Teens get 'hands-in' experience with puppets

Stephanie Bologna's mother has taught children with disabilities since Stephanie was seven years old. But in coming months, both Stephanie, now a teenager, and her mother will get the chance to be one of those children.

Miss Bologna, a junior at Scotia/Glenville High School, and her mother, both parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church in Schenectady, are in training to become puppeteers for "Kids on the Block," a diocesan program that uses large puppets to teach first- through fifth-grade children that on the inside, persons with disabilities are no different from anyone else.

The puppets -- with the help of their puppeteers -- act out scenarios in which a misunderstanding leads them to talk about their disabilities and talents. Afterward, the audience is free to ask questions.

Giving a chance

Having watched her mother's students struggle with those who don't understand them, Miss Bologna feels passionately about teaching others to accept persons with disabilities. (Her mother teaches at Schonowe Pre-School in Rotterdam.)

"I'd go into school with my mom and see really normal kids," she told The Evangelist. "People don't give them a chance. Those kids are more fun to work with, and their attitude is so much better than any other seven-year-olds!"

The teen had also seen ignorance in other schools cause pain to students with disabilities. When a boy in her sister's class who had Down's syndrome graduated from high school at age 21, she said, "Nobody thought he would graduate. He walked across that stage like everybody else, but he was given no credit throughout his whole school career."

Volunteering

So when her mother saw the announcement of a Kids on the Block information session in her parish's weekly newsletter, Miss Bologna was more than willing to give it a try.

"I'm planning on going into elementary education and eventually maybe becoming principal of an elementary school," she explained. "I'm not sure if I'll do special ed. But if I can help little kids understand things, then I want to. And if I have any handicapped kids, I'll have the knowledge I need."

Her mother also felt strongly about participating in Kids on the Block, she added: "It hurts her when she takes her class on a field trip and kids will snicker. But if she can just get through to them without saying, `Why are you snickering?' they can be seen as equals in the eyes of these children."

Hands-on

Until she heard about the Kids on the Block program, Miss Bologna "never thought of standing up there with puppets." But after her first training session, she realized that it might be easier for children to ask questions of a puppet than a "real, live adult."

"We can get them at a younger age, and they'll ask questions people my age are too afraid to ask," she added.

During the training, which is sponsored by the diocesan Office of Religious Education (ORE), the teen -- in addition to several other young puppeteers -- learned how to coordinate the puppets' movements, and about the characteristics of persons with disabilities.

To play Ellen Jane, a character who has Down's Syndrome, she said, "we had to learn how to alter our voice to sound like we're thinking hard how to say things."

The new puppeteers also learned about activities they can lead their audiences through to learn what it's like to have a disability, including stacking coins while wearing socks on their hands.

Active teen

Miss Bologna is involved in many activities through her school, including working with the homeless and shut-ins, and training puppies to work with persons with disabilities. But she sees her upcoming work with Kids on the Block as a powerful opportunity to make a difference.

The main problem people have in dealing with persons with disabilities, she believes, is that "they don't want to admit that they don't know something."

But after a Kids on the Block session, "maybe this won't change kids' attitudes about handicapped people, but if I can help other people understand how hard it would be for these kids and adults, it's worth it."

(For more information on the Kids on the Block program, call 453-6630.) [[In-content Ad]]