California School Assembly

How do you choose which programs to bring to your school?  Here’s a great little librarian secret.

Each year, local children’s librarians plan elaborate summer reading programs to entice kids into the library during the break in order to keep their reading comprehension at grade level for the new school year.  PTA School Program Chairs can learn a lot from how children’s librarians put these schedules together.

Generally, they have themes that they are looking for programming to fill.  These themes will be everything from the summer reading theme and seasonal shows to holiday and library week presentations.   Here are some key factors that influence librarians when deciding which shows to include.

• Mix up the art forms that they bring in. That is, they will have a magic show, a juggler show, a puppet show, a music program, a storyteller, a percussionist, a mime and so on in their mix.

• Bring back performers they have been successful with in past years:  Artists who have engaged their audiences, have been professional, and have been easy to work with.  From there, they will add a few new performers each year.

• Talk to their fellow librarians about successful (and not so successful) artists and programs.  Sometimes they will also use recommendations from artists who have performed at their library.

• Use the directory information provided at the showcases to aid their efforts.  If the showcase they attend has a good artist screening policy, they know the artists in their showcase program directories can be depended upon for good programming.

• Engage a new artist who has something that is specific to what the library is looking for (ie: earth day celebration).  Often they will watch online video demonstrations of artists they are not familiar with.  They also frequently share these videos with the groups that pay for the performances, such as The Friends of the Library.

I would suggest using a combination of these tactics so you can be confident in the school assemblies you plan for your school year.  It’s great to be able to assure your principal that this year’s schedule is going to be the best one ever.

Musical Storyteller Ken Frawley has performed at hundreds of libraries, schools, community events, fair, and festivals throughout California for over 10 years.  He is the director of Dreamshapers.org and PerformersVideoShowcase.com, which host several library and school performer showcases in Southern California.  He’s also a really nice guy.
(www.Dreamshapers.org)

School assemblies offer students the opportunity to explore and experience topics in science, history, geography, social studies, the arts, etc.  A school assembly can enrich young minds in all areas of life by stimulating the imagination as well as cultivating creative thinking.

Schools assemblies offer many educational and entertainment options for schools:

• With school budget cuts, some assemblies cover areas that have been impacted by these cuts, such as science, music and theater.

• The high cost of busing has caused many schools to cut back on or eliminate field trips. Many school assemblies are like field trips that come to you.

• Many school performers offer programs that address state and national curriculum standards, so teachers can use them to introduce and/or reinforce topics they are covering in their classrooms.

• Some school performers are experts in their fields and present information that is not even in school textbooks.

• Some assemblies are pure entertainment and work well as reward assemblies and/or family fun nights.

Consider how you can best use assemblies in your schools by soliciting ideas for topics and activities from your school’s teachers and principal:

• For teachers who may be hesitant to relinquish time from their classroom teaching, ask them what things they would like their students to better understand or appreciate and then look for assemblies that address those topics.

• For a principal who wants to reward good behavior and/or academic achievement, suggest a  school performer who may be entertaining and educational, or maybe just entertaining!

Get your principal and teachers “on board” with your assemblies and they will see the benefit that assemblies can offer them in connecting with their students.

Marine biologist and underwater photographers Wayne & Karen Brown have been presenting marine science school assemblies in schools across the U.S. for over 20 years as The Ocean Adventure. (www.TheOceanAdventure.com)

Are you ready for the show, kids?

As I have been performing shows this summer at library summer reading programs, it occurred to me that preparing the audience for a live show should be an important feature of every librarian’s opening pitch.

Most of the time the librarians explain their summer reading program and upcoming events, then introduce their performer.  I think that there is one more step that is an important part to this opening:  Preparing the audience for a live performance.

A few of the libraries that I have performed at have established a ritual to handle this.  They go through a checklist with children and parents.  Some even post the rules on a wall and have library readers come up and read them out loud.

Here are the key components I really like:

• Turn off or silence cell phones.

• If babies or younger children get fussy, then take them out for a little bit and then return.

• Children should all remain seated – crisscross applesauce.

• Pay attention to the performer and put away all your books, computers, games, etc.

• Enjoy the show and refrain from talking to your neighbor.

For many of the children attending, this is their first experience at a live performance and it provides a great opportunity for them to learn how to be an audience.

Musical Storyteller Ken Frawley has performed at hundreds of libraries, schools, community events, fair, and festivals throughout California for over 10 years.  He is the director of Dreamshapers.org and PerformersVideoShowcase.com, which host several library and school performer showcases in Southern California.  He’s also a really nice guy.
(www.Dreamshapers.org)

Congratulations!  You’re the new Programs Chair of your school’s PTA.

The job is simple – provide a number of interesting, entertaining, but educational assemblies which your students will love, your faculty will uniformly agree was well worth the time away from their classrooms and busy schedules, will not interfere with any mandated testing program, will not impact with any other school or sporting program, will not offend any student, parent, religious or ethnic group, which your principal will whole-heartedly endorse and give as much of his/her time as you need……for as little money as your budget usually allows!!!

There is still hope!  Here are a few tips to help sidestep some of the inevitable pitfalls in assembly planning:

• What are you looking for? Meet ahead of time with your faculty and principal, and get to know each other.  Find out the intended curriculum for the coming school year and what will be studied in various classrooms and when. Then come up with a mutual wish-list of the type of programs that would fit in with what is happening in the classroom.

• Where will you have it? Check out the areas where assemblies can be presented…the library, music room, cafeteria, gym, multi-purpose room, and outside areas. You can ask your school’s media person or custodian for expert advice.  Is the room air-conditioned? How many students can be comfortably accommodated? Are there curtains, blinds or drapes on the windows? How dark can the room get? Is there a stage? (How big?) How can the lights be turned on and off? Where are the electrical outlets? What does your school have available in the way of working audio and video equipment, sound systems, still and movie projectors and screens?  (Most performers will bring their own equipment, so ask them before you spend a lot of time on this.)

• How will you pay for it? Get a firm statement from your parent-teacher organization regarding your budget. Even if you are operating on a shoestring, there are still creative ways to accomplish your goal. Consider  having an assembly performance for a Family Fun Night.  You could sell tickets and/or sell food and drinks. Other ideas include sharing a program or equipment with another school in your district, finding district funding, grant money, a sponsor, etc.  We’ll have more on these sources of funding later.

• Who will you bring to your school? Ask for references from other schools. Most performers are anxious to assure you of their quality and will often have references right on their website, and widely traveled performers may have references from schools in your own district.  Attend assemblies at other schools to preview them to make sure the performance is appropriate for your school.  Consider your audience – choose performers experienced in presenting to the ages of your group.

We sincerely hope that these few hints will help launch you on what you will come to find a challenging, interesting and totally rewarding area of volunteering for your school or organization.

Marine biologist and underwater photographers Wayne & Karen Brown have been presenting marine science school assemblies in schools across the U.S. for over 20 years as The Ocean Adventure. (www.TheOceanAdventure.com)

My husband Buster and I were at the PTA Convention in Sacramento recently (www.CAPTA.org) and had a wonderful time.  During the tiny amount of time I had to walk around to meet other vendors, I discovered the easiest fundraising opportunity ever.

Balloon Acai Berries

Buy a Jamba Juice (very yummy) and Jamba will give 10% to your school PTA  and 2% to the National PTA.  It’s that easy.

All you have to do is click on the Sip to Support link to find out how get started.  After the easiest sign-up I’ve ever seen, you give the swipe cards to everyone you know, and your school’s PTA is making money.

Full Disclosure:  I have no affiliation with Jamba Juice except for the fact that I fell in love with their acai berry smoothie at the City of Hope Dance-a-Thon last month.

Annie Banannie, Balloon Storyteller.  See her blog at www.BalloonStorytellerBlog.com.

By Wayne & Karen Brown

There are a variety of ways to locate performers for your school. Here are some considerations of the various methods, by an experienced team of school assembly performers.

Phone Yellow Pages:
This is probably the least effective way to find school assembly performers. Due to the expense and the decreasing use of phone books, school assembly performers do not tend to advertise in phone books. Most phone books do not even have a “School Assemblies” listing. Cons: Not used by most school assembly performers.

School Performer Booking Agencies:
There are some businesses that specialize in booking school assembly performers. These agencies provide a variety of performers that you can choose from. Booking your school assemblies from an agency provides easy one-stop shopping. They can also work with you to suggest performers that may offer opportunities for your students and teachers that you have not considered. Cons: They are limited in the number of performers and types of programs they offer. Because the agency charges the performer at fee to book a school you may be paying more for your assembly than booking with the performer directly. (Note: Some performers have exclusive booking arrangements with agencies where they agree not to take direct bookings from schools.)

School District Performer Listings:
Some school districts (usually large urban districts) provide a listing of performers and programs that have been approved for school assemblies in that district. Cons: Very limited in number and types of programs offered. Often listings are not frequently updated.

Printed School Assembly Directories:
These directories are sent directly to your school and provide a listing of performers. These directories usually provide all the information you need to book directly with each performer. Each performer pays to be listed in the directories. These directories also usually have indexes that list performers by topics covered by their performance, providing a quick and easy one-stop shopping resource. Cons: Limited to only performers that pay to appear in the directories.

Online School Assembly Directories:
These are more than an online version of printed school assembly directories because they usually include links to the performers’ websites and email and some offer video excerpts from a performer’s programs. As more and more people are turning to the Internet more of these directories are appearing. As with the printed directories each performer usually pays to be listed. Cons: Limited to only performers that pay to appear in the directories.

Google-type Internet Searches:
The Internet is the information super highway and every school assembly performer has some presence online. Internet searches allow you to search for exactly what type of school assembly program you are looking for. Cons: Due to the nature of search engines the words you use for your search may or may not narrow your search for you.

Referrals From Other Schools:
This is an excellent way to find school performers. If you don’t have a friend who arranges for assemblies at another school, then consider networking. If the school has recently had a performer they can give you feedback from teachers and students and let you know how it went working with the performer. This is invaluable information and the other programs person has already done the work for you! If you can visit the school and see the performer present their assembly this is even better, so you can see for yourself if the assembly is appropriate for your school. Cons: Obviously limited to only those performers at that particular school and who may or may not present the type of assembly that you are looking for.

PTA/PTO Conventions and Vendor Fairs:
State PTA/PTO conventions and local vendor fairs often include school assembly performers. This gives you a chance to meet and talk to individual performers and pick-up flyers and information to take back to your school. You can also network with school assembly coordinators from other schools, too. Cons: State conventions are large multi-day events and costly to attend. The high cost of having a booth at the state convention usually limits performers to only those who are full-time performers. About 85% of the exhibitors at state PTA conventions are fundraisers and 2% are performers. Local vendors fairs often include performers, too. Unfortunately, neither state or local gatherings include performer showcases where attendees can see excerpts from performer programs.

School Performer Showcases:
This is probably the best resource for you to see and talk to several school assembly performers at one time. These Showcases are usually one-day (sometime two days) events that allow performers to present a short 5-10 min. preview of their program before an audience. Showcases usually include an exhibit area for you to meet and talk to individual performers and pick-up flyers and information you can take back to your school. You can also network with school assembly coordinators from other schools, too. Cons: This event usually requires at least a full day of your time. The performer(s) that you want to see may not be performing. (At some showcases performers can only perform every other year.)

Wayne and Karen Brown are school assembly performers who have been performing at schools across the U.S. for over 20 years. They are The Ocean Adventure: www.TheOceanAdventure.com.
Wayne and Karen also publish school assembly performers directories for California schools. They also have an online school assembly performers website: www.TheAssemblyDirectory.com.