We ) Feature TheReview Wednesday, April 25,1990 — Bd8 Puppet kids celebrate differences oe Ee 2 H s KIDS ON THE BLOCK puppets surround volunteers (Jeff to right) Dale Kojima and Sue Good of North Saanich. The puppet program teaches acceptance of aisabled people. by Valorie Lennox The Review Kids are different We don’t even look the same Some kids speak diffrent lan- guages We all have a different name Children warble that song from the Kids are Different puppet show when Dale Kojima and Sue Good step on to the local school grounds. The young fans also accost Koj- ima and Good on the street and in stores, inquiring about Mark and Melody and Mandy, the Kids on the Block puppets. “The puppets begin as puppets but then they take on a personal- ity,” said Kojima. ““We refer to them as children.” Thanks to the skilled manipula- tions and characterizations created by Kojima and Good, the large cloth puppets become real people. The most popular is the ebullient Mark, with his “‘four-on-the- floor” hot rod wheelchair. Mark has cerebral palsy, Mandy is deaf, Renaldo is blind and Ellen-Jane is mentally handi- capped. As able-bodied puppets Melody and Brenda learn during the show to accept their handi- capped puppet friends as people first, Kojima and Good hope the same lesson is absorbed by the watching students. “What we’re trying to do is give the children an awareness that people with handicaps may look different and may act different, but deep down inside they’re just like you and me,” Kojima said. For the many classes which are already integrated, the puppet show and accompanying activities give children an idea of the chal- lenges faced by their disabled classmates. In one exercise, children put tripled socks on their hands then try to tie shoelaces or fasten but- tons. The difficulty of controlling their fingers through the socks helps them appreciate the prob- lems faced by a classmate with cerebral palsy, Dale said. The children also get informa- tion about being deaf and learn a bit of sign language. The deaf puppet is made with arms and gloved hands which can be mani- pulated by a puppeteer to produce sign language while a second pup- peteer controls the head and mouth. In another exercise, the students touch a braille card and try to work out a message in braille. To illustrate the difficulty faced by mentally disabled students, the class is given a series of rapid directions which the children are unable to follow. ‘What we're trying to do is give the children an awareness fhat people with handicaps may look different and may act different, but deep down inside they're just like you and me’ When the children suggest the instructions be slowed down, Koj- ima explains that mentally disa- bled people need to have their lessons slowed to accommodate their slower learning ability. Each presentation is an hour long, followed by another hour long program a week later. Kojima and Good do one to two programs a week and rehearse for 90 min- utes a week. When they volunteered for the program, sponsored by the Junior Victoria Riding for the Disabled Assocl- ation provides therapeutic & recrealion- al riding lessons for handicapped peo- ple of all ages, Tucsdays, Soptember to June, Boar Hill Farm on Central Saanich Road. For inform. Call 652-6341 To volunteer - 479-8717 The Corporation of the District of Central Saanich Recreation Facilities Study Public presentation of the Draft Recreation Facilities Study Report. Tuesday, May 1, 1990 at 7:00 pm Central Saanich Cultural Centre Activity Room A 4225 Clarke Road, Brentwood Bay, BC Copies of the draft will be available for review at the municiple hall, after April 26, 1990. Service League of Victoria, both made a two-year commitment. They started with four months of training, three hours a week, learn- ing to manipulate the puppets ana create the voices. Each of the specially made puppets costs $600 to $1,000. After finishing their training, they did several trial performances. Now in their second year of per- forming, both plan to continue volunteering. They do most of their perform- ances for grade four and five classes, although they have done some for adult groups. Their props include a covered ironing board for a stage, the puppets, and materials for related activities. Kojima and Good, dressed in black, are visible behind the pup- pets during the performance, but both find children quickly relate to the characters and forget the pup- peteers. All of the scripts come from Kids on the Block and all charac- ters are based on real-life stories. After the puppet show and exer- cises, the children are encouraged to talk about feelings, about the ways in which people are different and the ways in which people are the same. The children usually agree that all people need love and accep- tance, Kojima said. Kids are different But if you look inside you’ ll see That tall kid, that small kid That deaf kid, that blind kid Are just like you and me. More volunteer puppeteers are always needed, Kojima said. She invites inquiries at 656-7379. gms Funeral Chapels 656-2932 or 388-5155 Offer a complete choice of Professional Services. — TRADITIONAL — MEMORIAL — DIRECT CREMATION - — FULL PRE-ARRANGEMENTS SERVICES Services from your ehurch or in either of our chapels at 1803 QUADRA STREET VICTORIA FOR YOUR INFORMATION We've recently had a ramp built at the rear entrance to allow direct access to Tanners for the convenience of our customers who require a no-step environ- ment. To enter the store via this en- trance, simply go to the door at the rear of the store (on the north side of the building) and ring the doorbell. One of our staff will assist you directly into the store. Thank You!