March 2011 Story Time Programs

Juliette Gordon Low, Founder, Girl Scouts USA

1860-1927



Although these first two months of 2011 have been a bit slow, I'm not giving up. It took Edison many tries to invent the light bulb, so I'm going to follow his tenacity and keep plugging away with Story Time Adventures. I did do two story time programs in February for the YMCA. One had to do with bullying, and the other had to do with the Chinese New Year. They were both enlighting, and fun, as well.



My latest idea is to do a program on Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts USA. I was handily corrected when I referred to it as Girl Scouts of America. My error. I'm used to Boy Scouts of America since I have two sons in that organization.

I am quite excited about this. I love history, and now this gives me the opportunity to learn about a new historic figure. I'm also thrilled because I have three Girl Scout venues that are interested in having Mrs. Low come talk with the girls. One's in Bakersfield, one's in Orange County, and one's in Sacramento. I'm located in Hollister, California, so it will give me a chance to visit my home area, plus two new areas.



If you are a member of the Girls Scouts, and would like to find out more about my program, please contact me at Jengelha@aol.com. If you want to see what I've done so far with Story Time Adventure, then log onto http://www.storytimeadventures.wetpaint.com/. Go Girl Scouts!

Happy (Chinese) New Year

Coming up with ideas for my Story Time Adventure Programs has been challenging, but it also forces me to think and create. Of course, with books, there are hundreds of themes I can choose from for my presentations. January was kind of slow, but after having a great run during December as Mrs. Claus, it was kind of nice to be able to sit back and take a breather. But, this is something I still love to do, and I am still determined to make it bigger and better, and to make the phones ring, ring, ring all the time!

February is a very interesting month, because there are several themes I can choose from. The Chinese Lunar New Year begins today (Feb 3) and runs for fifteen days. I am performing at a YMCA after school program on the 4th, reading stories about the Chinese New Year. I even stopped by the store and picked up some fortune cookies to hand out to the children. I'm very excited about this program. Although I am not of Chinese descent, I still think it's important to teach children about different cultures, for a variety of reasons. I've picked up some books to read to them. One is Dragon Parade by Steven A. Chin; another is Chinese New Year by Alice K. Flanagan, and another is D is for Dancing Dragon by Carol Crane. I think that one is my favorite. It goes through the alphabet and talks about different things that you will find in China. For example, A is for Acrobats, B is for Beijing, C is for chopsticks, etc. The book is pictured above.

I have also purchased Asian-looking clothing to wear. That's what's fun about doing this, too. I love dressing up, and will do so whenever I can.

There are also other themes for February: Valentine's Day; the Presidents' birthdays, and I believe it's even Dental Health Month!

I'm still available for assemblies and other programs. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Julie Engelhardt