Community Corner
The Kids on the Block Sing “School’s Out for the Summer!”
This is a fact: Kids learn from Kids.
Like thousands of East Bay residents, the Kids on the Block returned to Danville on Friday to participate in the Fourth of July Parade. Bright colors and vibrant music filled the air! The Kids on the Block LOVE a parade!
Another love The Kids on the Block have enjoyed since 1985 is presenting skits to elementary schoolchildren that focus on such life skills as learning differences, physical challenges and avoiding adult issues. Assistance League of Diablo Valley® member volunteers have studied the puppet show genre, known as Bunraku, which recommends that the volunteer puppeteers wear black attire. As they blend into the dark background, the Kids on the Block come to life.
Music has enhanced the themes with such songs as Stop, Drop and Roll, to help teach fire prevention, and the all-time favorite, Kids are Different, to celebrate the fact that…they don’t even look the same. Some kids speak different languages,…all have a different name. Delivered with a balance of humor and compassion, the performances do not discount the serious message that The Kids on the Block impart.
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Every Kids performance concludes with a Question and Answer component. Schoolchildren have found the Kids quite approachable and, therefore, consult them directly. As the curtain falls, they return to their classes with enriched self-awareness.
To learn more about The Kids on the Block as well as Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s other 14 philanthropic programs which are funded by its thrift shop in Lafayette, please visit: assistanceleague.org/diablo-valley.
