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.
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.