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General Description of Work: I consider myself a teaching performer who uses puppets and magic as the medium to present educational, encouraging and entertaining programs. My desire is to encourage children to enjoy reading and learning and to make character building choices which will benefit them throughout their lives. I also welcome the opportunity to teach the joys of puppetry as an art form to children and teachers. I feel that puppetry is the type of art form which best encompasses all learning styles and allows for individual students to use their strengths while also encouraging them to explore abilities they may not know they have.
Bio: My educational background and work experience has been in preschool and elementary education where "Hands-On" learning is very important. In the year 2000 my husband, myself and our two sons started working together on a puppet team providing children's programming in our local church. During this experience I realized that puppetry can enhance the learning process in a way that many other art forms cannot. I began using puppetry in my classroom, but also started learning ventriloquism. My ventriloquism training has been through the Maher Ventriloquism course and through the Ventriloquists in Training course offered by One Way Street. I have also received personal training from professional ventriloquists Stephen Knowles and Ken Groves. As part of my training I am required to enter competitions and have earned three Gold awards thus far. I was also chosen to be part of a select group of ventriloquists - The Ventriloquist Dream Team - which performed at the One Way Street International Festival in July 2008. Since retiring from teaching I have traveled throughout Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri presenting programs with my cast of characters that make up "Pockets Full of Fun". My goal is to provide programming for schools, libraries and churches which will encourage, entertain and educate the children in attendance.
Services Offered 1: School Assembly Programs: A typical 30 - 45 minute "Pockets Full of Fun" program includes ventriloquism, magic, stories and songs with lots of participation. The children in attendance will be entertained, encouraged and educated all at the same time and will be given a prize to remind them of the concepts they learned. Program themes available: reading, character building, good choices, holidays and Gospel
Services Offered 2: Puppetry Workshops: In my puppetry workshops the students will be taught how to make different types of puppets (determined by age group). They will then help write a puppet play based on a story. The final performance will consist of songs and stories for the puppets to perform.
Services Offered 3: Puppetry Workshops for Teachers and Educators: I also present workshops teaching teachers how to use puppetry in their classrooms. An overview of learning styles and brain research will help the teachers understand why puppetry is a good medium for enhancing the learning and retention in the classroom. Participants will make several puppets as well as discover ways to use them in their lesson plans.
Regions: All Regions, Central, East, North Central, North East, North West, South Central, South East, South West, West Central
Months available: : all year
Performance fees, mileage charges, related to arts services: : Performance fees vary according to the program and/or classes desired. Please contact Lisa for details.
Accessibility accommodations, space requirements, equipment and all other needs that should be met by sponsors: : I bring along my own staging and sound system for performances. When doing puppet making classes I will need table space for the children to work and access to electrical outlets. I will provide materials needed for classes with a few exceptions which will be discussed with you before hand.
Residency Description: A 'Pockets Full of Fun" residency begins with a 30 minute full school assembly. Then each classroom will be taught how to construct an age-appropriate puppet. The children will be instructed in proper puppetry techniques based on the type of puppet they have made. When applicable the children will also be given a brief history of where their particular type of puppet originated. After the puppets are constructed the children will help to write the play for their puppets to perform as well as a song for the puppets to sing and/or dance to. The ending performance will be all the classrooms performing with the puppets they have made. Teachers will also be given information on how to dig deeper into the cultural background of the different types of puppetry presented.
Core Group Preference: Pre-k, Elementary (k-6), People with disabilities
