Pillars of Growth Taught through Character Magic

By Kim Hall

            “Character Magic,” an interactive show featuring humor, music and special effects, will be presented at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 in Celebration High School’s Randy Johnson Performing Arts Center. The show, which is sponsored by the Celebration K-8 School, is part of the national Character Counts initiative, a program that strives to instill strong values in children.

            “It’s designed to help parents teach important topics that home and school share, such as respect, fairness and honesty,” said Cheryl Cassano, assistant principal of the Celebration School.

            “Character Magic,” which uses unique visual effects, comedy and audience participation to teach children to value themselves and the world around them, is part of a national tour and incorporates the Six Pillars of Growth from the Character Counts initiative —trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

            Patrick Ireland, who created three episodes of “Character Magic” for a Public Broadcasting Station in Baltimore and appeared on the PBS show “Weird Science” for more than six years, is the sole performer for the show. Ireland said the performance teaches children to be responsible for their actions, but it is also a lot of fun for the entire family. He believes the biggest misconception that parents have is thinking the show is just for kids.

            “There’s a lot of neat things happening,” Ireland said. “The adults will leave having a good time.”

            Ireland, who earned degrees in both psychology and administration, originally planned to become a school counselor.

            “I come from a rural town in Ohio, so there weren’t a lot of opportunities there,” said Ireland, who got an internship at a local PBS station while in college. “They wanted me to do some things on air during my internship. I never saw it coming. I was the shy kid in school. I was the stage crew guy.”

            Ireland has been a guest speaker for the National Parent Teachers Association and has written a student text book called “Character Counts.”

            The Celebration School is hosting the performance to launch its new fundraising program, “It’s Time for Tech.” The goal of the program is to raise money to buy new equipment for the school and improve the technology the teachers are using. When the school started 10 years ago, most of the technology it had was a gift from Disney, but now it is outdated, Cassano said.

            “Our students are certainly worthy of [improvements],” Cassano said. “We have so much here, but we just need to keep it up to date.”

            A group of teachers and parents have formed a committee that is currently researching grants and exploring what technology is available for the school. More information on this should be available some time early in the year.

            A pre-show dinner will also be held at 6 p.m. in the CHS cafeteria. Chik-Fil-A will provide sandwiches and nuggets, and Cracker Barrel will provide dessert and sell pies. Tickets for the dinner are $5 per person.

            Seating for the show begins at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children or students and will be available beginning Jan. 2 at the Celebration School or at the theater box office the night of the show.

            For more information, call the school at 407-566-2300 ext. 51102 or visit during regular school hours between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.