BOLLING AFB, D.C. -- There are very few who would dispute that children sometimes don't listen. Military parents have a new friend to help, and he's travelled all the way from Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, partnered with USO to deliver special Sesame Street performances to military youth on Bolling Air Force Base April 21-22.
This was part of their award-winning Talk, Listen, Connect outreach initiative that provides resources and emotional support to military families with young children, ages 2 to 8, coping with challenging transitions in their lives, such as deployments and when a parent comes home with a combat-related injury. The program uses Sesame Street character performances to aid communication between adults and children through strategies and language that are child-appropriate and family-friendly.
"There is no-one more famous than Elmo to a youngster, so who better to deliver a message to these military children?" said Lonnie Cooper, Sesame Workshop tour manager. "Elmo and his friends give credibility to the messages we're trying to deliver to these military children. He provides a connection for the parent to talk about these things in a way the children can relate to."
More than 350 parents and children attended one of the performances where Elmo talked to his friends Rosita, Zoe, Grover and Cookie Monster about being sad because his "daddy had to go away for his job again for a long while." The Sesame Street friends talked about ways Elmo could keep in touch with his dad and activities to help him feel better.
Crowd participation was encouraged from the gym floor full of children, who sang and danced along with their favorite characters. Kids received a keepsake from the show, while parents were able to pick up special resource packets that included a special DVD and print materials.
"I've spent more than 25 years in entertainment, and nothing has been as fulfilling as this," said Mr. Cooper. "The whole idea is really amazing - kids understand these guys and they feel supported when their friends from Sesame Street understand what they're going through and what they're feeling.
"Another great part is secondary though - the entertainment value provided. These kids are having fun, and that is so great to watch!"
Darrilyn Young, installation Child and Youth Program manager, agreed that the entertainment value was high.
"This is pure magic! Look at these kids, they're completely enthralled with everything these characters are saying," she said. "They deserve this - getting back to the basic joy of things. I even had parents telling me they enjoyed it more than their children!"
One such parent was Tech. Sgt. Michelle Frisby, 579th Medical Group, who brought her 8-year-old daughter Alyssa, and 4-year-old son T.J.
"My husband is deployed to Afghanistan until the end of July, so I wanted to bring them to this to see what they would get out of it," she said. "There were some really good moments when I could see that they really understood about their daddy being gone and why. Overall, they really enjoyed it and that's what matters to me."
Her son, T.J., said his favorite part was getting to give Elmo a hug at the end because "he's so soft!"
"We're on our fourth leg of the tour and closing in our 100th base," said the tour director. "The looks, the smiles, the pure joy is tremendous, and there's nothing else we'd rather be doing."
The initiative launched in 2006 and the show visited 46 bases in the United States last year before touring through Europe last fall and Asia in the winter. More stateside bases are scheduled for stops throughout this summer. Almost one million free bi-lingual resource kits are being distributed worldwide and can be ordered through the Military OneSource website at www.militaryonesource.com or picked at the Airman and Family Readiness Center.
For more information about the program, and for other resources for military youth, visit the program's Sesame Street website at www.sesamestreet.org/tlc.