PI 42 Selection 1

“Distance Learning” and the Center for Puppetry Arts

by Sara Burmenko

By now the world has become accustomed to amazing puppets that are viewed as shadows, float on water, move remotely, are digitally animated, fly through the air, are gigantic in size, are composed of household objects that talk and creep, crawl, change shape before our eyes and perform a million other surprising stunts.

Welcome to our world here at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. But keep reading because in addition to being entertainers, we’re educators, and there is so much more than manipulated puppets going on here.

Let me introduce you to the department I manage: Distance Learning. In the beginning (1998), we took as our mandate the desire to enhance classroom curricula. We believed that a puppet was a useful vehicle through which subject matter could be enjoyably transmitted. Although ideal, it would be time-consuming, complicated and expensive to move a classroom of thirty or thirty-five children to our facility, but we had a way to move ourselves into the classroom: videoconferencing. In fact, currently we have moved into schools in forty-nine states and nine countries, and we do this via two videoconferencing studios, with two part-time and one full-time educator/ actor/entertainer/puppeteer.

We started slowly and carefully, aware that we were doing something completely unique. At first, we focused on Georgia schools, financially enabled by GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System). The Center saw the potential of our technology to expand its service to students who were unable to benefit from its arts education services in person. We became the first theater arts organization in the state to offer this programming. For the first few years, the Distance Learning pro- gram primarily served Georgia schools and worked with more than thirty school systems statewide to provide workshops. As word spread about our workshops, our program services expanded to a national, then an international, audience. And we’re still growing.

Let me introduce you to the department I manage: Distance Learning. In the beginning (1998), we took as our mandate the desire to enhance classroom curricula. We believed that a puppet was a useful vehicle through which subject matter could be enjoyably transmitted. Although ideal, it would be time-consuming, complicated and expensive to move a classroom of thirty or thirty-five children to our facility, but we had a way to move ourselves into the classroom: videoconferencing. In fact, currently we have moved into schools in forty-nine states and nine countries, and we do this via two videoconferencing studios, with two part-time and one full-time educator/ actor/entertainer/puppeteer.

Previously, schools had to possess videoconferencing equipment in order to access our offerings. This was costly and cumbersome and prevented many schools from connecting to us. Fortunately, a few years ago a new product emerged that offers the same quality as a videoconferencing connection (H.323), a cloud-based platform. Now, we have the ability to connect to any schools, nursing homes, children’s hospitals, boys and girls clubs and libraries with an internet connection.

We offer two different options. Amazingly, we can provide both of these options to up to seven sites simultaneously.

OPTION NUMBER 1:
We provide fifteen different subject- matter-based programs. We suggest certain programs for specific age groups.

Here’s how it works:

A teacher contacts the Distance Learning department and tells us he/she’s teaching a unit on Native Americans and would like to book our program on that subject. Once we schedule the program, we send the teacher a link to our study guide, in which there is a materials list and templates for the related puppet- building activity. In our point-to- point connection, we are “in the classroom,” interacting live – and unscripted – with the students. In the Native American program we discuss the nature of cultural groups, how natural resources define those groups and then we focus on one specific tribe, the Hopi. We take breaks during the program to make a puppet version of a Hopi Kachina doll with the class, and then we continue talking with the students about the lesson. This particular program takes 60 minutes, and is a lot of fun.

OPTION NUMBER 2:
Distance Learning offers off-site audiences a connection to four different live, interactive puppet shows, all created to work within our studio space. A major benefit to schools of arranging to view a show remotely is that an entire grade level can experience it together. In addition to performing, the puppeteer demonstrates to the class how the puppets are manipulated and how they are constructed and answers any other questions. These shows, including a Q & A, last between 45 and 50 minutes.

Here’s how it works:

A new offering from our department is a live virtual tour of selected portions in our new museum spaces, and this is being expanded. In addition, we are reaching out to life-long learners with programming geared for adults. New technology and increased input from participants encourage our department to dream, expand and create useful and entertaining programs that can make a difference.

To find out more about our program- ming, please visit us at

http://uat.puppet.org/programs/ distance-learning/.

Sara Burmenko started her career at the Center in 2000, after receiving her degree in Education. Throughout her time at the Center, Sara took on many different roles, finally settling in the Distance Learning Department. Working under the direction of Patty Dees for the past 8 years, Sara was able to help build the department into what it is today. Sara took over the department last year.

All the pre-K through second graders in the school go into the lunchroom or library to see “The Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat.” The puppeteer introduces him/herself, teaches the students a song that will be repeated throughout the show, and they begin the performance. During the show, the puppets elicit interaction from the students, including singing the song. After the show, the Q & A allows the puppeteer and students to talk.

In order to work with differing time zones and school schedules, all of our programs are booked on demand. Every attempt is made to accommodate the needs of our users. We also solicit feedback and suggestions.

Our department can be seen as a mini-Puppetry Arts Center, providing a remote connection to the types of programming the Center offers on-site. To students all over the globe, we bring the world of puppetry to them. We are the largest non-profit organization in the United States devoted to puppets, and the only one with an award-winning Distance Learning Department.