After a fantastic day working with students in the classrooms, it was time to get ready for Friday night’s performance.  I did get a wonderful email from Kelly Olson, Child Life Specialist at Riverside Elementary.

The magic workshop that you put on for my students was amazing.  The kids (and adults) were amazed at all of the tricks they could do. Watching my students try new things and not feel defeated was an awesome experience.  I can see so many benefits for using the magic with my students!  They will be willing to “work” on the tricks over and over again while building fine motor skills as well as sequencing, problem solving and processing.  My students don’t always get involved in assemblies, but this assembly was all about them, for them and it was amazing!

Friday morning, we arrived at the beautiful Granada Theatre, signed in the crew, and started unloading the truck.

We were a little tight for space backstage but Cindy – as always – made most of it fit and workable.  The day moved along at a steady pace and we actually finished setting up earlier than normal.  This gave us some time to eat dinner with the crew and relax before the doors opened.

The show was sold out before we arrived.  When the doors opened at 7pm, people flooded into the theatre to find their seats.  Their enthusiasm stayed strong through the show, right up to the finale.

It was a fantastic few days in Emporia – a memorable experience for us and, I hope, for the community.