James Caldwell High School Students Give Back With Magic

Key Club members from James Caldwell High School found a new way to serve their community this fall when they learned and shared a newfound love of magic.

Magical Healing, a soon-to-be non-profit organization, worked with Key Club members to teach them magic tricks and illusions that were then performed on Thursday, November 20, for residents at Crane’s Mill, a continuing care retirement community in West Caldwell.

Under the guidance of Key Club advisor and high school teacher Marian Press, five students, grades nine through twelve, participated in the five-week program that not only taught them the tricks to perform, but how to perform them. This included style of dress, mannerisms, public-speaking techniques and more.

Funded through monies donated by the Kiwanis Club of Caldwell-West Essex, seniors Rebecca Bonder and Peter King, junior Riley Heiblim, sophomore Alex Duva-Rosamilia, and freshmen Vincent Cheung and Jodi Maloney, worked with professional magicians to master the tricks in time for the performance at the retirement community.

The brainchild of Paul Cohen, an amateur magician who took up the craft when his mother was in the hospital, Magical Healing engages students in the art of magic to entertain children and adults in hospitals, senior centers and homeless shelters.

“Through magic, students can transport children and adults from a place of worry to wonderment,” Cohen, founder and executive director of Magical Healing, said. “In that moment, the adult is not in a bed in a hospital, a child does not have cancer, the mother and young child are not in a homeless shelter. Everyone is enjoying the moment, the magic.”

The students performed a variety of tricks and illusions, many with a humorous edge, after working with professional magicians Anthony Ferrer, Master Magician Will Fern, Simon Mandal and Marco the Magician. Ferrer and Fern attended the performance at Crane’s Mill in support of the students and the program, praising the students and applauding each act.

“It is important to select tricks that are big and colorful, and easy for large audiences to understand,” said Fern. “We want the students to know that they should work hard to perfect the tricks, but also feel comfortable. Magic is a strong mixture of timing and showmanship. It takes time to identify the right tricks and skills.”

Cohen had a passion for magic even in his early childhood, performing tricks and illusions for family and friends. After his mother was diagnosed with cancer, Cohen reignited his passion, performing for her and other patients at the hospital. He immediately realized he was on to something good, and so, Magical Healing was born.

“I spent a lot of time with my mother in the hospital,” added Cohen. “I went back to working with something that I that I liked as a kid, and found the magic. Now, the students also experience the magic. The students’ lives are transformed, and so are those of the people with whom they are connecting.”

For more information on Magical Healing or to get involved, click here. For more information on the Kiwanis Club of Caldwell-West Essex, click here.

Photo Credits

1) Key Club Members from James Caldwell High School (JCHS), West Caldwell, (left to right) senior Peter King, junior Riley Heiblim, Mountain Lakes high school freshman Larisa Prince, freshmen Vincent Cheung and Jodi Maloney, sophomore Alex Duva-Rosamilia, senior Rebecca Bonder and Paul Cohen, the founder and executive director of Magical Healing, take their bow, following their magic performance on Thursday, Nov. 20, for residents at Crane’s Mill, a continuing care retirement community in West Caldwell.

2) Peter King (right), a senior and member of the Key Club at James Caldwell High School (JCHS), West Caldwell, performs the missing ring magic trick with help from an audience member during the West Caldwell performance.

Photos courtesy of Christine Corliss