Puppet troupe helps Elm Hill School students talk about bullying

An educational group presented a puppet show on Tuesday, May 31 to help students in kindergarten and Grade 1 talk about bullying, decrease bullying behaviors and create a safe school culture.

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2016-06-01 / Front Page Puppet troupe helps Elm Hill School students talk about bullying By Tory Jones Bonenfant toryb@eagletimes.com Students in kindergarten and Grade 1 at Elm Hill School participated in a presentation on Tuesday, May 31 by Puppets in Education, discussing ways to deal with bullying and create a safe environment. — TORY JONES BONENFANT Students in kindergarten and Grade 1 at Elm Hill School participated in a presentation on Tuesday, May 31 by Puppets in Education, discussing ways to deal with bullying and create a safe environment. — TORY JONES BONENFANT SPRINGFIELD — An educational group presented a puppet show on Tuesday, May 31 to help students in kindergarten and Grade 1 talk about bullying, decrease bullying behaviors and create a safe school culture. “We love to have the children participate and benefit from any performances” that help tie in social and emotional learning activities, said Elm Hill School Principal Dana Jacobson-Goodhue. Programs that help students deal with bullying and other issues through interactive shows and methods in and out of the classroom are “really critical” to help students as they head toward the unstructured environment of summer break, Jacobson-Goodhue said. She said she hopes to have the program back again next year. Puppets in Education (PIE) is a Burlington-based educational puppet troupe that travels to schools for a variety of educational programs. Puppeteers used stories, scenarios and role-playing on Tuesday to share the message that young children can speak up when they are feeling bullied. The group presented the Kids on the Block - Vermont Bullies and School Safety Program in partnership with Springfield Buick GMC, which financially supported the approximate $2,700 program, Jacobson-Goodhue said. The puppeteers used 3-and-a-half-foot tall puppets to interact with the young students on Tuesday, asking them to share their ideas on how they may react to certain situations involving bullying. The puppets talked with each other and with the young audience, offering tips such as “violence isn’t the way to solve a problem,” and discussing the difference between “tattling” and “reporting” to help keep themselves or others safe. They also talked about differing forms of bullying, including through electronic means such as texts. This is the first time the school has brought in the puppet program, but it has organized other programs in the past, such as speaking with a police officer, Jacobson-Goodhue said. School Guidance Counselor Becky Spaulding chose the topic for this year’s program. PIE’s purpose is to “empower kids to talk about really important and sometimes difficult issues, including bullying, child abuse, drugs, autism, health, and cultural and physical differences,” according to the group’s website. The group is in its 34th year, with programs on bullying, abuse, childhood obesity, mental health and other topics in programs that reach more than 10,000 children and adults each year in Vermont and beyond, according to the website. In another recent program, Elm Hill School won a Vermont Breakfast After the Bell Challenge award on May 25, through a program in which the school provides breakfast in the classroom. Student breakfast participation increased 247 percent at Elm Hill School over last year, with 52 percent of students eating breakfast on an average day, according to Jacobson-Goodhue. The award was through the New England Dairy and Food Council (NEDFC) and Hunger Free Vermont. Elm Hill School received a “Breakfast After the Bell Champion” banner to display in front of the school. All schools taking part in the challenge are eligible to apply for grants from NEDFC to purchase equipment to help serve breakfast, such as coolers or carts to transport food to classrooms.