puppets in education

>>> up next on the forum, it'sshow time for a passel of puppets who parse out safetytips for any pined-sized audience.meet the folks with the pilot club in pilot international.and keeping your cool in the summer.heat can be a budget buster. we'll have the latest onprograms to help cover the cost on human services forumbeginning right now. captioning provided bycaption associates, llc www.captionassociates.com>>> hello and welcome to the

forum.brain injury is the most frequent cause of death amongyoung people, so how can we help to keep them safe?prevention education is at the heart of pilot international, anorganization that offers many ways to reach out to folks ofany age. lynn moon, governor for thevirginia district and lois valentine, newly installedpresident of the norfolk-virginia beach pilotclub join me now with information about the pilot cluband a project called brain

minders which will explain whywe have little friends on the set here in the form of animals,so we'll take a look at some of the tools that are used in orderto get the word out about brain injury and prevention.thank you for joining us on the show.i know that pilot international, being just by it's nape, is alargeâ -- name, is a large organization and it covers theglobe, so whatâ -- i mention that brain injury is a focus of thisorganization. tell us a little more about whatthat is about.

>> well, we started in 1921, solast year we celebrated our 90th anniversary and pilot intish isin five countries and we're 9,000 plus members right now.the initial, we're a community service organization and thefocus narrowed down to free venting brain injuryâ --preventing brain injury and assisting those withbrain-related disabilities and injuries like alzheimer's,stroke victims, autistic children, so that's where ourfocus went to. statistics, as you mentioned,are pretty strong, especially in

children.over aâ million each year suffer traumatic brain injury.of those, around 130,000 are caused just by bicycles aloneand 30,000 approximately result in permanent brain injury, sopilot international decided to institute this program in 2000to focus specifically on children and safety forchildren. and we have been pleased tooffer this and as of now, we've offered it to over 500,000children have received this program.>> wow.

>> internationally.>> and it is called what? lois?>> it's called the brain minders program, but the success to thebrain minder program are the brain minder buddies and theyare the puppets and if you think about the human interactionbetween the puppet characters and children, i cannot sayenough about what happens. plus it presents anunderstanding of the brain and brain injury, and also the majorfocus we want to make sure with specialâ -- our younger group isthe safety, brain safety.

and we do encourage that via allof these wonderful friends that we have purchased.>> lois, you have an interesting device or helmet next to you.you want to explain what that is?i think everybody wants one in the studio.>> normally i bring this out showing the children what yourbrain looks like, and we get lots of interesting expressionsfrom ooh to your kidding, that kind of thing.lynn, you want to explain where this comes from?>> sure.

pilot international partnerswith a lot of organizations like the brain alliance of virginiaand this comes from a memorial fund.lynn cheveratti was a wonderful woman who suffered a braininjury and passed away 11 months after the injury and her familystarted a fund and one of the things the fund does is makethese special helmets and pilot purchases the helmets from thelynn fund. >> that's a great halloweencostume. >> well, it doesn't fiteveryone, unfortunately, but we

have interesting things that welearn when we present these things.and some of them are just right from the children.there are questions, what are those things?i can honestly see that some of the younger ones would thinkthey were worms. we have to look at that from aneducational point of view, so we try to tell it to them in theirunderstanding. i think that's probably moreimportant than anything, but basically we have two levels andthere are a cast of characters.

i believe you're showing that onyour screen, are you not? >> in a moment we will, yes.there's a rather business graphic, but it does have theage groups and names for each of the character.>> yes, we do 4 to 6 is usually what we look for with theyounger group. however, i have seen 3-year-oldsthat have no problem anymore with this.so they love it as well. and basically, that's the safetyof crossing the street carefully, you know, be verycareful, don't letâ -- go out on

the street when the ball rollsout in the street. those are the kinds of thingsthat they know about, i'm sure mom and dad have said, but wewant to remind them. and also, please help mom anddad remember to fasten your seatbelt, so there are basicsafety, but they certainly are important.and we do this through the puppets as well, the interactionof the puppets. we also do the other end of it,we do the story board. lynn, do you have the storyboard?

>> i do.>> i think this is a worthwhile thing to show because basicallyit has a script on the back if you want to use it, but if youdon't want to use it, you basically can use your actingskills. or some of our pilots dress upin the actual puppets. >> oh, full costume.>> so theseâ -- it really does help and one of the things thati think is very important is we talk to them about your brain inyour head and your brain can help you do all of these things,see, play, breathe, walk, and

run, laugh, pretend, that kindof thing. but when we turn the page, wesay your brain is like a computer.now, i cannot tell you the number of teachers thatabsolutely love this because what is in the basic vocabularyof the young child? they all know what a computeris, and they're identifying with the messages that will come out.so we feel that that is an extremely good analogy.>> all right, wonderful. >> and the kids love it.so this basicallyâ -- and then we

bring the brain out and makesure that they understand and so basically, we give each child,if you would likeâ -- i'll show this.each child receives one of these story books.we call themâ -- >> activity books.coloring and reinforces the message they got in this andthey can take it home. >> and use it for read-along ormostly the teachers like to have a number and hand them outlater, but the beauty of it, it goes through everything we talkabout with the puppets, so they

really do enjoy it.and at the end, they're given a certificate and we do questionthem a wee bit. >> see what they learned.>> and that helps. plus, the little ones, now,we've developed stickers and the kids love stickers.so basically, that is what we're doing.now, the 7 to 9 years are the older children and one of thethings that i have brought today is, well, i call them swimmy.they had all kind of names, nemo, they were naming them offand they call them anything, but

basically we talk about theregulations and rules of swimming and be careful.don't go too deep, don't go further than your waist in apool for instance, make sure you're with a father, a mother,a brother, somebody older that can help you.basically, they love this. they think it's the greatestthing that ever was. >> i kind of like it too.>> well, good. >> we know what's missing.that's terrible. but basically, the older toolsdeal with other things, like

home safety.for instance, what would you find in the cabinets that maybeyou shouldn't be working with. things of that nature, and wefind that they really will listen a little more if we putit in the more age-level-appropriate, i think.the second level probably would be better in a camp setting oror maybe a physical education group in a school.>> okay. >> and one way we also try andhelp reach is our anchor organization is our high schoolportion and they are as strong

as we are.we do teenagers to do the shows with the little kids.they connect so well with the little kids.>> plus they have a great time. >> the and anchors have a blastand they act out the characters so well and they connect and thekids get that message when they see someone closer to their agegiving the safety message and see they wear a helmet and lookboth ways across the street. >> great public service.>> basically, i'd like to show also, this is gerald giraffe.>> hi, gerald.

>> he doesn't have a helmet on.however, the beauty of this is we can show the difference.i think it's right under the computeâ -- basically, we canshow what it looks like with the helmet.and we can utilize this in many different ways because it's veryhard to find a helmet for gerald.>> yeah. >> but unless you want to putsomething terrible looking, i don't think we're going to dothat, but the beauty of being able to compare and contrast.that's a good item for children.

>> do the kids have a favorite?>> yes. i will show that to you at theend, but let me show you one more.>> okay. >> and this is wise old owl.now, wise old owl as barn owl. i like to bring in the scienceconcept just a wee bit that they live in the barn, but he'salways looking and watching, making sure we're safe.and he's the buddy that leads us through this whole story board.which is kind of nice. then i always say to them, now,this is what i promised you at

the very end, a surprise.and this is helmet man. helmet manâ -->> oh, my gosh. >>â -- is capable of not onlyjust pleasing the children, but is also capable of doingfinger-spelling and so we can go to a lot of special ed programsas well and that is a wonderful activity.>> that is terrific. >> but the beauty of it is, it'sa mascot at the end. this is helmet man with all theother things that we know about, and also we have the helmet onthere at the correct angle.

we have a lot of children do notknow how to put a helmet on their head.they have it with the string around their neck hanging downtheir back. i've seen some incredibly poortypes ofâ -- >> you just as well not wear oneif you don't wear it correctly. it can cause just as muchdamage. >> you've explained about whatit is you present, and so if you have an organization, a group,school that might be interested in promoting this kind ofsafety, which i think who

wouldn't?pilot international and the norfolk-virginia beach pilotclub, inc., do these. so we have a phone numberâ -- andactually, we have pictures too. this shows the anchors you werereferring to, our teenagers in chesapeake who are doing thepuppets for the kids, which is terrific.i don't know if we have more or not.there's a phone number to call too.>> and every club in this area does these, so if you're insuffolk or portsmouth or

virginia beach, norfolk-virginiabeach, you can contact and we will be glad to come and do abrain minders buddy program. >> great.how long does it generally last? >> if you're in a classroom, 15minutes and the reason i say that, that's all the teacherswant because they have other things that the kids need to do.>> even with puppets. >> you can really do this in 15minutes. if it was longer, i don't thinkthe childrenâ -- >> it wouldn't grab theirattention.

>> so great.we have pilot internationals, the clubs in each of the cities,lois is the president so we've put her e-mail address up there.a phone number to call and websites as well for theinternational group andâ -- it will take you to the localorganization, so you can always start there and work from there,but it's a wonderful concept and a lot of fun, and lois, clearly,you look like you enjoy doing this.i can tell from the expressions. >> if you don't like puppets,something's wrong.

>> will you go.>> you have to love them very, very much.>> this is terrific and thanks so much for sharing your wisdomand your experiences with the kids.hopefully somebody else who's watching will be able to talkabout it one day too once they get that call.>> thank you for having us. thank you.>> appreciate it. >> appreciate it.>>> don't go away because hot weather, as you know, hasarrived.

to find out how to stay coolthis summer while keeping your budget in check, the latest oncooling assistance programs when we return.>>> have you heard? the u.s. treasury is phasing outpaper checks for social security, v.a., and otherfederal benefit payments and going electronic.if you currently receive federal benefits by paper check, youwill need to switch to direct deposit or to thetreasury-recommended drek express debit master card.if you plan to apply for federal

benefits soon, you will want todecide which electronic payment option is right for you.visit go direct.org to learn more or to make the switchtoday. >>> when the thermometer hits 90degrees, the heat is not only hard to ignore, it can bedangerous to the more vulnerable among us.what if you were unable to afford to pay your electricbill? seth atkinson and brett meredithwith the salvation army, tidewater area command, andglennis johnson, the program

administrator for the stoporganization are here to offer up solutions.each organization has programs in place that can help incertain ways with people who have cooling needs, as we say.the department of human services also offers the coolingassistance program under the energy assistance program andthat is, of course, calling our agency in order to getinformation, applications are beginning to be accepted as offriday, june 15th and will continue through august 15th,and that, of course, is for

eligible households with coolingneeds and those eligibility standards, we'll get back to ina minute. one of the things that thesalvation army wants to point out is that in order to applyfor its program, which is energy share, you have to have appliedor developed other means. >> correct.>> so they're not the first place to turn on, but they are aplace to turn toâ -- >> we are, we are.>> when you can't get help anywhere else.welcome.

>> we want to be the place oflast resort so that folks, they have other means to take care ofit, but when you get down to the end, we want to be there to helpyou get out of the difficulty. >> great.and energy share is a partnership and you in thesalvation army administer this program to people.what does energy share actually provide?>> primarily at this point, we're providingâ -- we're tryingto stop disconnections or potentially reconnect service.in the past, we've done a little

bit of payment plan typeassistance, but have had to scale that back because just thesheer number of people that twant to get involved with theprogram. >> so the demand is higher andbecause there's higher demand, sometimes what you need to putinto it isn't also there. it's there on the other end nowi. right, right. >> the receiving end.a popular program, i take it. >> absolutely.the first day, as we were saying, for june 1st, literallyprobably 300 people walked

through our doors and if you'veever seen our social service office seats about 30, so we hadthem lined around the building and we had case managers combingthe crowd checking for eligibility so nobody had tostand out for too long if they weren't going to be able to getan appointment in the first place.>> i know there's been some confusion about energy shareversus energy assistance and they are two different programs,although in some way they are connected.energy assistance and cooling

assistance being the one thatstarted on the 15th of the month.so i guess the timing was a little off, but folks hopefullyhave called and we'll put up a number on the screen for energyassistance or cooling assistance programs through human servicesand that's at 664-6035. you can also go to the virginiadepartment of social services website and go to benefit andunder that, you will see energy assistance.and it will give you all the criteria you need to know on whoqualifies, when you can apply,

and what you will receive as aresult of that. so with the energy shareprogram, you get what specifically?>> you can essentially get up to $300, but it has to go towardthe delinquent portion of your bill, the disconnect portion,and we really do haveâ -- some of the bills we're seeing are sohigh, we're having to tell people, this $300 literally willnot stop the disconnection, what can you provide?and sometimes the answer is they cannot cover the other cost andif social services cannot

assist, sometimes that apps hasto be no. >> that's tough.>> it's a hard thing to say. >> that is really tough.>> well, the increase of need over the last several years forall of us has put a great weight on organizations like thesalvation army and health and human services, and we're goingto do everything we can to make sure that things are notdisconnected, but we also need help in doing that, and we'refortunate to have partners like dominion virginia power andvirginia natural gas who are

able to help us do that, and youhave the cooling program. these are programs that arecritical to our community, but we need folks to come alongsideall of us and help us do them. >> yeah, that's right.it all takesâ -- it does, it takes a community to do it.not just one organization. we have to keep preaching thatbecause it's very important that everyone get involved in someway. it's a stunt for people toactuallyâ -- an opportunity for people to donate to the programas well through their utility

companies.>> yes, you can check the box and what i've started saying is,and this is my first day on the job, check the box to help fightpoverty because we want to help keep people in their homes withthe primary cooling or heating source and this is an excellentway to help us do it, is by checking the box on your bill.>> okay. very, very simple to do andbeneficial. >> and we all help each other.>> yes. and that's the big part, andspeaking of helping each other,

there is yet another componenthere. >> another great organization.>> yes, the stop organization administering the weatherizationprogram and that is part of the energy assistance program thatsocial services administers. >> exactly.>> one of the components and cooling assistance from us, thestop organization administers weatherization.what does the weatherization program provide?>> well, weatherization, that's a process of increasing yourenergy efficiency of your home

and we do that by weatherizingyour home. i wanted to tell you one thingabout the weatherization program, we've been in existencethrough the stop organization since 1976.>> really? >> governed by a great board ofdirectors and we have a new president and ceo, reginalawrence, and we're just so excited to still have thisprogram. weatherization, we start offwith doing an energy audit on the home.the energy audit will determine

if their house have air leakage,if the condition or the efficiency of the heating systemand that the house have proper insulation and we address allthose measures. >> and they're such basicthings, but that's where a lot of people have problems.>> right. the survey has been done and onthe average, a household can save up to $430 annually.>> really? >> yes.>> well, that should be a lesson to all of us, you know.>> there you go.

>> whether your budget is tightor not, but that is amazing. is there a eligibilityrequirement? >> income eligibility, based ona total household gross income. >> okay.how about the number of people in the household?does that figure in at all or is it just the household.>> by the household income and the incomeâ -- depends on howmany people live not house or what the income can exceed.>> so there's not like a particular age group from you'refocusing on in?

>> no, this is to anyone that'sincome eligible and we prioritize our elderly and households with children 6 years of age and younger.>> as does the cooling assistance program, anybody whois over age take priority and it's bart of part of our programbecause when you're hot and you don't have circulating air, thatcan take its toll. >> that.>> i don't know how long you've been administering this program.i believe you're rather new. we have a bunch of new peoplethat i don't know if there's a

majority thatâ -- is it elderlyor older that tend to go for the program or do you think it'sacross the board? >> it's across the board.>> is it? >> yes.>> are calls picking up right now withâ -->> all year round. >> yeah?>> yes. when the weather starts to getcool, when it starts to get warm, you know, there's a need.so this is a year-round program, so the calls never stop comingin.

>> okay, great.and we do have a phone number for that too and this is ayear-round program as she mentioned and you can call thenumber on the screen or stop has a website and the phone numberis probably the easiest way to get ahold of one.>> yes, it is. >> in fact, when i called, italked to you, a very pleasant woman, and she can give you theinformation you need. the application process, can youhave it mailed to you? >> you can call in to the officeand we have a great staff there

to help with the applicationprocess. we can mail the applications outto you or you're welcome to come to the office.>> great. you can meet her in person.and the same with the salvation army.i'm sure since you're new, you're going to be standingright at the door, right? >> every day.>> so your first day on the job, huh?>> it is. >> that's terrific.and seth, i know part of your

job is to make sure everybodyknows that, right? >> absolutely.>> all right, so has anything like lost steam since you firststarted the application process with the program or are youstill getting a lot of calls every day?>> there are a lot of calls every day and this year, lastyear we helped 592 families and households and we expect itcould be more this year, so we need more folks to check thebox. >> wow, wow.almost 600 people.

is that in the tidewater area?>> it's tidewater, norfolk, virginia beach, and chesapeake.>> okay. and that brings a point too,ms.â johnson, that the weatherization program is notjust a norfolk thing. >> oh, no, we service all thehampton roads except for newport news, two counties, the countiesof south hampton roads county and isle of wight county.>> and definitely norfolk and that's where you'reheadquarters, correct? >> yes, we're based out ofnorfolk.

>> anything else you would liketo share with them regarding getting help?>> we have a lot of other services but one of the bestways to get the information is to go to salvation army,hrva.org. >> is that a new website?>> new website. >> new address?>> new website. >> great.brand-new website. not that they didn't have onebeforeâ -- >> but it will have all the goodinformation to get our services.

>> there it is on the screenagain. number to call, extension to goto, and brand-new website on the salvation army.hampton roads virginia.org, cooling assistance programthrough the department of human services and that started up asof june 15th and there continue through august 15th.your applications will be accepted during that time.call the number, 664-6035 to find out more about theeligibility requirements for that.they do base it on household

size and income, gross income,like many programs are. but call them first before youcall the salvation army because they will, unfortunately, haveto send you back to try. >> that's right.>> you know, if you call them first.but they're very nice about it, so just be nice to them.>> absolutely. >> we know the heat can makepeople cranky, but it's awfully nice to know that there areresources for everybody so they can stay cool this summer.safety for everyone.

thank you for joining us andsharing good information. >> thanks for having us.>> welcome to the hampton roads area.>> thank you. >> and we're delighted to haveyou on the show, ms.â johnson, with the stop organization.>> thank you. >> and thank you for joining us.we'll see you again next time. bye.captioning provided by caption associates, llcwww.captionassociates.com