Puppets teach Evans Elementary students bus safety
Students at Evans Elementary School learned the ropes of bus safety through a puppet show assembly this fall.
Segal Puppet Theatre and Company presented the interactive puppet show, titled “Bertram Bear’s Cool School Bus Safety Puppet Show,” to elementary students in September.
Evans Elementary School’s certified school nurse Laura McNeil helps plan health and safety assemblies and programs at the elementary school.
McNeil called the 40-minute show, which features a school bus set with a working stop sign and flashing red lights, “a proactive and fun approach to bus safety for students.” “We wanted to try to have the students learn and be reminded about safe ways to board and ride the school bus,” McNeil said of the show.
The puppet show offered tips to the school’s nearly 600 students, such as keeping their hands inside the bus, staying seated at all times, not eating on the bus, waiting until the bus is stopped before getting out of a seat and only getting off the bus at the correct stop.
The show, featuring child-friendly bear, rabbit and other animal puppets, is based on state and national laws for bus safety.
According to McNeil, the kindergarten through fourth-grade school worked with Segal Puppet Theatre and Company previously by offering a dental care awareness puppet show to students.
In February, students will view the dental health show titled “Tooth Buddy Tales” as a celebration of dental health month.
McNeil thinks that Segal Puppet Theatre’s method of using puppets catches young students’ attention and is more effective than a safety lecture.
“I think it keeps students interested and teaches them on a level that is easy to understand. It’s entertaining, and there was a lot of laughter,” she said.
In addition to setting up the tooth care and bus safety show, McNeil helped to coordinate assemblies on hand-washing, bicycle helmets, nutrition, the dangers of tobacco, and dog safety through local health departments, hospitals and organizations.
McNeil said at the start of the school year some kindergarten students are scared or confused about buses and that the Bertram Bear program helps to assuage those fears.
“Sometimes young students are nervous or afraid that they wont get on the right bus. This really is an opportunity to put their mind at ease, and it was very well received,” she said.
McNeil recommends the assembly to other elementary schools as a teaching and reinforcement tool.
“It’s a great way to get important information out to a large number of students at the start of school when everything is so hectic,” she said.
Segal puppeteer David Fiebert performs the bus safety show he wrote for students in the southeastern Pennsylvania area.
Fiebert, who started as a puppeteer in the early 1990s with Segal Puppet Theatre and Company, performs shows with varied themes that usually have educational elements. His shows are geared toward preschool to elementary students and include interactive opportunities for students to respond to questions or sing along.
In the bus safety show, students recite a safety pledge, answer questions and sing along.
Fiebert, of Cheltenham, creates his own hand and rod puppets and has about 14 different show scripts ranging in subject matter from recycling and bus safety to fairy tales.
He thinks interactive puppetry is a way to reach young children because the barriers of talking to an adult are removed.
“There is a huge give-and-take between the puppets and the audience. Their input is very important. Once the students are involved in a show, they are part of the solution,” he said.
For more information, visit www.segalpuppets.com.
Segal Puppet Theatre and Company presented the interactive puppet show, titled “Bertram Bear’s Cool School Bus Safety Puppet Show,” to elementary students in September.
Evans Elementary School’s certified school nurse Laura McNeil helps plan health and safety assemblies and programs at the elementary school.
McNeil called the 40-minute show, which features a school bus set with a working stop sign and flashing red lights, “a proactive and fun approach to bus safety for students.” “We wanted to try to have the students learn and be reminded about safe ways to board and ride the school bus,” McNeil said of the show.
The puppet show offered tips to the school’s nearly 600 students, such as keeping their hands inside the bus, staying seated at all times, not eating on the bus, waiting until the bus is stopped before getting out of a seat and only getting off the bus at the correct stop.
The show, featuring child-friendly bear, rabbit and other animal puppets, is based on state and national laws for bus safety.
According to McNeil, the kindergarten through fourth-grade school worked with Segal Puppet Theatre and Company previously by offering a dental care awareness puppet show to students.
In February, students will view the dental health show titled “Tooth Buddy Tales” as a celebration of dental health month.
McNeil thinks that Segal Puppet Theatre’s method of using puppets catches young students’ attention and is more effective than a safety lecture.
“I think it keeps students interested and teaches them on a level that is easy to understand. It’s entertaining, and there was a lot of laughter,” she said.
In addition to setting up the tooth care and bus safety show, McNeil helped to coordinate assemblies on hand-washing, bicycle helmets, nutrition, the dangers of tobacco, and dog safety through local health departments, hospitals and organizations.
McNeil said at the start of the school year some kindergarten students are scared or confused about buses and that the Bertram Bear program helps to assuage those fears.
“Sometimes young students are nervous or afraid that they wont get on the right bus. This really is an opportunity to put their mind at ease, and it was very well received,” she said.
McNeil recommends the assembly to other elementary schools as a teaching and reinforcement tool.
“It’s a great way to get important information out to a large number of students at the start of school when everything is so hectic,” she said.
Segal puppeteer David Fiebert performs the bus safety show he wrote for students in the southeastern Pennsylvania area.
Fiebert, who started as a puppeteer in the early 1990s with Segal Puppet Theatre and Company, performs shows with varied themes that usually have educational elements. His shows are geared toward preschool to elementary students and include interactive opportunities for students to respond to questions or sing along.
In the bus safety show, students recite a safety pledge, answer questions and sing along.
Fiebert, of Cheltenham, creates his own hand and rod puppets and has about 14 different show scripts ranging in subject matter from recycling and bus safety to fairy tales.
He thinks interactive puppetry is a way to reach young children because the barriers of talking to an adult are removed.
“There is a huge give-and-take between the puppets and the audience. Their input is very important. Once the students are involved in a show, they are part of the solution,” he said.
For more information, visit www.segalpuppets.com.
