“Character is, in the long run, the decisive factor in the life of individuals and of nations alike.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Dear Principal:
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this, I really appreciate it. I’ve put this special message to school principals like you on my website because in my experience (having performed over 200 shows a year full time for the last 13 years and professionally for nearly 20 years), most of the school principals I’ve met are very concerned about incoming assembly presenters. Most of them wonder:
“Is this worth pulling the students out of classes?”
“Will this REALLY be educational and inspiring?”
“Will this presenter hold the attention of all the students?”
“Will this program be too juvenile for older students?”
“How disruptive is this going to be on the day of the assembly?”
“If this person does a poor job, how will this reflect on me? How will the parents feel? How will my faculty feel?”
Believe me, I understand these concerns! In my travels across North America, (34 states and counting, plus Canada coast to coast!!) I’ve heard horror stories about poor assembly presenters.
With all of that in mind, I want to do everything I can to reassure you that with my programs, you’re getting solid, research-based programs that perfectly tie into school character education goals while being easy to host with a minimum of disruption of your school day!
It starts with how I start my time at your school – I have my own cart to transport my equipment and even my own state-of-the-art Bose PA system and microphone so I don’t need any of the school’s equipment. Also, because many schools have multi-use cafeteria/auditorium/gymnasium areas, I’ve designed my assembly programs to set up fast – about 30 minutes set up time (My Seuss-themed assembly set-up time is a little longer – about 40 minutes) and the same amount of time to break the equipment down and clear the area.
With my programs’ content, there is so much more going than just a ‘fun’ show. I have taken the educational concepts and wrapped them around engaging magic effects, audience participation, age-appropriate humor, music, and more. Many of the props are custom-built for the presentations I give – in other words, I like to tell my clients that you WON’T see me do a magic trick and then tell the kids, “Don’t do drugs!” The magic, interaction, and humor all serves as a metaphor and/or ‘hook’ for the kids to not only understand but also remember the concepts after the show is over.
Of course, me saying that my programs are appropriate and research-based is not enough – which is why I’ve flooded this site with all kinds of client feedback and comments from school principals, PTO/PTA parents, school counselors and more. Each assembly program has it’s own set of comments on each page, culled from my feedback over the last (nearly) 20 years. In addition, I’ve also included in the demo video on my home page some on-camera client comments from folks who were gracious enough to appear on camera. I know most people are camera-shy so the fact that these folks were willing to do so speaks volumes about how they felt about my presentations.
In short, my programs will guarantee you an enriching experience for the children that, with follow-up and reinforcement, can have lasting positive aftereffects in the form of higher test scores, fewer incidents of bullying and more.
My programs are designed to instill strong morals into the kids – encourage them to think before they act, to make good positive choices, and persevere when they encounter hardships.
Not only can I assist in molding these young minds into positive, productive members of society, but I can also guarantee you a happy faculty…because when it’s time for me to end my program and turn things over to the teachers, I have a very unique closing: I bring the energy level of the students wayyyyy down so when they are dismissed, they are quiet and compliant…making it easier to move several hundred young children back to their classes!
Additionally, I’ve done something that not many assembly presenters do – I’ve created different versions of each program to match up with the grade levels. In other words, the younger grades will see a different program than the older grades – different magic, different humor, different ways of communicating the concepts I want to get across.
As an aside, I’ve discussed this with other professional school assembly presenters and most of them simply say that they present the same show to each group but that they may change their ‘on-stage character’ or some of the jokes, but the basic show is the same.
I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, I feel so strongly about this that I don’t even charge schools for the second assembly! I wanted to remove price as a potential roadblock to giving your students the best possible experience.
While it’s been a LOT more work on my part, I feel that having different versions of each assembly topic made for a better experience for the students. That being said, I do have a version of each assembly topic that is suitable for an all-students event as some schools don’t have the time to split the students into two groups. In other words, I’ve got it covered, guaranteed!
That reminds me…I’ve mentioned the word ‘guarantee’ a couple of times and that’s because I put my money where my mouth is: If you feel these programs did not live up to my claims, not only will I refund my fee, but I will also donate $500 to your school’s PTO/PTA. In nearly 20 years of professional work, I’ve never had a single client ask for their fee to be refunded.
Once again, thank you for your attention and I look forward to the opportunity to enrich the lives of your students!
Best,
Cris Johnson