The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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August 9, 2009

‘Electric Company’

Popular kids show makes a stop in Beckley

By Courtney D. Clark

Dozens of excited and inspired children cheered in unison Saturday as “Shock” from “The Electric Company” performed a 25-minute show about the letter “H.”

Sesame Workshop, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS KIDS brought the iconic show to the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in an attempt to promote literacy.

“The cool thing about ‘The Electric Company’ is that it brings reading skills, phonics and vocabulary to kids in a fun way,” Rande Bynum, director of outreach for “The Electric Company,” said. “Lots of blossoming talent, music, dancing, animation — you name it — it’s incorporated in ‘The Electric Company’ with a very strong curriculum. It motivates kids as it gets them involved and excited about reading. I think today we are going to see how excited they really are.”

Beckley was the first stop on the 20-city national tour. The group will be zigzagging around the United States in communities designated by the Department of Education as communities in need of support around literacy for families.

The show began at 2 p.m. when cast member and vocal percussionist Chris “Shock” Sullivan explained how the letter “H” can change a word. “‘Shock’ is a phenomenal beat boxer,” Bynum said. “He is able to pull together sounds and letters and make words, while getting kids psyched and involved in reading.”

“We built a song together,” Sullivan said. “We got back my transformer ‘H’ and I went from being ‘Sock’ back into ‘Shock.’ After my show, the kids participated in a gameshow type setting where they had hands-on experience in learning to spell silly words with the letter ‘H’ and putting sounds together.

“Sometimes it can be daunting when you ask for participation right off the bat,” Sullivan continued, “but everyone was participating and playing. It was a great audience.”

Selena Hudson, 7, of Mabscott Elementary School, said her sister loves “The Electric Company” but had to stay home Saturday with the chicken pox. “I had a lot of fun,” Hudson said. “I can’t wait to get home to tell her about it.”

Beginning in September, the show will be aired on PBS every day, targeting ages 6 to 9. The tour’s next stop will be the Iowa State Fair.

For more information about “The Electric Company,” visit www.pbskids.org/electriccompany.

— E-mail: cclark@register-herald.com

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