EDUCATION

Stacey Sanders tells a secret
to Marty while Pat Roan
Judd listens in.

A Lesson In Reality

Marsha Sundquist

SUSAN GRANT

Staff Writer

M

iss Pat silently
walks into the room
carrying a large red
duffle bag and a smaller
gray sack. She quickly takes
a seat on the floor among
the Temple Beth El pre-
schoolers.
Wasting no time, she
begins playing a small syn-
thesizer and starts singing
"Hello, I'm so glad to see
you" to the tune of "Frere
Jacques" as she slowly rises
to her feet. The children,
who range in age from two to
four years old, begin singing
and mimicking her
movements.
Twice a week since the
beginning of April, Miss Pat,
otherwise known as actress,
mime and puppeteer Pat
Roan Judd, visits two Beth
El preschool classes. A
Wolftrap Foundation of Per-
forming Arts grant will keep
her at the school until mid-
May.
As a performer, she
teaches children to relate to
each other, gain self-esteem
and skills like counting and
recognizing shapes and
colors. But she has another
role.
"Children are not given

Using stories, actress Pat Roan
Judd teaches Temple Beth El
children the difference between
reality and fantasy.

reality checks," Judd says.
"Kids really need to know
what is real."
Although she thinks
"Sesame Street" is educa-
tional, children need to know
that Big Bird is really an ac-
tor in a costume. So before
acting or using puppet Marty
Feldman (named after the
late actor because of its
eyes), Judd makes sure the
children know what is real
and what isn't.
When Marty says hello to
the children, Judd doesn't
disguise that her moving
lips are making Marty talk.
A few minutes later, Marty
goes back into the red duffle
bag because, as Judd puts it,
"he is just a puppet."
Judd also never lets the
children forget that she is an
actress. "Sometimes I use
puppets, sometimes I use my
hands and sometimes I use
my entire body to tell a
story," she tells them.
Before beginning the story

Alex Jacobs pretends a bird
is on his head.

of Papa Bear who cannot
find a quiet place to sleep,
she carefully explains each
prop so the children will
know she is only pretending
to be a bear.
Yet, interspersed with the
bits of reality is plenty of
time for pretending.
As the synthesizer plays a
continuous beat, Judd
pretends her hands are a
bird which lands on her
head. Singing to the beat,
she asks "the bird to get off
of my head." The "bird"
then "flies" to other parts of
her body, while the children
laugh and pretend the bird is
on them too.
After saying goodbye to
the bird, the children take a
"train" trip to one of their
favorite places — storyland.
Judd, like any good conduc-
t or , calls out "tickets
please," pretending to col-
lect them. As Judd blows the
train whistle the children,
teacher Jean Klok and

teacher's aide Irene Kronen
ride away, or in reality mar-
e h down the hall, to
storyland.
Once in storyland, adults
and children laugh as they
watch Papa Bear try to
sleep. Everywhere he goes,
whether in the baby's room,
the kitchen, the garage or
the car, drippy faucets and
loud animals keep him
awake.
After the children take an-
other train ride back to the
classroom, Judd wakes Mar-
ty the puppet. Each child
whispers something in Mar-
ty's ear and gets a hug.
Sometimes the whisper is as
simple as "I love you." This
morning Zachary Ribitwer,
3, tells Marty of a milestone
— he now sleeps in a "big
bed," not a crib.
Once again the synthesizer
is heard. Then, singing, "I'll
see you later; I'll see you
later. Do you know why? Do
you know why? I love you. I
love you," Miss Pat picks up
her bags and leaves for an-
other class.
Judd says that in the few
weeks she has worked with
the class she has seen the
children change.
"Alex (Jacob) is the most
improved. He would not stay
in the class when I first
came," she says.