UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 23, Page 1
March 11, 1993
Campus puppet troupe has important stories to tell kids

     Nguyen, Joanne, Stephen and Natalie have important stories to tell,
and with help from University of Delaware students, staff and faculty, they
soon will be telling them to elementary school children throughout the
area.
     The four friends are almost life-sized puppets developed by the Kids
on the Block puppeteering firm to teach elementary school children the
realities of AIDS and physical and sexual abuse. In poignant scripts
developed by Kids on the Block, the puppets are used to disseminate
information in a non-threatening and compassionate way that kids can relate
to with ease.
     Thanks to the caring efforts of three University of Delaware women in
the College of Education, the puppets will be taking their shows on the
road. University students will start being trained as puppeteers this month
and next year will visit local elementary schools with their puppet
friends.
     As Beth Anderson, director of the University's Educational Resource
Center, explains, the center acquired the puppets when a similar center at
Newark High School was shut down. They originally were purchased by the
Delaware Department of Public Instruction for the Delaware Learning
Resource System.
     The puppets had been lying in duffel bags for three years when Katie
Moore, a University student in the College of Human Resources and a trained
puppeteer with Kids on the Block, inquired about them.
     Anderson's interest was piqued and one day as she was watching a Kids
on the Block video, JoAnne Norris, staff assistant in the dean's office of
the College of Education, happened by and stopped in to tease Anderson
about watching television on the job.
     Anderson explained the program and said she was looking for an adviser
to put the program into effect at the University. Norris, who had just
gotten her master's degree in school counseling last May, was intrigued.
     "I thought they were great and that working with them would be a good
way to keep current on the issues," she said.
     A partnership was formed, and, with the support of William Stanley,
chairperson of the Department of Educational Development, and James A.
Raths, chairperson of the Department of Educational Studies, the program
was developed for local use.
     Students from several disciplines can receive academic or service
credit for becoming puppeteers, and there are others who have expressed
interest in the puppets on a volunteer basis.
     Norris, Anderson and Moore are interested in talking to anyone who
wants to know more about how to get involved in the program.
     The Kids on the Block is based in Columbia, Md., but now serves an
international audience. It was originally created by teacher Barbara Aiello
to teach children and adults about the handicapped and what it is like to
be different. The scripts on AIDS and physical and sexual abuse (the ones
the University has) have been added over the years.
     All puppets come with a complete written background booklet. They are
multicultural and come in a range of ages.
     The scripts for each show are age and developmentally appropriate.
     Once volunteers are trained as puppeteers they will choose which topic
and scripts they would like to memorize and perform.
     The target population for performances is children of elementary and
middle school age. Volunteers must be able to devote time in the spring to
training and more time in the fall for performances.
     They also must have time for rehearsals and for weekly meetings with
the advisers.
     In addition to memorizing the scripts and working with props, the
puppeteers must be trained to answer most anticipated questions on the
subject they are covering.
     They are not expected to be experts in the field but are expected to
be current on their topic. At any performances, school counselors,
principals, nurses and teachers would have to be present to follow up with
any child who asks questions leading them to suspect abuse.
     Puppeteers would have a choice of four scripts on physical abuse that
cover issues such as talking about the difference between discipline and
abuse, who and how to tell, how children feel about the abusive person and
family counseling as a way to help the entire family.
     There are three scripts on sexual abuse that cover issues of betrayal
of trust, learning how to tell and tricks the abusive person might use.
There are also three mini-scripts that talk about emergency numbers, secret
passwords and bad strangers.
     Two scripts on the topic of AIDS were developed with the assistance of
state health agencies and reviewed by staff members of the Centers for
Disease Control in Atlanta and others knowledgeable in the field. They
focus on abstinence, prevention and common misconceptions.
     Persons wanting more information on how to become puppeteers should
contact Norris at 831-2311; Anderson at 831-2335; or Moore at 837-1310.
                                        -Beth Thomas