Once upon a time, a puppetmaker created a magical land. There, silly puppet shows made sick children laugh and gave the kids who performed them self-confidence. Wait, this is no fairy-tale world--it's real life!
Michael Harper, a teacher at Wredling Middle School in St. Charles, Illinois, has transformed his students into a merry band of puppeteers. The 32 eighth-graders who make up the Wredling Puppetry Company help create puppets and plays. Then they take their shows on the road. So far this year, the puppeteers have visited five children's hospitals. Everywhere they go, they leave behind a trail of grateful smiles.
The secrets to their success are hard work and a wacky sense of humor. Harper, the main scriptwriter for the plays, takes a fairy tale and adds a twist. There's Dinorella, a poor, misunderstood dinosaur, Mucky Moose, who's kind of "We are the Fractured Fairy Tales of puppetry," says Harper.
The kids spend an average of five hours a week perfecting the shows. They give each puppet a unique personality. The puppets are made of papier-mâché, wood and cardboard, but they come to life in the hands of the students.
Greg Stinton, 14, admits that he first got involved in the program because he thought it would get him out of school. Now, he devotes some of his free time to the company. "The feeling you get when you help others is better than any feeling imaginable," he says.
Becca Herbert, 14, agrees. "I'm thankful to the kids for letting me make them smile," she says. "Being a part of the group has made me see that laughter and smiles are little miracles."