by Rhonda Cohen

A new breed of educator-performer feeds information to school kids, facts made delicious with ingredients borrowed from MTV and the Internet.
Traveling school entertainers use music, visuals and magic tricks to catch the attention of their young audiences, and to impart some knowledge. Ken Fink, founder of Wondergy, calls this
“edutainment.”

How They Do It
Joe Romano, organizer of the show Books! The Magic is Real, specializes in magic that brings stories to life. He takes a plot line or character and weaves it into a magic routine. One book that he uses is William Bentley’s Snowflakes are Different. The magician takes a napkin, tears it to become a snowflake and then puts it in glass of water. When he pulls it out and fans it, hundreds of confetti pieces representing a little snowstorm blanket the stage.
David C. Perry, on the other hand, describes himself as an “artist-musician-comedian.” He composed a song in which he expands pi to the 60th decimal place. He shows students that there is beauty in the pages of books, as opposed to what comes from their computer’s video screens.
Ken Fink uses lasers to demonstrate the excitement of science, not to mention the liquid nitrogen he uses to make ice cream. His program titles include Cool Science and Sound Science.
Janet Sclaroff, from Janet’s Planet, plays guitar and sings for students in her educational programs. She brings puppets and musical instruments for the students to play with. For her older audiences she runs song-writing contests.

Not Mutually Exclusive
These folks resist the idea that entertainment and education are separate entities. Fink, for instance, says: “We don’t sneak education into entertainment. They are not exclusive of one another.”
David Perry quotes Albert Einstein’s statement, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Romano points out that the main purpose of his magic is to motivate the children to open their books. “The problem with some other shows,” Romano says, “is that they are entertaining and not educational. We have a really good mix.”
Often, entertainers find they like the school niche and stay with it. Perry has staged school shows, with themes from outer space to animals, for 12 years. “I get more from the kids than I give them,” he says. Romano has been taking his shows on the road for 20 years. Fink has a long background in education and co-authored the Philadelphia School District’s physical science curriculum. Sclaroff has been working with school children for 30 years.
Sclaroff gears her appearances to kids in grades K-3, but other entertainers span a wider age range. Perry starts with kindergarten but also has programs for high schoolers. He says that teens are interested in cartooning workshops and some of them are accomplished artists.
Romano limits himself to elementary schools but has three versions of his show. He uses up to seven books in each program, such as Thomas Rockwell’s How to Eat Fried Worms and Lemony Snickett’s Series of Unfortunate Events. He usually performs for assemblies of up to 600, although he has entertained very small groups in libraries. Fink stages shows for preK to grade 12 and performs in front of large audiences in assemblies.

Making an Impact
While the performers have set programs, they often make a special impact when they depart from their script and ad lib. Fink says he sometimes changes the entire program according to his audience’s interests: “There’s no portion control.” Sclaroff says that she “custom designs” her programs.
The school entertainers get fulfillment from the excitement of the kids in their audiences. In Sclaroff’s interactive show “Little Tyke Open Mike,” kids have the opportunity to sing or tell a joke on stage, or they can be in the chorus. “This is a great way for students to gain confidence and self-esteem,” she says.
Romano’s shows include lots of music and stage tricks. He says this approach raises the children’s enthusiasm. Fink explains, “I want to make an
educational and emotional impact on kids and adults. Teachers have to have fun too and try things in the workshops.”
Many teachers particularly like entertainment assemblies. “It breaks up the school day and gives the students something to look forward to,” says Rhoda Sanocino, an elementary school teacher. “They make a positive impact on the students and they have fun too.”

Rhonda Cohen is a local freelance writer.