Ben Mikaelsen

Author Ben Mikaelsen
He does Zoom/Skype/Google Meet sessions 30-45 mins for $250.00. He does an introduction of himself and then talks about the book the students are reading and then opens it up for Q & A.
Magic of 5-A-Day

Magic of 5-A-Day is an interactive, 45-minute elementary school assembly, designed to promote good nutrition and exercise. Brian Richards brings the importance of nutrition together with a little magic that will captivate your students and leave them laughing and smiling throughout his whole performance. This nutrition and health assembly is unlike any you have seen before! With the aid of magic, comedy, audience participation, and powerful visual aids, your students and staff will learn…
Why we need to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day
How the colors of fruits and veggies are good for different parts of our bodies
Why balance and moderation is so important
How to know the difference between a “sometimes food” and an “all-the-time food.”
And much more…Plus, your students will take the 5-A-Day Challenge and pledge to eat their 5-A-Day every day.
School Assemblies Brands

SchoolAssemblies.com offers interactive, high energy, engaging and fun assembly programs that are tailored for students from kindergarten through 6th grade. Our current roster includes:
STAND UP, STEP IN, STOP BULLYING! - Our popular antibullying assembly for schools features music, virtual characters, game shows and participation all wrapped up into a fun but important school assembly program.
BOT! THE SECRET WORLD OF ROBOTS - It's never too early to introduce kids to the world of STEM. Your kids LOVE ROBOTS and they'll love this show too!
HIP HOP SPELLS R.E.S.P.E.C.T! - Lack of interpersonal skills are the epicenter for problems in today's schools. Through this engaging interactive hip hop show, dance icon and student favorite, DJ Reggie stresses to your kids the importance of the "five pillars of good character."
TIME-TRAVELING INVENTORS - With the help of our real-life time machine, your kids will embark on a mesmerizing journey that brings them face to face with some of history's greatest inventors! It's a lively blend of interactive games, laughter, and hands-on excitement, that inspires a passion for history and innovation!
THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA - Patriotism is more than a song and this rousing musical assembly proves that. It's rare to find an inspirational, interactive program which instills those once cherished values back into America's classrooms. This "revolutionary" program does just that! Using humor, music and participation SOA is a sing-along favorite! CHRISTMAHANUKWANZAMADAN! - This multimedia-filled, multi-cultural magical tour of music from several winter holidays presents your kids with a reminder that the world is so much bigger than our own backyard. A holiday sing-along celebration and, we bring SNOW to every show!
Echo Dance Team

The NYC based dance crew provides a 30 minute non-stop, interactive showcase of their high energy dance choreography that engages and entertains the students.
There is a 15 minute lecture period afterwards which discusses spotting and stopping bullying, respecting yourself and others, taking responsibility for your actions and leading a positive life.
Anything is possible with hard work, an education and focusing on what you can bring to this world that no one else can.
Dusty & Dott

Meet Dott! Like the Polkadot! And her talking dog Dusty, like the dust! Their mission is to foster the voice and imagination of the next generation. Dusty & Dott are committed to creating an environment that is welcoming and supportive of all identities. Through storytelling and the magic of puppetry, Dusty & Dott celebrate curiosity and encourage the values of creative play.
Magnetic Personalities

Gizmo D Robot is the host of three amazing, memorable and impactful elementary presentations around the topics of anti-bullying, growth mindset and health awareness. In addition, he is co-host - along with talented musician Dave Lambert - of a music education presentation for grades K-2. Students enjoy Gizmo and his unexpectedly high interactive capabilities as well as his delightful sense of humor. Educators love Gizmo because he delivers vital messages in a way students can quickly grasp. “…the best assembly we have ever had!” was the response from Lebanon Borough School in New Jersey.
Arithmetickles

Arithmetickles is an interactive Math Game show that uses audience participation and comedy in fast-paced math segments to capture the attention of students in grades K-8.
Arithmetickles makes math jump off the page and onto the stage and changes how kids think of math!
Arithmetickles includes Interactive Math Theater Games, Funny Number Puzzles, Creative Quizzes, Problem Solving, Mental Math and Witty Logic.
Arithmetickles doesn’t aim to teach math but to make it so cool (and so much fun) that students will want to learn it.
Tritown Theatre

We offer professional quality live musical theater productions featuring local talent and full live orchestras as well as straight plays, with a focus on works that are typically on required reading lists for area high school students.
AutismFriendlyShows.com and Turtle Dance Music

AutismFriendlyShows.com and Turtle Dance Music helps kids come out of their shells! We offer the most amazing autism-friendly and elementary school assemblies in the country.
Founded by Mr. Matt "The Turtle Man" Mazur, MA, Matt got his graduate degree in Developmental Models of Autism Intervention and Early Childhood Development at Montclair State University. He also studied musical theater for undergrad at New York Universities' Tisch School of the Arts where he started creating his music performances for students with developmental disabilities at District 75 Autism Schools and Centers in New York City.
Matt is known for sharing *multiple* (in a day - sometimes 4-8) 45 minute to hour long inclusive music concerts where he plays over 60 different instruments including didgeridoo, banjo, guitar, beatboxing, loop stations and many more! Teachers and students usually leave assemblies and classroom performances asking "Can he be here every day?!?"
Matt's signature performance is the Bubble, Comedy and Music Show: Reading Rocks which features an original story about what it's like living with autism written and illustrated by Mr. Matt and Tim Shaw who is on the autism spectrum. Students are moving the ENTIRE performance and it is highly planned down to the minute with variable activities for students who are more verbal as well as less verbal. The show is also tailored for students who have profound and multiple learning disabilities who might not be as mobile as their peers. Matt has been sharing my work for the last 12 years both in-person in classrooms, gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums as well as virtually on our Innovative Big Screen Smartboard Shows over Zoom.
Matt also offers shows tailored with songs for every season, holiday and I have A Counting Show, A Space: Revolution and Rotation Show, An Ecosystems Rock Show, Earth Day Rocks! and a Water Cycle Show.
For more information e-mail info@turtledancemusic.com or call 973-493-2326 or visit our website https://www.TurtleDanceMusic.com or our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube,com/TurtleDanceMusic
Stephen Hill, Speak Sobriety

School Assembly: First Choice & A Second Chance
This program begins with an introduction video aimed at knocking down the stigma attached to substance use disorder, educating the audience on the current drug epidemic, and setting the stage for a powerful, honest and heartfelt story. During interviews with Stephen’s family, it becomes clear he had a great childhood. “No one saw this coming.”
Through sharing his lived experience, Stephen shows how mental health struggles can lead to addiction, the consequences of substance use, and how stigma prevented him from asking for help and contributed to his inability to recover. His storytelling technique allows each individual person to draw conclusions in their own meaningful way as it relates to their own life.
By focusing on the progression of his dependence—beginning to end—attendees will gain a better understanding of how the choices they make today will affect them, and those around them, for the rest of their lives. The trifecta gateway drugs of nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana introduced to Stephen in 8th grade by older peers was just the beginning, eventually leading to self-destructive behaviors, criminal convictions, and a deadly opioid addiction that Stephen directly states he would have never made it out alive if fentanyl was as prevalent during his addiction as it is today.
He takes you through his struggles and extremely difficult times, then slowly transitions into sobriety—emphasizing that recovery is possible. Through practicing gratitude, healthy routines, and changing his mindset to view his challenges as opportunities to inspire others, profound changes began to happen in Stephen’s life.
The pivotal moment occurred just before he celebrated one year of recovery. Stephen was given a second chance to turn his mess into a message by working in the field of addiction treatment and prevention. From there, he gained the confidence to share his story, go back to college and eventually law school. Today, he speaks all across the country to inspire others to lead healthy, substance-free lives.
Attendees will leave this program better educated on mental health and substance use, with practical tools and coping skills to work through challenges, a better understanding of the ripple effect—how our actions influence and impact others, and with a goal-oriented mindset to build a life worth protecting.
Breakout Sessions: Break the Silence
As a follow-up to the assembly, breakout sessions build on Stephen’s talk and focus on reinforcing key concepts. These sessions offer students a unique chance to ask personal questions and engage in open discussions in a comfortable, intimate setting. Each session delves deeper into the most crucial topics covered in the assembly, allowing students to ask relevant questions and share their takeaways. Typically held in Health and PE classes, these sessions can be tailored to specific grades or customized schedules.
Stephen’s Breakout Session worksheet allows students to submit anonymous responses, fostering honesty and openness. The anonymous data collected offers critical insights for schools, helping them identify areas where further support or follow-up might be necessary. Additionally, these insights can be used to reinforce the positive takeaways from Stephen's message throughout the school year, ensuring that the impact of the sessions continues to resonate with students long after the program concludes.
Assembly/Workshop: Know the Law, Save a Life
An interactive program educating high school seniors on laws related to drugs and alcohol, as well as the legal and moral consequences of their actions.
Stephen begins by qualifying himself through sharing his experience on both sides of the law, both as a defendant during his struggles with substance use and now as a defense attorney in recovery.
Students learn basic courtroom terms, criminal laws, civil laws, and the potential penalties and liability that can follow from breaking these laws. Stephen gives fact patterns with real life scenarios so students can see how these laws play out in situations young people are faced with everyday.
Some of the laws covered are the Good Samaritan Law, DWI/DUI & Zero Tolerance, Vehicular Homicide, Strict Liability for Drug-Induced Deaths, Social Host Liability, Providing Alcohol to Minors, Fake IDs, Hazing, Affirmative Consent to Sexual Activity, and Defamation of Character. Stephen also covers fentanyl and the misperception of harm due to the legalization of marijuana.
Professional Development: Transforming Youth Discipline & Justice with Restorative Practices
Transforming school discipline and criminal justice policies from punitive to restorative practices for youth struggling with substance use disorder not only saves lives—it builds lives worth defending.
School administrators and law enforcement face significant challenges to find the most effective response when a young person—anyone under the age of 25—breaks the law or violates a code of conduct for drugs and alcohol.
Stephen Hill brings extensive personal and professional experience on this topic. His unique perspective comes from his work as a criminal defense attorney with a focus on drug and alcohol related offenses, recovery coach, and youth motivational speaker.
His work was inspired by his own adverse childhood experiences—out-of-school suspensions, removal from school sports teams, felony convictions—the labels and stigma that came with it, and the trauma that followed.
We often hear administrators and law enforcement, when faced with an individual who violated the law or code of conduct, must make decisions by balancing the best interests of the individual and the community.
Stephen’s training helps people recognize how the best interests of individual offenders and communities align more than most people think. Through sharing his personal testimony and advocacy work today, Stephen reveals innovative solutions for schools and communities to develop systems to achieve better outcomes for young people facing behavioral and/or criminal justice challenges because of substance use disorder or a co-occurring disorder.
At the end of this session participants will be able to:
Recognize situations, when dealing with youth discipline and justice, that require restorative practices to achieve better outcomes
Explain why punishment is not effective for specific or general deterrence for youth struggling with substance use disorder or a co-occurring disorder
Communicate the ideology and evidence behind restorative practices—particularly for youth—so more people in their community can understand and support restorative practices
Develop systems and procedures for youth discipline and justice that add more protective factors rather than removing them with strictly punitive measures
BookBreak

Our virtual school author talk program brings the magic of stories to inspire, educate, and connect with students in the classroom. Whether it's the laughter from a funny tale, the curiosity kindled by a mystery, or the wonder of discovering new worlds, each BookBreak virtual author talk is designed to spark a love of reading and enhance literacy.
Our innovative platform connects students with renowned authors virtually, allowing schools to participate who would not normally be able to afford the speaking fees of bestselling authors. With BookBreak, you can offer your students the excitement and inspiration of a live author event, empowering them to thrive as readers and writers.
With over 2,000 subscribing schools and counting, our goal is to embed author talks as an integrated component of student learning. By seamlessly integrating these virtual author sessions into your curriculum, you’ll ignite a fire for reading, kindle a passion for writing, and captivate even the most reluctant readers. These interactive experiences are more than just talks—they’re a catalyst for transforming student motivation and cultivating a vibrant school-wide culture of reading. Use our curriculum aligned virtual author talks and included pre- and post- activities and watch as your students’ enthusiasm soars and their love for literature flourishes!
Justin Kolb

Middle/High School
Why Music Students Excel
Motivational Clinic for Band, Youth Orchestra and Chorus
(Also appropriate for Theatre Kids.)
Program Description
This morale and self-esteem building session begins with a ten minute solo performance by Justin. The performance is intentionally virtuosic, leaving no doubt in the student's mind that the artist is a seasoned professional who has experienced success on stage.
The objective of this learning experience for students is to reinforce what the music faculty has been stressing all along. That is: the student's musical experience and musical education goes well beyond 'blowing a horn'. This experience is about developing life survival skills. Skills that will help the students to become better adept at problem solving, decision making, enjoying a fulfilling life beginning now and into the future.
Justin asks the students to identify skills that they have learned from their musical experience (lessons, practice, or performance) that they have found useful when they are outside the world of music. Skills described by the students typically range from attention to detail and time management, to conflict resolution and ability to accept criticism. At the end of this segment of the session, a list sometimes comprising as many as 24 skills has been articulated by the students. Kolb looks at the students and asks them to seriously contemplate the "skills inventory". Kolb then exclaims, "Look at who you are and what you can do!" He quickly points out that large corporations and even governments invest great amounts of dollars to teach their employees how to acquire these same skills.These sessions are highly informational, uplifting, fun and enhance self esteem. Justin gets along easily with students, parents, staff, and faculty.Willing to tailor sessions to better meet the needs of the students.