout. Again, Our Changing Climate is a great school assembly and is also perfect for Earth Month.
Lastly, our home in space would be a barren rock, were it not for the presence of all the wonderful living creatures here. And stewarding these creatures and their survival is of great importance. So, Mobile Ed assists with Animals and the Environment, a spectacular school show providing students an awesome opportunity to get up close and personal with a slew of amazing animals and reptiles all while receiving a detailed lesson about how environmental factors around the globe are affecting the habitats and survival of animals worldwide. Kids love seeing animals (as do we all) and Animals and The Environment makes use of that love to instill some very important concepts and ideas into the impressionable minds of our young people. And, once again, this program is right on the money for observing Earth Day, which after all, next to St. Patrick's Day, should be the “greenest” day all year!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Tue, Mar 04, 2014 @ 02:25 PM
Did you know that today marks the date of two very important leaders in history?
On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as our 32nd president in 1933 on this same date.
Also on March 4, 1952 a very famous writer named Ernest Hemingway finishes his short novel entitled "The Old Man and the Sea". Upon finishing, Ernest told his publisher that it was the best writing he had ever done and his book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953.
Where would we be without this valuable knowledge being taught in our History and English classes in school?
With our Mobile Ed Productions school assembly programs, we bring you that education through entertainment when we bring talented performers into your school! Assemblies such as “Benjamin Franklin” and “Thomas Edison” and “The Living Lincoln”, bring history to such life that your students will think the person is really standing in front of them! At one school during the performance of “The Living Lincoln” as student asked: ”Shouldn’t you be dead?”
Our reading and writing assemblies of “Reading More Than Words”, “The Treasurer of the Six Traits”, “Books Made the Man: Lincoln and Reading” and “Young Authors Day” get students interested in books, reading and writing through story telling, mime, and even acting out their own stories.
Cindy Kruczynski is the Office Manager here at Mobile Ed and the one that keeps us all from flying off into space. Despite being the hardest working employee on the planet she found time to write today's blog article!
Posted by Geoff Beauchamp on Thu, Feb 27, 2014 @ 01:49 PM
is almost here, and hopefully with it the Spring! We can all use a little nice weather after this winter, I am sure! With the Spring comes the release of schedules and dates for all our awesome programs for next year. But before we do so, we thought it might be nice to look back at some of the reactions we have had in the last month or two to several of our school assemblies.
I know...”there they go, blowing their own horn again!”. But in truth, we work very hard to ensure the programs we bring into your school are going to be the finest you have ever had, so it is really nice when that work is recognized.
Let's start out with our newest program, The STEM Museum, which is in Colorado right now.
Stephanie Turner of Holy Spirit in Overland Park writes
“Great show... the kids loved it...the teachers loved it”.
And Cheryl Sullivan of South Routt School in Yampa, Colorado said:
“Great program – well organized – our parent volunteers enjoyed helping – kids and teachers loved it!”
Meanwhile, our star performer David Mitchell has been enjoying a stay in Texas early this year. David carries several shows. Here is what Leslie Tewell of Baccus Elementary in Granbury, Texas, wrote about Dave's Ben Franklin show:
“Awesome presentation. With a full moon, on a Friday afternoon, I was worried about 550 kids sitting still for 45 minutes. Ben Franklin entertained the kids from the moment he started until the final applause 45 minutes later without one interruption. Kids were lined up in the library to check out Ben Franklin books, the teachers lounge was overflowing with positive comments about the performance, and the kids learned!”
And David's awesome Stronger Than a Bully was equally loved by Rhonda Alm of First Baptist Academy in Universal Academy, Texas.
Now, out in California, the Left Coast residents have a great bonus to compliment the California life style because our wonderful Barry Cutler is resident there year round with a raft of great assemblies.
His The Magic of Science was at Westside Park in the Adelanto system not too long ago and Jeff Steenerson wrote:
“Barry did a great job entertaining and teaching!Everyone was impressed!”
But Barry has also been one of our best Abraham Lincoln performers for years. Check this out from Davis Feldman at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth, California:
“For the past 20 years Barry Cutler has been delighting students at Lawrence Middle here in Chatsworth!”
Wow! Twenty years. Awesome.
But while we are discussing Abraham Lincoln let's not forget our other amazing Lincoln presenters either.
Out on the East Coast our Living Lincoln tour is helmed by the amazing Richard Waddingham. Here is a comment from Kathleen Anderson at St. Bridget in Massachusetts:
”We had two performances K1-3 and 4-8 and at each performance not a child made a peep...they were memorized by the likeness and story telling of Abe Lincoln and his life adventure. At the end of the performance the children were eager to ask questions about Abe's family, and what happened next...the show got everyone talking and interested in learning! Excellent All Around Thank-You!”
And let us not forget the estimable Fred Priebe, carrying the Lincoln story into schools all over the Midwest. Laura Dvornak of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Burlington, Kentucky wrote
“Junior high students (6-8th grades) take a lot to keep occupied and interested and Abraham Lincoln incorporated history and short stories, combined with humor to keep students engaged. For 8th grade Literature we are working on famous American speeches and presentation was timely with our study this week of the Gettysburg Address.”,
...while Becky Downs of Saint Joseph's in Crescent Springs, Kentucky simply said:
“Best in-school presentation I have been a witness to.”
Now, as long as we are talking about historical characters, let's continue in that direction with our shows related to Black History month.
This year our Martin Luther Kings have been wonderful (hee hee, as always). In the midwest we have featured Charles Murray, who is already known to East Coast schools where he has performed in the past. Charles was in Illinois not too long ago. Dawn De Matteo of of Lincoln Prairie in Hoffman Estates had this to say:
"I just wanted to let you know that Charles was great and the teachers and students were engaged and thought that he did a good job of talking about MLK and civil rights events... it was great! Thank you again for your help in booking this performance and we hope to be able to use you in the future.”
Down in Southern Indiana in Haubstadt, John Obermeier, principal at Haubstadt Community School wrote
“I heard many positive comments from both teachers and students. It was educational and entertaining. Charles did a very nice job!!”
Taking over from Charles on the East Coast year we were fortunate to welcome back Robert Pirtle who was absent from our roster for the last couple of years. Here is a comment from Heather Ortiz:
“The MLK assembly was amazing! The Principal and teachers are raving about it and the kids were enthralled. Robert is a class act. What a great performer but also was a kind and delightful man. The Kindergarten teachers would like to send letters of thanks to Mr. Pirtle. May we send them to you to forward?”
And, lest we forget, out in Cali we featured Carl Brown, and apparently school loved him (what a surprise that schools love Mobile Ed!).
Darice Johnson, Assistant Principal at Cascade Middle School in Auburn, Washington was ecstatic:
“I wanted to take a moment to thank you for providing us with such a wonderful actor for our Martin Luther King assembly on 1/14/14. He performed for our entire school of 733 students and had them engaged the entire performance! He was the consummate professional. He engaged the students by asking them questions and when they answered correctly, he asked their name and had everyone clap for them. I watched students who normally don’t receive acknowledgment answer questions and get praised by the whole school. I saw one student sit up proudly when he was called on and he smiled the whole rest of the assembly. As the assembly began he immediately captured the students’ attention with his humor and storytelling, and rapidly drew them into MLK’s life and history of that era with the right level of seriousness.
I wish the other middle schools in our district had taken advantage of this opportunity. I would highly recommend this performance to anyone. Many of our teachers said this was the best MLK assembly we have had. Please pass this message along to any relevant party who may benefit from knowing how pleased we are.”
Lastly, let's take a peek at the work of Lluanna Jones, who proudly offers The Spirit to Overcome, an amazing work about the struggles and triumphs of women of color. Jason Vivadelli of Evergreen Avenue School in Woodbury, New Jersey, said this about Lluanna:
“Ms. Jones performed the Spirit to Overcome assembly at our school last week. She was well-prepared, engaging, insightful and provided an overall enjoyable experience for our students. She differentiated her performance and tailored it to fit the needs of our primary and upper elementary students. She easily took command of the large group and found ways to incorporate students to make it interactive. Our students left the assembly having learning something new. Thank you for providing such a nice experience for our students.”
One additional historical character to mention...Mark Twain! In the area around Chicago, we enjoy the services of an awesome actor by the name of Jeff Hoge who is utterly wonderful as the witty somewhat curmudgeonly Twain. Brad Ennen of Jackson Township School in Brazil, Indiana wrote: “Professional, well rehearsed presentation of historic, factually accurate content.” while at St. Michael school in Schereville Indiana, they had this to say:
“Jeff was great! The kids had an awesome time while learning character education.”
Well, that's enough for today but look for another entry soon with similar reports about our science assembly programs!
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 fieldsof 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. He also spent ten years coordinating assembly programs for the elementary school where his own children went to school.