Family Theatre presents Alan Young and Jim Bacchus. From Hollywood, the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theatre presents Me For You, starring Alan Young. And now, here is your host, Jim Bacchus. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives. If we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. Now to our transcribed drama, Me For You, starring Alan Young as Phil. It's just a case of asking. I know what it's a case of. And he's not an ogre or something.  Look, honey, what do I do?  I'm only trying to put you in the right frame of mind. I'm in the right frame of mind. What kind of help is talk like that? Mr. Green, I know it's going to be okay to ask you this because my girlfriend says you're not an ogre. I didn't mean you should say it. Sure, sure. He knows we're getting married, Phil. A lot of people are getting married. What's that to him?   A little. Well, all you're asking for is a little. Ten dollars more a week. That's not the national debt. Then why is it such a big thing? Because to us it is. Oh, good grief. Well, it's the rugs and the furniture. The rugs and the furniture. Forty-two, thirty-five a month with interest. Honey, how many times do I have to say it? We're not moving into the White House. But we'll never get such a price again. It's a three-room apartment. The stuff will be hanging out the windows. Well, not if we store the big pieces. Why buy something to pay storage on it? It'll be cheaper. You said if the VA approved the loan by next March, we'd have the house. Let me try it again. That's only six months. The application is still being investigated. I'm being investigated. My debts. If all of a sudden they come across an item and it looks like I'm trying to buy out Butler Brothers, they'll say he's a maniac and no loan. Exactly. You agree with me? Well, of course. That's why you should ask Mr. Green for your raise as soon as possible. No, no, wait, wait, wait. Well, so that the VA will also discover you've had a corresponding increase in income. Then everything is all even again. Will you wait? Would you have a cup of coffee, Phil? No, no thanks, Mrs. Harper. I can't sleep. Carol? Maybe later, Mom. It'll be cold. I like it cold. Can I, Mom? Are you sure, Phil? It isn't instant. Really, Mrs. Harper? Right. Say hello to Mr. Green for me. Sure. Honey, listen. Yeah, I did. Mr. Green. Now look. Every conversation we have when I get up in the morning, it's in the papers. Well, she's my mother. I've got a right to discuss things with her. Oh, I'm telling you. Well, she's all I have. She advises me. Yeah. And then the whole neighborhood. Carol, I've got some pride. Well, then show a little of it to Mr. Green. That's what I'm talking about. Suppose he says no. He won't. I have your mother's word for this. Phil? Yeah. I'm getting a little mad myself. I love my mother. I love your mother, too. But she can be wrong once in a while. That's possible. Whenever you get that crooning tone in your voice. Can we skip the tone?  I'm simply saying she can be wrong about my boss, whom she knows only by nodding at the supermarket. Oh, that's another thing. How can you have a slow summer at the supermarket? Carol, let's stay on the subject. But people have to eat. Maybe they don't know that. Maybe we should put up signs.  Honey, you've got all the answers except the big one. If I ask Green and he doesn't give me the raise, I have to quit. Phil? I have to quit. That's all there is to it. Either I'm worth what I think, or I'm not worth anything. I'm listening to a great voice. You on the phone? Beethoven. Do me a favor.  I'd like to talk to you.  Answering the riddle of the universe. Do you know the answer? I'm still working on the question. Get happy. Pop, will you turn off the great voice? All right. What's the matter? You want a glass of hot milk or something? Why would I want a glass of hot milk? I just wondered. If I wanted hot milk, I'd be having some. Yeah. Well, Pop, when you were married, were you happy? Listen, a few more questions like this, and I'll go back to Beethoven. I want to figure something out. You, well, had a fight with Carol tonight? Well, no, not exactly. I've lived long enough to know what that means. The fights a man doesn't exactly have with a woman are the ones he loses. I didn't lose anything. We simply had a disagreement. Just tell me the main structure. I say we shouldn't get head over heels into debt. That's unimportant. What does she say? She thinks I should ask Green for a raise. Well, one thing is sure, you're marrying a woman. I note you didn't say she thinks you should get in head over heels. No. Just earn more money. Well, it comes down to the same thing. It does not. This is why Greek culture collapsed. Pop. I'm still on the subject. Was it Pythagoras, things equal to the same thing are equal to each other? Maybe it was Euclid.  What are we on now? They can have it both ways. Defend opposite sides of a question and still be entirely right. Pop, rest yourself assured. The ladies turn the world. They're the only ones who protect men from destroying one another. I think I'm losing you. I'll put it another way. Somewhere tonight, Green's wife is telling him he overpays his employees. You think so? Depend on it. But consider the vibrations. Mrs. Green, being a woman, knows that everywhere on Earth other wives are saying, hit Green for a raise. You've got it coming. You know that's a thought. So, she protects him from letting his charitable impulses ruin the business. Yeah. Well, listen, what should I do? What? Should I ask for the raise? Why ask me? Are we engaged? Hey, Phil. Yeah? Ah, Green is screaming. Has that delivery with the mayonnaise come yet? I called the warehouse twice. The man's on his way. Boy, I'm not going to take much more. What's the matter? Ah, he's like working for a lunatic. Everything that comes up, we should have done it yesterday. Is he pretty hot this morning? When wasn't he hot, so I asked him right out. And I suppose, Mr. Green, that everything we did yesterday, we should have done the day before? And he says, yes. Now, you know how he is on Saturday. Well, now he knows how I am on Saturdays. Jerome, getting him sore isn't going to help. I'm not trying to help. I'm sick and tired of this. Who does he think we are? He's running a big business. And he's doing great. Well, I've made up my mind. Not at these prices. Not me at 70 a week when Mr. Green can send his whole family to the mountains three months every summer. Well, what are you going to do? Ask for a raise. That's what I'm going to do. Oh, now look. I'm not afraid of him. Yeah, I know. But this could be a bad time. You ever seen a good time around here? That'd be sensible. If he's sore, this isn't the day to ask for a raise. I've made up my mind.  Today's the day. Jerome, give yourself a break. That's what I'm doing. He'll say no. You haven't got a chance. Let him. Just let him. You'll be dead. Okay. And the whole case of that mayonnaise he's so hungry for falls off the truck. Jerome. In a thousand pieces. No, you wouldn't do that. A terrible accident. He'll fire you. Are you kidding? He will. Would Simon agree, Fire Uncle Tom? Listen. Who can he get to take my place? You hire a horse. It's $3 an hour. Look, look. I'm begging you. Don't ask him for the raise today. What's it to you? Well, you know Carol and I are getting married in three weeks. And I figured to ask him for one myself. Well, you should. You got it coming. Yeah, but I want to get it. Simple thing in the world. I'll go in first and soften him up. Jerome, please, as a friend.  All right. But if he says no... Then when the truck comes in with a mayonnaise... No, no, Jerome. What satisfaction is there in that? Let me tell you, tremendous... You know you wouldn't do it. Try me. You wouldn't and I wouldn't. The point here is to get the raise. Not prove we're downtrodden. That needs proof. Look, if I want furniture, your wife needs teeth. We can't pay for it with broken mayonnaise. We have to go about this diplomatically. Not with green. We don't. All he understands is a knife to the heart. Okay. So you tell me how that retires the mortgage. Jerome, fail! Listen to him like a wild bear. Take it easy. Here he comes.  The mayonnaise is here. Yes, sir. Right away. What are you standing around for, anyway? Stack in the ketchup like you told us. Well, you should have done that this morning. Come on, Jerome. Let's get the mayonnaise. Mr. Green, there's something I want to ask you. Later. When you get back from the dock, start stamping the bee. You told us first we should mark the milk. Come on, Jerome. That was an hour ago. We'll take care of it, Mr. Green. I just want to ask how come my family doesn't go to the mountains? Because you can't afford it. Get the mayonnaise. That's right. I can't. Jerome, come on. The stuff sits in the sun. It gets warm. I want a raise, Mr. Green. I run my legs off around here. We'll talk about it later. Three ladies are waiting for mayonnaise. We'll talk about it now. My wife needs new teeth. And you're going to need some of yourself if you don't get out on that dock. Jerome, for Pete's sake. Let me go, my arm. I want an answer, Mr. Green. Right now. Oh, right now? You want an answer, huh? Well, the answer is no. No, huh? That's right, no. Now you got one minute to bring in that mayonnaise or you can pick up your time. So tell me, what did you do? What else? We brought in the mayonnaise. Jerome didn't let another peep out the whole day. And he still got his job? Sure. Well, there you are. Why? Mr. Green never had any intention of firing him. He... He was just letting off steam. You can get scalded by steam. Ask Jerome.   It wrecks it for me. Because Mr. Green is mad at Jerome? Because he didn't give him the raise. Well, that doesn't mean he won't give it to you. Honey, the atmosphere down there is electric. It's like before a thunderstorm. Everybody's walking around on tiptoes.  That's just what he wants. Mr. Green? To keep everybody on edge, afraid to open their mouth. The man's got an ulcer the size of a poker chip. You see if I'm not right. He hates tension. Well, then why is he screaming all the time? He gets nervous. As nervous as the people who work for him? Carol, it's his place if he wants to scream. The point is Jerome picked a bad day to shoot off his mouth. You want to come up on the porch a few minutes? Okay. I still say it's to his advantage that you're afraid of him. Will you turn that record over? I'm not afraid of him. Well, you might as well be. I see no satisfaction in asking for something. I'm not going to get just to prove nobody's pushing me around. How can you be sure you're not going to get it until you ask? Because I saw what happened to Jerome today. But you are not Jerome. Exactly. So we do things different. Some coffee and cake. No, no thanks, Ms. Harper. I'm full from dinner. Carol? It's Swedish seven layer. Maybe tomorrow, Mom. Well, tomorrow it'll be stale. I like it stale. Good night, Mom. Phil, I spoke to Mr. Green today. He says you're a fine boy. Thanks, Ms. Harper. I like him too. Well, don't you worry. Everything will be fine. Yeah. Phil, wait a minute. What's she doing now? Stopping him on the street? She's just trying to help. If she wants to help, she can come down to the store and stamp beans. Now, Phil... I don't need this kind of help. I can carry my own messages. Well, then carry them. Carol, this is my last word on the topic of Mr. Green and the raise. It's the wrong time to ask. Now that's the end. Oh, the furniture. We'll wait. It'll have to wait. Phil, you don't... They're not going to stop making furniture. The furniture business will go on. Well, what I'm trying to tell you is we've already bought it. We can't have bought it. We signed up for it today. The papers are going through. I didn't sign anything. Mother signed his co-maker on the note she put up her insurance policy. Mother... Well, now, Phil... Did you ask her? Is that what happened? Well, I didn't ask her a thing. It was her idea. I believe it. Everything that's happened to me in the last two months is her idea. Now, calm down. You know, maybe I'm engaged to the wrong girl around here. Maybe I should be engaged to your mother. Well, she wants this to get off to a good start. Ah, so she hangs a rock like this around my neck. Well, she thought you were going to ask for the raise today. You mean you told her I was going to ask for the raise today? Well, I've got a right. She's my mother. All right, okay. But not an obligation. Does she have to know every word that passes between us? Oh, Phil, you're exciting yourself for nothing. The thing is done. Oh, I'll say it's done. It's done up good. Have you thought what will happen if I can't make the payments? Oh, you can make them. Sure, sure. I can make them. God will provide. The money will fall off a tree or something. When Mr. Green gives you the raise. Mr. Green, Mr. Green. Mr. Green can be hit by a truck in the next 20 minutes. We can't bank every move we make on Mr. Green. Well, now, honey, control yourself. If we can't make the payments, they'll cash your mother's insurance and she'll wind up in the poor house. Well, she could come and live with us. She could not. Well, Phil. I guarantee it. Nobody lives with us but you and me. Well, then there's only one thing to do. Shoot myself. Well, ask for the raise. Ask for the raise. Is there any other way? Ask yourself. Is there? Pop. Pop. In here. She did it. She did it, Pop. Beethoven loses again. Wait till I tell you. Wait till I turn him off. She mortgaged her mother. She bought it all. What are we talking about? Three rooms of furniture. Well, you gotta sit on something.  I'm still trying to get the news. Carol bought some furniture. All day I've been adjusting to the idea. The ladies turn the world. This is poison. Let's look from the beginning. What's wrong with having furniture? She bought it without a word to me. Things haven't changed. What?  It was a crime. What did you do? I put it here by the phonograph. And it hasn't moved since. Oh, but... Listen to me, Phil. Get used to something. What women do is a fact. After a while, enough facts become history. And who argues with history? If it weren't for your mother, I wouldn't be sitting in this leather chair. I'll tell you a secret. I'd be lost without it. Okay. But Carol is buying us into the booby hatch. Be glad. They're the only ones who'll buy anything. You think houses all over the world are filled with furniture because men made it? Wake up. It's because women bought it. Basically, it has something to do with economics. They buy everything. And when you get right down to it, why not? Huh? It's for sale. So, that's it. Oh, brother. I've got no choice to room. I have to ask for the raise. I can see where you do. And if he turns me down, I lose a job and gain a mother-in-law. Why do you have to quit? It's one of my principles. When you've been married a little while, you'll start losing those. If I ever do get married. Now what? Carol disagrees very strongly that I should quit. Her mother again? Not this time. The way things are now, the old lady wants to get married no matter what. How do you figure? If there isn't any wedding, she winds up with all the furniture and no insurance. Say that affects her. Yeah. Except I want there to be a wedding. I suppose so. Well, I'm sorry. I gummed it up for you Friday.  What does she know? You didn't tell her? Tell her nothing. I leave the house at 7 o'clock. Come home at 6.30 and dinner. Better be on the table. Everybody's smiling. What about her teeth? Anybody that talks that much can expect their jaw to hurt. And Mark's tonsils? They help them grow. He's starting to sound like a baritone. I wish I could talk my troubles away like that. Trouble? A good night's sleep. Everything looks different in the morning. Yeah? Take the word of an expert. Maybe I should send you in to ask Mr. Greenberg. Well, he said he'd see you? In his office. Right after lunch. Well, sit down. I'm on the phone. Yes, sir. Yes. Yes. Yes, y'all, let's go ahead. Yeah? Well? Yeah? She did. Oh, that's the saddest story I ever heard. You've broken my heart. Now, what about the tomatoes? She does. She did. Well, does your wife drive the truck?  Listen, I'll tell you what. If the tomatoes aren't here by 4 o'clock, I'll bother you. Now, Phil, what can I do for you? Mr. Green, I think I told you how I'm getting married a week from Saturday. You know that's a crook I was talking to. I beg your pardon. On the phone. You got to watch out for guys like that. I should know. Yes, sir. Now, what were you saying? Well, just that I think I mentioned recently, how I was engaged to Carol Harper, a young lady who- They weep all over you. Young ladies? No. Guys like Schultz. Always a sad story. Always the blues. His wife is sick, so he can't get the tomatoes over here this afternoon. That's his version. I see. Go ahead, Phil. Excuse me. You probably got troubles of your own. Well, yes, sir. I have to tell the truth. God forbid they aren't like mine. Well, I guess they aren't, Mr. Green, but this girl I'm going to marry. Just pray you get a wife as healthy as his, that's all. As whose? Schultz. She isn't sick. I've seen her. She's strong as a horse. You know what he's doing? Schultz. Oh, I'm sorry, Phil. I keep getting off the subject. This is no problem of yours.  Well, she and her mother, my fiancee Carol, it is, went out shopping around for some furniture. Exactly. What? Shopping around. And if he can unload those tomatoes at a better price than what I offered, I won't get them. But you know what'll happen? It happens every time. It never fails. Mr. Green, I know the matter of the tomatoes is a pressing item, but I can't let you keep changing the subject. It might give you the wrong idea. Wrong idea about what? About me.  What? Well, well, that's good. You think so? Well, sure. I don't want people afraid of me. Well, well, I'm not. I want to get that straight. All right. Well, tell me something. Yes, sir. I pay your salary, don't I? That's right. Well, then how come you're not afraid of me? Well, because I don't need this job. Oh, don't talk crazy. Everybody needs some kind of job. I don't want to give the wrong impression. One minute. This is Green. Well, the time has changed, my bucko. Now they got to be here by 2.30 or it's no deal. Now, 2.30 you bandit and get them tomatoes out of the sun. What did I tell you? Mr. Green. Happens every time. Schultz runs over here at the last minute. Mr. Green, you've got to listen to me. What do you want to do? Quit or something? All I want to do is speak my peace. Well, speak. You've been sitting here for five minutes. I'm going to be married a week from Saturday. Well, I can't help you out of that. I want to get married. The kind of help I need is financial and I've got to have it. Well, Phil, you know the policy around here. We don't make loans. I got more loans than I know what to do with. I don't want a loan. Who, uh, who's the girl again? Carol Harper. Mrs. Harper's daughter. All the calves, liver. Oh, oh, yes, a fine woman. That's one opinion. What's your problem? Well, everywhere I turn, they're buying things. Rugs, pictures, you'd think we were going to live in a museum. Well, son, that's marriage. It's murder. Now she's got her life insurance policy down for a bedroom set and twin chairs. Your fiancee? Her mother. Oh, the calves, liver. The same. Well, so what do you want? A raise. A what? A raise. $10 more a week. Ah. You know something, Phil? What? I thought you never were going to ask for it. Hey, Phil. Yeah? You make a fine groom. Are you choking in that neck piece? Just about. Where's Carol? Throwing away a bouquet. Let me tell you, that's nerve. What? Us throwing away anything. Hey, did I tell you what Green did? He gave the bride away. Oh, no. I mean for me. I got my raise, too. Ah, Jerome, that's great. Retroactive to next week. The first thing I went in hot for. Your wife's teeth? Last Thursday night, a whole new bridge. She picked him up this morning. And this is a great dentist. Yeah? He fixed it, so it hurts her to talk. Oh, there goes the bouquet. Ah, you got a beautiful bride, Phil. I think you can stamp the beans without me for two weeks. Oh, I'll leave you something. I'll stamp every other can. Phil. Phil. Oh, yes, honey. Come here. Oh, Phil. It's the most beautiful wedding that ever happened. You sure you kissed everybody? Almost. Well, get them all. This is the last time. Okay. Uh, how about you, Jerome? Uh, wait a minute. Where's my wife? Oh, go ahead. If she can't talk, she can't bite. Well, just a quick one. All the luck in the world, honey. I've already had it, Jerome. Phil! Look at here. Phil! Have some wedding cake and cough. Mrs. Harper, I'm too excited. Mom! Oh, really? Mom, not right now. Give me a kiss. Oh, you're a fine boy, Phil. Yeah? Even Mr. Green says so. Well, he should. I told him. Carol, have some cake. Okay, Mom. You'll take a slice? Oh, it's my wedding. Well, yes, but you won't like it. It's fresh. It'll get stale. But this is today's cake. Mom, I'm going to put it under my pillow. This is Jim Backus again. Recently, a roving newspaper editor returned from a tour of the South Pacific Islands and reported that the wild tropical growth had reclaimed the island beach heads, which American troops had established en route to Japan. This article put me to thinking how quickly any place can become run down at the mouth if it becomes the victim of neglect and indifference. It does take a pretty constant interest and some real ambition and some hard work too to keep alive and, in good order, the places and things of concern. And this is true even in our more important relations, say, for example, with God. For how many of us ever think of calling upon God's help, save in moments of distress, then we literally storm heaven with our prayers, hoping to establish a favorable beach head with the divinity. But we forget that it takes time to cut through the thick growth of weeds and vines of our neglect and our indifference, which strangle the soul unmindful of God. Often such petitions come too late and too late to affect the divine prayer. One sure way of keeping, of establishing a beach head with God, of keeping open the lifelines to eternity is the practice of daily prayer. Such prayer tramples under and keeps at a distance the pernicious and rampant distractions and vices that infest the soul indifferent to God. It establishes vital contact with the Godhead so that our needs are not only known but anticipated by him and family prayer is particularly pleasing to God. For through this prayer, we may be sure that God will be in the midst of the family group, as he has promised to be whenever two or more persons are gathered in his name. In addition, family prayer provides for our human need to worship God as social beings, as well as human individuals. Two, it makes for regularity and habits of prayer that discipline and are reflected in the other phases of our lives. And that is why family theater urges all to pray together, for it knows that the family who prays together stays together.  From Hollywood, Family Theater has brought you transcribed Me For You starring Alan Young. Jim Bacchus was your host. Others now cast were Charlotte Lawrence, Irene Tedro, Vic Perron, Herb Butterfield and Paul Freese. The script was written and directed for Family Theater by John T. Kelly, with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need, and by the hundreds of stars of state, screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage.  This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to join us next week when Family Theater will present the first morning starring Scott Brady. Raymond Burr will be your host. Join us, won't you? Family Theater has broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network. This is Mutual, the radio network for all America.


That was a, that was a really cool moment, you know, just because of everything that happened in 2019 and then the way that 2020 kind of started offering meaning getting sent to the alternate site and then coming back and kind of getting a media chance to go out there and play and, you know, it was one way to, it was a special way to top off a good 2020 for me. I mean, I think that anytime your confidence is, in a sense, stunted, it makes anything in life hard, not just, you know, playing baseball, but just how you go about anything. So, you know, as I continue to have positive results in the outfield to continue to instill a lot of confidence in me every time I went out there and ultimately I think I made enough plays in a row for me to, you know, kind of have all the weight off my shoulder going forward and feeling comfortable as a part of the team out there. I did, I did three, three shoot or shoot themed gloves. I'm wearing one of them currently in the game right now I don't know if I'm going to wear the other two. They're kind of some exotic looking colors but I don't really know the rules on, you know, outfield gloves but I'm sure I'll find out pretty quickly if I, if I wear those other two.


and welcome to In the Studio today. I'm your host, Alex Silva-Satter. And as you can see, I'm not actually in our television studio. I'm here at our office studio. So today we're gonna be talking with the Davis School Arts Foundation and its board president, Lorraine Vischer. And the Davis School Arts Foundation is coming up on its 40th anniversary, I believe. Is that correct, Lorraine? Yes, that is correct. We are coming up on our 40th. And you were founded by Patricia Hershberger. Yes. And at what point did you become involved and join the board and why? Well, that's a real good question. I joined the board about six years ago, a little less than that. But I was benefiting from DSA, well, before that because I was a elementary school teacher here in Davis for 20 years and benefited from their grants. So I was very well aware of them all during my career. I'm not retired. And upon my retirement, I got asked to join the board. So I was here, I was president. So it was kind of a swift indoctrination, but I very much am happy to be here and be serving in this way. All right. And could you tell us about the purpose of the Davis School Arts Foundation for those who don't know? Well, that's a really good question because actually we're kind of in a point of transition like so many places are. But originally, we started during a really difficult time. It was proposition 13, it had been passed. Taxes, tax revenue had dropped. The schools didn't have as much money and what suffers in those times are the arts. So local citizens right here in Davis got together and put together donations and raised money and formed the Davis School Arts Foundation creating the Endowment Fund that we have that's kept us afloat and partnered with school district to have a little bit of matching funds with the school district and created the foundation which provides provided grants to classrooms, to school sites, to elementary school choirs and some funding to the junior high and senior high as well. So we've been providing those grants for 40 years and we started out small and our grants generally now run each year we're giving you up between $30,000 to $40,000 in combination with the school district. Wow, and what sorts of things do these grants fund? They fund all kinds of things. Of course, as I mentioned the school choirs and elementary school, they also fund teachers applied for the grants and they tell us what they wanna use the money for. So it's been used for pottery, it's been used for dance, it's been used for ballet, folklorical instruction, it's been and dance classes for kids, it's been used for watercolors, just a really wide variety of things, calligraphy and oftentimes the teachers will bring in a local artist who leads these lessons with the kids and provides the instruction and we also give money to each school site and that at the school site, the teacher and the teachers and the principals can decide together how they wanna use that money. Sometimes it's used to buy art materials that are available to all teachers at the school site. Sometimes it's used to bring in some kind of an art program that the school whole school benefits from or some kind of an art project with an artist that the whole school benefits from. So that's another way that they get used. So it's a pretty broad way that it's distributed. Excellent. Why don't we mention a little bit about why arts are so important and why they tend to get cut first always you always hear like, oh, well, we gotta cut something, let's cut arts. Why is that bad and why are arts so important? Well, art has been proven. Art, music, fine arts, performing arts, all of those have been proven to be really instrumental in the brain development of children. Really helps with developing connections, with making associations, with organizing thinking patterns. It also calms the nervous system, helps kids to focus better. It develops math skills, language skills, verbal skills. I mean, it really hits all the areas of development for kids in a way that almost no other subject does. And it's really, really valuable, especially for younger children, which is why the Davis School Arts Foundation focuses mostly on the elementary schools. But it's just crucial for kids and not to mention the psychological value of the arts and how it can improve self-esteem. It can, as I've said, calm the whole system. It's really extremely valuable and extremely undervalued in our society. One of the notes I saw about the importance of the art was that it said that art is not about the right answer but a personal response. And I thought that was a great observation because it's not a mechanical thing, it's a creative thing. It's so true. And responding to art develops in kids the ability to, first of all, feel when it's about the response and not about the judgment of their artwork, but it's about the kids' response to art and to their art and to the art of others. It develops the child's self-confidence and it teaches them empathy and it teaches them awareness of others and being able to put themselves in other people's places. It gives them a sense of belonging that somebody else has painted something or dramatized something that expresses their feelings. And it allows them to understand the feelings of others. So, yeah, the response is what really matters. It's not the judgment. Excellent. Let's now talk about this new, so COVID's come along, of course, and disrupted everything. Yeah. And art's being a sort of a physical, in most cases, a physical, strong physical component. It's not something that can be taught through the screen necessarily in the way that maybe mathematics or other things can be. So could you tell us a little bit about this art boxes idea that you came up with and then we'll get more into it? Sure. If you don't mind, I'll back up just a little bit on that. Sure. Right before COVID hit, the Davis School Arts Foundation was looking at doing some strategic planning and doing some changes in the way that we operate. Being around 40 years, it's time to take a look and see how we can better serve our community and in this current time. And that was just beginning for us when COVID hit. We are really thankful for that endowment that we have because that has managed us to stay, managed for us to stay afloat. And we are not rolling in money, but at least we have a base that we can work with. And we knew we wanted to give grants this year and we looked around and we said, what can we do? We could just give the money to the schools evenly and see what they can do with it. But then the art center came to us with this idea of the art kits and the whole board just responded immediately that this was a way we could put art materials in the hands of a pretty good number of kids in the school district. And that was really exciting. And that's when we started moving forward with that. And what the art kits are is our actual physical kits, bags filled with art materials, watercolors, chalk pastels, gosh, I can't, felt pens, just clay, whatever. I don't know exactly what the art center has in mind to put in there, but it's just great stuff. And then along with those art kits will be lessons that show how to use the materials, how to use watercolors, how to use felt pens to do sketches and drawings. And materials in the kit can be used in more than one way. And so there'll be lessons that can show one way to use it and then another lesson that shows another way. So there'll be multi-uses for the materials, not just a one-time use. We're setting the kits up so that they'll go to the teachers as well, the classroom teachers and the science teachers. I noticed that, I thought that was very interesting. And that is because in science there's a lot of drawing and a lot of diagramming and a lot of experimentation with different materials and mediums. And so the science teachers can bring the art kits into their instruction as well and give kids ideas of ways to explore them. So that's why we included that. We were giving them to the teachers so that the teachers can also include them in their instruction or have one day a week where everybody brings something they've done with the art kits and shows it on screen. And then of course the kids can use them at home when they're not on screen, which is the point. We wanna give them a way to learn, to feel good, to experience learning that doesn't have to be relating to a screen. And so that was why the art kits really resonated for us. That's very cool. I mean, I know that there are a lot of probably adults who are jealous. It's our kids' lives. Keep your hands off the kids' arms. I know there's a multicultural aspect to it because you're doing, you're translating everything, right? It's available in multiple languages. We are going to make every effort to translate it, yes, into Spanish. Into Spanish. I understood there's also a singalong component, one of the products. We're also planning to include a singalong component which will be videos of local artists singing and words along the bottom, you know, the old singalong. So the kids can sing along because unfortunately, you know, we can't fund the choirs this year, which is something that we feel strongly about. And we wanted to include some kind of a vocalization, singing component for those kids who really benefit from that and resonate with the music. So we're including those as well. I should say that the kits include that the kids are going to be going only to the fifth grade students in the district. We really wish we could give it to all kids in the district. But as you can imagine, that would be a very costly undertaking. So we chose fifth grade. We chose it because, you know, fifth graders are older, they've got their reading skills under control, usually by fifth grade. So they can work independently with these kits. It's an important developmental year. There's a lot of connections going on at that age level. And so that we felt that was going to be the age group that we could both, we could best serve. So for those of us who don't have kids, fifth grade equates to about what? Ages? Oh gosh. I think it's about age 10. About age 10? Yeah. 11, 10, 11, 12, somewhere in that framework there. So you're still collecting donations and financial support for this project, correct? You mentioned a little bit about that. Yeah, sure. Right now, the entire project is taking about $40,000. A little more than that actually, excuse me, closer to 50,000 is the amount that is being used towards this project. Some of that is most of that. The bulk of that is coming from the Davis-Glaris Foundation and the Davis Joint Unified School District is also contributing 18,000. 18,000 is our base that we give every year. And then we, depending on the amount of money that we have in a given year and our expenses, we donate more beyond that. So that's what we're doing this year and the total amount is about 50,000 that we're giving. Now that will provide some really nice art kits. We started out at a lower number and as I worked with the Davis Arts Center, we began to realize that we wanted to provide something better. And so we increased our giving from the Davis-Glaris Foundation. We figured this is the year to do it. We have the resources, it may dip into our resources in the future, but this is the year to do it. We have a second project that we would dearly love to do. It's a dance project that would involve creating videos or online recordings of dances, multicultural dances, wide variety of dance styles and making it available to all the schools in the district, the elementary schools K through six to be used. They could be viewed at home for kids to practice at home along with the video. They can be used in the classroom. Once we're back in the classrooms again by teachers, by PE teachers. And so they would be a long lasting resource, but that is going to take a considerably larger amount of money than we have available at this time. So we are kind of setting that as a goal, maybe we can reach by next fall. And in the meantime, if more donations come in that are on a smaller scale, we'll be able to enrich the art kits even a little bit more. The website, right? They can donate right there on the front page. I saw the link. So I'll put it up on the screen. It's the Davis School Arts Foundation.org. Yeah, so if people donated $500 to the Davis School Arts Foundation, that would provide kits for 10 students of the art kits. If people, if someone donated 1500, that would provide kits for a whole classroom. We're gonna be serving about 750 to 800 kids. That's about how many we're gonna hit. And if somebody donated, you know, glory be 40,000, that would fund the whole art. That would fund the entire video project. The dance video project. Dance video project, or a whole nother grade level of art kits. Right. So you would expand the offering to more grades if you can get the hundred people. Yes, absolutely, yeah. Now, dance is something that I believe, I mean, with YouTube and TikTok and all that, it's really kind of made a national surge, hasn't it, in the last few years? I guess so, yeah, I think so. Because, you know, when I see kids, it's basically they see what other people are doing on online, and that inspires them to try harder or do things. And I know that they have the, you know, the talent programs on TV. What you see the kids are capable of nowadays is just very incredible, you know, like the coordination and what do they call it? The choreography and the flips and the physicality of everything they're doing. But it's kind of interesting to see the way the internet has really brought everyone together and spread ideas so quickly in the arts. Because of course, you know, the arts also with painting and people can find lessons and stuff. This whole project I think is really neat. I know with everybody stuck at home, it's just, it's very difficult. That's why we wanted to do, that's why we jumped on this so quickly. Because, you know, we're living in different times now. And DSAF, as I said, was on the brink of looking at how we can change our model a little bit. And so this is kind of an opportunity for us to explore that a bit. I don't know where we'll go after this is all past and we're back to being in human contact again. But it's certainly, we're certainly living in times that have made this possible and make it possible for us to be connecting still, even though we have to be socially distanced. And I, for one, I'm really grateful for this. It's helped me to continue to feel connected to people that I care about and do work that I care about doing, like DSAF. So, but otherwise would have ground to a halt. So this is really a valuable thing. And if we can use it in the future to bring more art and more experiences to kids, I think that's wonderful. There's a really good example coming up. And the Davis Media Access is supporting this. I'm sure you know about it, that Bill Fairfield usually does the Home for the Holidays concert in December. And that, I don't know how many people know, but that concert benefits the Davis School Arts Foundation. It's one of our biggest contributions. And obviously they're not going to have the concert in person this year, but Billy is bringing it to the good computers, to our computers online. And that's happening on December 17th. And he's providing it, no ticket sales. If you do buy a $25, you do a $25 donation, you will get a video or a CD of the concert last year, and which will be a lot of the same performers as this year. But Billy's doing this completely with the idea that people will donate to DSAF during the concert. So that's an example of how we're changing and using this new media that we have, this technology to do good for people and bring people together. So maybe let's wrap up and then project out a little bit into the future since you said that you've been doing a lot of thinking about that before COVID struck. What do you think are the critical issues, maybe, and policy issues that need to be addressed for the future of arts education and improving it here locally or nationally, now that we have a new administration coming in. We can go, right? Yeah. We need to fund it. We need to fund it seriously. We need to fund teachers. We need to fund not only our teachers, but of course we need that, but we need to fund all teachers because teachers in the classroom, on the ground are the ones who are teaching art every day. And we also need to give teachers more autonomy and more stay in what happens in our classrooms and what is taught and how it is taught. Those things are critical. Teachers are under enormous pressure right now. I have a daughter who's a middle school teacher and I know what kind of pressure she's under. Having been a teacher myself, I know what kind of pressure that would be. And that's not anything new. It's just different now. So we need to learn from this time that we're going through just how valuable education is, how valuable our teachers are and how much support we really should be getting and are not and have not for a very, very long time. And in arts education for DSAF, I hope we can increase our grants and increase them wildly. I'd love to see us doing more collaboration with other organizations like the Davis Arts Center where we remain independent organizations but who are working together to build and bring more to our kids. It's important. And I'd love to see a future in which those things are happening. All right. Well, I think that's probably a good place to wrap it up. Thanks so much for inviting us. You're welcome and thank you for coming on and sharing with us your thoughts. And that's it for in the studio today and we'll see you again next time. How do you feel about, because obviously computers are really the power they're gaining and the way arts are done about digital arts because now the painting and all these things are being done. I am a water colorist, right? So I very strongly believe in and I'm in the traditional animation, hand-run animation. So I really believe in all that but I know that a lot of the art that's created, at least commercially now, it's all digitally based and the graphic arts are certainly a lot of that is done digitally. And of course, music has got a combination of things but 50% of that maybe is done digitally now. So how do you feel about that? Well, I mean, I personally like the old fashioned stuff. The hands on, get your hands on, get into it. I like acoustic music. I like, down home, people singing together music, harmonizing, no special effects music. I like the old masters and I love paintings and I'm a water colorist too. I like clay work.  But art is art. Art is the expression of the human spirit and the human experience. And all through time, that's always been changing. I mean, not very many people paint like the old masters anymore. And we're always changing and we're always evolving in art and that's what art is, is the evolving process of the human nature. So I think as that changes, we should be supporting it, not criticizing it or putting it down or weeding it out. But I think it's interesting to see where it goes. And I've seen some pretty awesome stuff that occurs out of the digital art world. There's some pretty amazing things. I'm thinking of, I don't know if, an interesting overlap of those two worlds is I don't know if you've seen on some of the social media, there's a, what do you call it, a GIF, a thing you can click on and move it around. And it's paintings by Van Gogh, but they've been painted in such a way that you can actually move it around. It looks as if you're moving through a universe that is- Oh, wow. I haven't seen that. I'll have to check that out. It's really, really awesome. It's very wild. And I looked at that and I thought, what an interesting mixture of the old master and the current technology. So, I think there's room for both. I think we need to be sure we're exposing kids to both because they build on one another and both be there. Do you feel there's an ideal time to bring in, like, or should they be getting digit, like some digital skills arts education at some point in the high, up to high school? Or do you think that's really for later on once they've established sort of the core art skills? Good question. And I really don't know the answer. I'm not an artist. I'm a watercolorist amateur, you know? I can do it for my own benefit. But I think that would, that's not a question I can really even answer. I, you know, I think it's good. I think it's important to have the hands on experience when they're really young. And should you bring in the digital? I don't know. I think that probably varies with each individual. But I do think the hands-on stuff is important. That's the small motor court. Because that's where a lot of that brain stuff happens. Right. The small motor court thing. I brain all that stuff happens in the early ages and that happens with art. And so I would say they definitely shouldn't be moving a mouse around and drawing on a screen when they're in elementary school. But you know, high school maybe, college probably. Yeah. I'm curious because for a few years I was a liaison for this thing called the Tower of Youth in Sacramento. And they were trying to, one of the things they wanted to do was get more digital skills into sort of the core curriculum because they're essential job skills. Just digital literacy, you know, overall. Sure, yeah. And you know, everything was being done as sort of career tech ed.  You have to have some things. Absolutely. They felt it was really important. So they were doing all these different projects around that. And of course, in certain industries, say the film industry in particular, which I follow, you know, the digital stuff is just becoming very, very dominant. Yeah. Marvel movies are mostly animated actually. Yeah. They look like real people, but they're not. Yeah, yeah. At least augmented, it's not. Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. Everything is augmented. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me Lorraine. You're welcome. And this little conversation was very interesting. If you want to include a piece of it, go ahead, you know. Yeah.


Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Encompass Live. I am your host, Krista Burns, here at the Nebraska Library Commission. Encompass Live is the Commission's weekly online event.  We're here live every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Central Time. The sessions are recorded and posted onto our website after the show. Both the show and our recordings are free and open to anyone to watch. So share with your friends and colleagues anything that we are doing upcoming and our recorded shows. And we do a mixture of things here, presentations, book reviews, mini-training sessions. Basically, if anything is library related, we are looking to have it on the show. And we sometimes have a Nebraska Library Commission staff that do presentations, but we also do bring on guest speakers sometime. And that's what we have this morning. On the line with us from just north of us, we're here in Lincoln. They're up in the Omaha area is Amy Wenzel from the Omaha Public Library. Hi, Amy. Say hello. Hi. Hi. And Wanda Butts, who's from our Summit Memorial Library in Papillion. Amy used to work at Summit Memorial, correct? That's correct. But they did this presentation about some programming that they did for adults with special needs. And I'll say also, Amy, I'll just warn everyone, she is having some voice issues this morning.  Wanda may speak up for her on her behalf to make sure that we can get through this with the least amount of trauma to Amy and her voice. So I'm just going to hand it over to you guys to take it away and share your presentation with us. Well, good morning from Natto Sunny, Illinois, Nebraska. My name is Wanda Butts, and I'm here with Amy Wenzel. And we're going to give you kind of our insight on a program that we did for adults with special needs. And we named it Fun with Friends. We didn't come up with anything clever. We couldn't seem to find anything. We didn't want to call it a story time. So we just called it something simple, Fun with Friends. And it ended up being pretty much that kind of a program. Amy is kind of without a voice this morning, so I will do most of the talking and she will interject. So I hope you don't have problems hearing her, as I can't hear her too well anyway. So I kind of want to give you a little background about this program and maybe a little background about both Amy and myself. We kind of thought about this program. Amy became really involved with it as she was a community engagement assistant director at the Stunt Memorial Library at that time. We just saw a lot of special needs adults coming into our library to use our computers and also with groups that would just come in and sit and look at books. As we watched these special adults, we kind of started thinking about the fact that we would like to have a program that involved them more within the library that had kind of a literacy component with it. And we approached some of the caregivers that were coming in to see how they would feel about this program. So Amy set out to write a grant for the program, which actually we received. And so now we had the money and we had some people that were interested and here were two people telling nothing about special needs and what kind of program to put on. So we first thought about the fact that we wanted to make it sort of like a storytime. But many of these adults showed interest in some of our regular storytime programming. But the storytime for children didn't really fit the needs of the adults. First of all, all these programs, they weren't designed with the needs of the adults. There was not a physical space in the children's programming for it to accommodate them. And the programs were also not designed to meet their needs intellectually. So these adults, they had adult experiences and sometimes a great deal of knowledge about the topic being discussed. Those programs were designed for children at a different point in their lives intellectually. So we had to come up with a brand new program. So we decided we wanted to institute some programming for adults, but not having any experience with that population. We weren't sure where to start. So basically, Amy started researching those programs around the country, both by libraries and other organizations that dealt with special needs. And we kind of found a few programs that we wanted to use their format. Amy contacted Sarah Ringer at Durham County Libraries and that's in North Carolina. And you can Google that actually and find your creation about it. And she had a fantastic story time and she had a craft program that I was with her with it. So Amy contacted her and she gave us all of her resources, pages of information, and even months and months of her programming ideas. And with that, Amy and I kind of set out to establish some kind of a program. Well, unbeknownst to us, there were a lot of other resources out there. The Ollie Webb had a book club and so we talked with him. But they really had, we didn't want to go into a book club type program because Ollie Webb already had that established. And that book club is called The Next Chapter Book Club. And I want to give you that information because Ollie Webb is on the web. You can Google them also. And you can also Google The Next Chapter Book Club, which will give you a lot of information. We didn't really want to compete with him. We wanted to offer something additional. We also considered a 10-week series of educational art programs with an organization in Omaha called Y Arts. And this organization worked to bring art education to people of all ages, socioeconomic status, and ability levels. And they have done quite a bit of work with special needs adults with this program. So we applied for an additional grant to be able to offer that program also, but we did not get that grant. And it was kind of a little pricey because it includes a lot of materials. It includes somebody, a professional artist that comes in and actually deals with that program. So Amy, I was going to say to use that storm time format, that one that you usually use with children with a literacy component, a craft, and maybe some kind of a movement. But we went to a local organization in Papilla, Nebraska, and we talked to them about our program. And when we presented it, we presented it in that storm time format. This was a local organization that provided the day and residential programs to adults with special needs. And we were told that although their adults may enjoy that program, the caring neighbors or guardians of those adults with special needs may not be quite as supportive. So they would probably think the program that we were bringing forth was a little too childish. So of course then Amy went back to the drawing board and started looking at other options. And since we needed this organization was willing to work with us and bring like 10 to 12 adults to our program, they were very helpful in helping us design a program we knew we could get approved through the organization. So that's kind of how we came up with Where is Fun with Friends. Again, I can't tell you enough about the fact that we mean nothing about how to do this. So we're flying by the seat of our pants. So one of the things I think is really very important is that you communicate with the people that are in the know. Talk to as many people, parents, caregivers, organizations that deal with special needs. And they're always very willing to give you all of their information they possibly can't. So we set out. We have our program already. We decided it was going to be a one hour monthly educational and social program. Based on the fact that we would love to maybe have done it every week but we were doing this under the grant format. So we would have limited funds at that time. Our content would vary greatly depending on the month. So we would kind of have a theme each month that we presented. So our basic format included an icebreaker.  And when they cut the ball, they would say their name. You can't say your name over and over again. There's nothing better in the whole world than to be called by name. And so the participants, we had name tags for them. We learned their names. We learned a little bit about them so that we could always be calling them by name. And they loved that. They learned our names quickly and they were thrilled to be able to talk to us. So then we'd always learn a new topic. So we had our topic that we would present. And then after our topic, we would usually do some kind of project or craft, a hands-on. And then at the end, time allowing, we would always have a mini dance party. Something that was fun that maybe sometimes if we had too much time, they would, of course, anybody, no matter who you are, if you're small, if you have special needs, if you're just an adult, you're always willing to dance. Dancing was always, you know, something that we all love to do. Now I'm going to kind of tell you about some of the programs that we did. And I can be not always always successful. You know, you always want your program to be wonderful but then not always successful. Some of the programs that worked, I think, a very first theme, as you can see by the picture, was Mardi Gras. And that's kind of when we started our program in February, March. And so we presented a literacy part of it by talking about Mardi Gras.  And the craft, as you can see, was making masks. We had feathers, we had jewels, we had glue, we had great time. And it was really fun and everybody was really excited about taking their craft home with them. And at that time, our dance was the Cupid Shuffle, which was a fun dance. If you don't know anything about that, please Google that also because that's something you should all have on your iPods. Dancing with little kids, big kids, it doesn't make any difference. It was just a lot of fun. The next problem we did was called Butterflies. And we played Butterfly Bingo and we would have different types of butterflies that we would show and then they would have a bingo card. And that was a really interesting program more or less because it was the first time we really did something that was... There was a literacy component to it, but not a book. We just played a game and we showed and talked about different types of butterflies. I don't know, it was kind of fun for a while, but it wasn't something we wanted to have to last too long because it lost interest really quickly. So afterwards, Amy and I had grown up a big butterfly on a sheet and we had done like four or five of them and we taped into tables, just the outline to tables, and then we had paints and paint brushes provided and we divided the group into four and then they were able to paint their own butterfly. It was Butterflies, if you don't know, Butterfly's propanean is known as Homer the Mama butterfly. So it was kind of theme-based for our area also. And they were able to paint however they wanted. They could do whatever kind of design they wanted to do on the butterfly. So it was totally kind of up to them. If they didn't stay within the outline, they must find you. They did whatever they wanted. They were able to take the butterflies back to their organization or if there was some individuals there, they took them home. And of course we kept one of them to display at our library. So that was also one that was very successful. During the summer reading, usually you have quite a few crew centers. That comes to your library that presents for summer reading. And we had some very good resources for presenters that we were going to use for a friend's program. These presenters we knew had understood this audience and were able to come in to work with our special needs adults. And present programs that would be in hands-on program that didn't have a lot of talk to it. Usually it was something that they would be very interested in. One of the presenters was from the Papia National Resource District, which is an organization that does some rescue of reptiles, owls, and does educational programs throughout the state of Nebraska. We had a wonderful presenter, his name was Austin, and he really understood the audience. He had patience. He brought humor to the group. And he also brought snakes and reptiles. And there were participants in that audience that actually knew as much as Austin did about some of these reptiles. They were able to hold the snakes. They were able to handle things. It was just incredibly fun. And it was also incredibly funny because some of the things that were said within this were historic. Wanda, I was going to ask that picture. I thought that picture on your very first slide looked like she had a snake around her neck. I was wondering about that. Yes, she did. That was exactly what he was going to ask about the program was. Amy and I were standing back in the corner, more afraid of these snakes than any of our producers. And this is one of the small, because he had a very large snake that they just kind of make out clear across their lap. Wow. Very brave of them. Braver than me, yes. Some of our other programs that worked really well, we brought in therapy dogs. And of course, anything that had to do with dogs and being able to touch dogs is always a wonderful program, no matter how old you are. Before the dogs came in, though, we did a small craft. And that craft was where we may actually need dummy treats. Many of our adults had pets at home, so they were able to take the treats home. And many of them just donated them to the dogs that came as the therapy dogs. And this was really good, because I can't remember the lady's name, but the woman that had the therapy dogs gave a lot of, showed them how she trained them, showed the participants the things that the therapy dogs could do. They were very involved in the therapy dogs. They were able to touch them. They were able to pet them. So that was a really successful program, also. What we did, we did a contract with White Arts for one program. So Lisa from White Arts came out and she did a watercolor program. And this, again, was a situation where she gave instruction. They listened, they followed. It was a hands-on program. Nobody needed to design anything special. It was just learning about watercolors and the different things that you could do with it, and the different techniques. Very fun, very fun. But of course, you always have those programs that don't work. And we were thinking these would be, this would be the most wonderful program ever. And it was, and we called it, let's explore science. Well, science has all kinds of different components. And so we were really thinking that this would be so successful. Well, the problem with this, this program was basically, we had it set up with two different kind of science projects. One of them was that we put baking soda and vinegar into a, like a bottle and put a balloon on top. And then the balloon was supposed to blow up. And then we could see the chemical reaction going on. Well, it worked pretty well, but it involved a lot of pouring ingredients into a bottle, giving the balloon over the top. There was a lot of different, different things that went on during that period. But once you had it done, and you put the balloon on top and it blew up, and the balloon blew up, then basically that science experiment was over. So it went very quickly. And we saw that this was a, this was a situation that was over five minutes. So of course we did it again. And it went very quickly, five minutes. So we tried to, we talked about the experience, and we talked about the chemical reaction. But the fact is we did way too much talking. There was not enough crap, there was not enough experiment in it. So we weren't prepared really for that. Plus then we decided part of the science project was that we would go outside. And that transition period for special needs situation is sometimes kind of, it takes a long time to go from one place to another. So transitionally we got outside. It happened to be a very hot day. And we were going to put Mentos into a soda, like a big huge liter of Coke. And watch it explode. Got out there. That's what we did. It exploded. It was over. We were done. And we had probably only used up maybe 20 minutes of our time. So that one didn't work too good. Because it went too much. It went really too fast for us. And there was too much transition. And of course we lost. We lost a lot of momentum. Well, we just didn't do it well. So anyway, there was another program that didn't go too well, which we thought would be immensely fun. And it was on K-1s. There was a small component of that program that went really well. And that was we got into a relay race. And we won. And that was fun. It made us laugh. We held on to these together and a lot of liked K-1. But after that Amy and I did a lot of talking. And we had gotten a talk from Henry Doherty Zoo with all kinds of penguin pair of million. It had an egg and it had feathers and had pictures of different penguins. And it was not enough hands on. And it was way too much talking. We did have a video that we thought would be wonderful. And of course it worked really well. But when the group arrived, we couldn't get it to work. Of course on those two programs that didn't work for us, we always had that one thing that we knew that we could pull out of a hat. And that was we could always dance. So we always went back to the dancing when we had a lot of time to spare because that was a party. And so that was something fun for us to do. So if it didn't work, we'd still dance. I have a friend that is in the Hastings-Balk library. And she contacted me and she wanted to start a program like this. But she didn't know really how to get started. But she had a group that came into our library on a regular basis. And so she just pulled out puzzles and that kind of thing. That seemed to be working with her. And that was just a beginning of starting to build a relationship. And I'm sure that along the way she'll continue to build on that program. But sometimes you don't have to have a complete program to actually start something with your special needs adults. They're just pulling out books that might be interesting in magazines or just like a puzzle type thing. Some of the benefits are kind of what we learn from friends. Wanda, can I just interrupt for a second? As we started to do this, we felt like we were adults. Can I interrupt for a second? Hi. Yes. The slides. You may. That's okay. We're still on the slides that I'm seeing here. It's still the one with the Mardi Gras picture. Is that correct or... That's fine. Okay. I didn't know if there was... You don't really have a one. So what I'm still talking about is kind of still on that slide. Not a problem. That's what I thought. Yeah. I just was double checking to make sure nothing had frozen up on our end. No problem. Go ahead. We don't know why you need to have to look at a lot of slides that say all the stuff that... So we made it short and sweet. Perfect. No problem. Go ahead. What we learned from our family friends is they felt more comfortable with us and they were more approachable when they would come in. So it was easier for them to ask for things, ask for output computers, maybe ask for books that they might be looking for. They also started to come to other adult programs. And as before you might have heard, Amy was the community outreach and she did adult programming and during the summer she did a lot of hands-on type programs. And we found that there were a lot of caregivers that brought their adults with special needs to those programs. And that was really... That was just so wonderful. Because we used some of our adult programs where we made hand cleaning, we made candles and they were able to do that. So we also created a relationship with the caregivers and they also would ask us more questions and it was easy for them to come with us and say, can I bring along my child or something so they can be involved in that program? We had way too much fun at the library with our special needs. Adults, we laughed a lot and we also learned a lot. So it was good for us. It was a program we brought to them but the learning component turned around to Amy and myself. It was probably the favorite program of all times that we did every month. Amy, it was of course her very favorite and she was doing adult program. You never felt really nervous when you did it. You were just kind of one again. It was just very fun. We became more engaged in the community. Even those who didn't necessarily work with adults with special needs or have someone in their family were asking us questions and they said they appreciated what we were doing. So of course we love to look good. So that's kind of where we were. Here are some of the considerations. We can't tell you what is right or wrong to do because we're not authorities on any of this subject. But these are what we found to be some of the things that we had to consider in doing this program. And we learned this probably from the very beginning and we learned this from talking to organizations and individuals. The ability levels are huge. So your programs have to accommodate all the different levels that you might have in one group. So it's very important that you don't have any restrictions on what something should look like or especially in a craft situation. It doesn't look like this. It looks like whatever they wanted to look like. So we have a lot of different ability levels. You're working with not only organizations but individual patrons that might come into your library. One of the things that we found is that you can't always base your whole program in believing that that organization is going to bring 10 people and they're going to show up and not really go out and look for other special needs adults within your library and within your community. Working in an AIO message on our end. Can you guys still hear Wanda? Yes, we can. No problem. Sometimes that pops up just letting you know you're having some connectivity issues. I'm Nancy Jonah and can you still hear us? Yes, we can. Sounds coming through fine. Okay, thank you. Okay, that we get on my train of thought here again. Of course, privacy is always an issue here. In libraries, of course, privacy is always an issue and it should always be right up there at the top. Some of the things, as you can see, some of our photos. We had to go out and get photo releases signed by everybody so that their photos could be shown. That was really important for us but with the organization, it's not quite as easy to get all those signatures. We had to actually work very close with that organization that came into our library to make sure that we did not show somebody in any of our pictures or without their permission. We also have, you know, there's all kinds of different health issues which brings in some of the things that people may be allergic to. Which any more, if I can have a day of clients, but it's very important that we are aware of that. One of those, of course, is good restrictions. When Amy started researching this, I can remember how excited she was because she wanted to do a lot of things that were food-orientated. Like nutrition or she wanted to do a segment of apples and she wanted to have them taste different things. Well, right away, a lot of individuals told us, uh-uh, can't do that because there's a lot of problems with diabetes, with allergies, quite a few different food restrictions. So we kind of left off that. We didn't want to worry about that issue at all. So we kind of left food out of our program. Another thing we had to think of is, will we be required caregivers to be there? You know, again, Amy and I were not set up to really understand all the different needs that were required of our participants. So we did require caregivers to come with the adults. Although we did have an organization that came in, they did bring two to three caregivers to help out. And that was really important because we did group craft and we needed that kind of help. But it's really kind of funny because even the individuals that came with their family member or the individual patrons, they were always willing to help out with as many people that we had that we needed help with. Wanda? One of the other considerations. Wanda, can I interrupt? Yeah, we do have actually a question about the caregivers there. Hold on just a second. Michael, you're unmuted. Yep, am I coming through? Yep. Yeah, you just kind of touched on that. But my question was, you know, the caregivers that came along, did they, and the answer might be varied, but did they more participate along with or were they there to help? You just kind of touched upon that. That was kind of my question. Did they participate in the events and the programs or just help out? Okay, if you can hear me, this is Amy. Sorry, I've learned this right now. The caregivers were very present. They participated even when we did that at Penguin Relay. Everyone participated. And we helped, you know, if we were doing a project with three adults that they brought with them, but they were willing to be an extra set of hands to help with the other adults who may have needed us. Great, thanks. Cool. One thing about the caregivers is they never, we never had to ask them ever to help. They are there to have a good time also. And participating was something they wanted to do. So it was never, we never asked for help. They just dug right in. They were part of the program. One of the other considerations you have to go with is staff time. Is this a adult program? Is this under youth services? Is this under adult programming? What kind of, you know, there's a lot of staff time required to get the program off the ground. And then you can't go in there with one staff member. You at least need to, and depending on the size of your group, maybe even more than that. So that is also a consideration. And of course that goes into cost, which is going to cost to facilitate that program. And as far as staff time goes. We had such good caregivers coming and such good presenters.  And so it was really pretty easy for us. And we hope that you would have that same type of program and helpers that might come to you also. If you are considering doing a storytime format, I would definitely suggest contacting Sarah Winger. She has wonderful program plans. But some of the things you might want to think about are when choosing books, you may want to choose realistic fiction or nonfiction books. Oftentimes those tend to go over better with the group. They're understood better than the adults can relate better to the content. And especially when you're looking at nonfiction. They can just relate to a better than a story that he has a child and it has the main protagonist. That was a really big consideration because when you brought forth that literacy component to the organization, they were pretty specific about not having those children's books. So also it's not something that I can tell you that you would never want to read it or if you're worried. I believe that that is too much talking time. So it's something more that it would be more for a visual effect. The next slide is on sources of information. As you see in the picture, that is without therapy dogs. Why arts? We kind of touched on that a little bit. It's an organization that brought art into Omaha and they do programs. Art is always something that I think that would work so well in a program like this. They not only did a lot of hands-on with play with all different kinds of media. And so I think that finding somebody that an artist collaborative or something that has through with arts is a really great program that you can incorporate into a special needs adult program. Olive Web which is a national organization. That's something that usually that you can find if you Google it. There may be something in the area. They're a wealth corporation and also funding. They love to fund. They love to give information. And then also the book club. And so they're going to be able to give you a wealth of information. Of course schools, the schools in the area, they're always a really good source. I think that more than anything we found that there are so many organizations that want to help you and you're so excited to see a program. Parents are really excited to be able to bring someone to a program like this when I dealt with a special need because you see them in the library all the time and it's really nice to incorporate them into your organization. Local businesses are money wise. They give small amounts of money for gift cards, that kind of thing. So find some local businesses. All you have to do is incorporate it into your elevator speech about how wonderful your library is and you will find a lot of sources that want to help out with a special needs group. Disability and awareness and support groups in your community are always aware. OX is an action partnership. It is another really good organization that you can contact. And then of course occupational therapists are always willing to come to your aid. And as I kind of touched on of course funding, funding is always vital. All you have school foundations, local businesses, women's clubs or civic organizations. The Nebraska Planning Council on Development, Autism, Abilities and Grants. That is a Nebraska specific organization you can find information about online. There are similar planning councils and grants available in color states. And then corporations. Funding I think is kind of vital for this because you have to use some of your presenters requiring a small stipend. There's a lot of craft involvement with this. So that's very important. And you'll find that a lot of businesses will also give you money for crafts or donate crafts to help you out. So basically I think that you have to do a lot of groundwork for this program. But it's really a fulfilling program. I think it brings a lot to our library. It's still asked for. So we have capital lists of email addresses that we can notify anybody as soon as we possibly can. So I think it's a really, it's a very good program that libraries should definitely invest in. As you can see here's a butterfly. That's a butterfly review. More than anything else, we can't tell you what's going to work in your community. What the adults in your area are going to be interested in. But I hope what you can learn from us is just not to be afraid to try to put yourselves out there. Not only will these adults benefit, but the entire community has a whole new benefit. And you will learn a lot as well. This was extremely fulfilling. It was an extremely fun. We loved every minute of this. And I'm so glad that we did it. At this point, you know, we have just a couple of minutes left. If you have any questions, if there was anything we did not go into detail about that you wanted some more detail, please let us know. You can also always email us and we can give you more detailed descriptions. I hope you guys can hear me. I'm so sorry. I couldn't talk so much today. No, not a problem, Amy. You're coming through just fine, I think. I can hear you just no problem. So thank you very much, Amy and Wanda. That was very cool. Lots of great information there. I do have a question and some coming through here on the GoToWebinar. So if you guys do have any questions out there, type it into your GoToWebinar interface in the questions section. Or if you have a microphone, just ask me to unmute you and you can ask your question that way. One question we do have that just came through. Have you ever thought about having a volunteer program with adults with special needs wanting to volunteer at the library? Absolutely. We actually already have that in place. Currently we're working with the school systems with some of their young adults who are about to age out of the program. They came in regularly to show in the mornings. They primarily showed our children's materials. They shelved our early readers, picture books, board books, things like that. And we did want to expand that program. Again, it was a matter of time. There was, of course, there's always training whenever you have new volunteers. And when you have adult with special needs coming in, sometimes, depending on their ability levels, you need to follow up more often where some of them do need a caregiver with them all of the time. So there were other revisions that we were working with to make this happen. And there's some transitioning currently going on with some Memorial Library. So that has been placed in schools for a little while. But hopefully that's something that can happen in the future. But I do think it's a fairly viable option. And these adults have wonderful skills. So I would not hesitate to make use of their services and their time. They can be so devoted once they come to love you and your organization. They have a lot. Oh, definitely. Yeah. I do have a question. You said that you got a grant to do this program in the first place. Is this going to be an ongoing program now? Or does that grant continue for you? Or how is that going to go on? The grant was from the Eastern Library System. It has continued now. But at this time, like I said, Memorial Library is going through some transitions, new director and things like that. So all of that is a lot there right now. But I know, speaking for myself, I unfortunately am not going to be longer. But I know that, like I said, I want to have a fantastic time doing this. And it'll just depend on staff time and resources coming forward. I think we will continue for students. Clearly, the givers have come to us and asked us for the program. And even though there's not a lot of patrons that participated, it was more from the organization. We have learned about it. We have more people asking about it. And like Wanda mentioned previously, the other adult program that we were doing, we tried to include more and more interactive elements. And we saw more and more adults especially becoming interested in that program and that regular program. That's right. I thought it was a great side effect, yeah, that it made them come to other things at the library, not the one specifically geared towards them. Going forward, the timing of the program but also possibly changed. We had really scheduled the program time around that organization you were working with. But that also limited the amount of individual patrons who had come to the program. It was a daytime, weekday program. It was a 1030 before their lunchtime. And so that made it difficult when we required caregivers to be present. It made it difficult for those who had nine to five weeks a job to come to that program. So you may want to consider an evening or a weekend program. Again, it just depends on the staffing availability and what we can do. Okay. We did have another question that just came in. Oh, and I'm not sure if you did mention this or not now. Did you market this program for just adults with special needs or could other patrons or children attend if they were interested? I think because it being grant funded for a particular purpose, would that have restricted? Yeah. Okay. So it was just specifically for the adults? Yeah. And like you said, some of the things that way that you would deal with them would be different than how you want to deal with the children anyway. Yes. So we already had in place in our library a sensory-friendly story time for children with special needs. So we already had programming for children already in place. We were specifically seeking to serve these adults who had a difficult time. You know, by 25 they made it out of the school system. And it's really difficult to find other avenues where they can do that same educational and social experience without a high cost one. And we did keep all of our programming free, which was very important. Great. Okay. Anybody else have any other questions? We do still have about five minutes left if you do want to ask any other questions. Well, I wanted to see if there is anything. I will just remind everyone that yes, the show is being recorded and the recording will be available later. You'll all be notified when it's ready. Amy or Wanda, could one of you email me the slides? We can post them up as well. I've had some requests to be able to see slides and your information. So that will be included. And any... We'll do that. Excuse me? I didn't hear that. Can you say that again? Oh, we will send you the slides. Okay, great. We will send you the slides. Great. And for any of the websites that were mentioned, I did look up some of them and found them and included them in our library commissions delicious account. Those links will all be available afterwards as well for anyone. Well, it doesn't look like any last minute urgent questions have come in. But if you guys do have any, you will have Wanda and Amy's contact info is there. I'm sure you'll be willing to answer any questions you might have about wanting to put on one of these programs at your library. Wanda and Amy, any last minute words of wisdom before we wrap up for today? Thanks for listening to us. All right. Thank you very much for being on the show. That was great. And I hope... Yeah, it was a very great program. That's something I've heard of before. And I hope you feel better and get your voice back soon, Amy. All right. So I am going to take back control of the GoToWebinar here. There we go. All right. So thank you very much, everyone, for attending the show this morning. As I said, it has been recorded and will be available later. I'll let you know when it's open and available. It will be posted here to our Encompass Live website down here right beneath where we have our upcoming programs. We have a link to the archived Encompass Live sessions. We post all of our recordings. So you'll have a link to the video recording of the show on YouTube, the PowerPoint presentation slides that they will be sending to me and links to the two delicious ones that I've grabbed already over here. For them, the YR, it's Ollie Webb, and the Nebraska Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities. I'll go through again in season E that I missed, and I will add them as well. So that will wrap it up for the day's show. I hope you join us for our future shows. We've got our upcoming schedule here. And next week is... Anatomy of an Ad Campaign is our topic. Heather Imoff is actually going to be coming to us from Illinois, the De Plains Public Library in Illinois. And they use also grant funds, a state per capita grant fund to launch an advertising campaign promoting the resources at the library. So she's going to talk about what they did there to get that information out to their current and potential users. Also, and if you are on Facebook, please do a like Encompass Live. We have links to pop you over there. We do post on Facebook of upcoming shows. Here we get this loaded up. I post your reminder. Here's your reminder from this morning for people to log in to the day's show. When recordings are available, I post on here. So if you are a big Facebook user, please do go ahead and like us on Facebook. Other than that, let's see here, that will wrap it up for this week's show. Thank you very much, and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye.