Pioneer Theater (PT) is a gem in the community of Elyria and Lorain County. The long-running children's theater program was established in 1976. This educational summer program teaches children all the way through the age of 18 all aspects of theater from set design to stage acting. After just three-weeks of learning and growing in this summer theater club, the students will perform a live show on stage. It's a fascinating and truly remarkable accomplishment. This year's troupe will perform an old-timey classic: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, July 12 and 13 at the Elyria Performing Arts Center. Joining us on this episode of Petey Podcast is Pioneer Theater Director Madilyn Riley and former PT student and Elyria High School graduate, Lilly Parker.

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

From the earliest days of civilization, group dramatic readings have been a thing. Poets, actors and students have taken to the stage to enthusiastically belt out the lines of a script as audiences visualize each moment. Reader's Theater in schools operates under the same guiding principles, giving students the chance to read and act out dialogue, boosting their reading and presentation skills. Two dynamos of the Elyria Schools Special Education Department have taken this experience even further. Carla Valles, Northwood Elementary, and Kathy Pero, Eastern Heights Middle, have for nearly a decade modified Reader's Theater to tap their students' creative spirits and to strengthen academic goals. Carla, a playwright herself, began creatively adapting beloved stories and books which her students eagerly consumed--even dressing in costumes and presenting their lines on stage with gusto. The newest chronicle in the Valles and Pero Reader's Theater: "The Day the Crayons Went on Strike!" Take a listen to how Reader's Theater has grown in our chat with Carla on Petey Podcast!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

What a run! Sitting in studio with Coach Brett Larrick and reliving a sensational season for the Elyria High School Boys Basketball team. Take a listen as Coach Larrick describes a whole lotta magic from nail-biter moments to conference titles to division playoffs -- right here on Petey Podcast! Congratulations Elyria Boys Basketball on a phenomenal season!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

The eclipse of April 8 was truly remarkable. And here's a little something that added an extra layer of fascination for those of us in the path of totality in Elyria, Ohio--an eclipse weather balloon crash-landed in a field on the property of our very own Eastern Heights Campus! The balloon and its transmission device, known as a radiosonde, were discovered by a school family who was watching the eclipse from the school's field. The balloon was launched by a group of researchers from the University of Wyoming known as the UW Space Cowboys. Their atmospheric team actually sent some 30 balloons up in the air--every hour for 30 hours--to collect data like temperature, humidity, wind, latitude/longitude, and altitude within the eclipse's path of totality. On this episode of Petey Podcast, we chat with Dr. Phil Bergmaier who heads up the eclipse weather balloon project of the atmospheric science research at the University of Wyoming, and leader of the UW Space Cowboys. We also talk with Elyria Schools parent, Laura Schisler, who made the balloon discovery at Eastern Heights! Take a listen--it's an out-of-this-world episode!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

You've may have heard of the Good Behavior Game--strategies for encouraging positive choices and time on task in the classroom. PAX is a system that supports this. The PAX game, if you will, guides students in what the behavior expectations are and rewards them when they get there. Holly Campbell is a Behavior Reinforcement and Implementation Coordinator (BRIC) with Elyria Schools and she spearheads many of the PAX workshops at the elementary level, including sessions with parents to equip them with knowledge and tools for using PAX strategies at home. We chatted with Holly about PAX and how it fits into bigger picture of positive behavior and culture in school. Take a listen!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

It's a hop-hop-hopping time of year in the Elyria Schools as we gear up for the many activities and programs of spring. One of our favorite functions each year is the Special Olympics Craft and Vendor Fair at Elyria High School! It's an event truly designed for fun, family and friendship. Nearly 100 vendors will be there to showcase their crafts, homemade goodies and products. If you're looking for unique stuffers for Easter baskets--this is the place! You'll want to bring the kids, too, for the fair's annual Easter Egg Hunt, with more than 6,000 filled eggs and pictures with the Easter Bunny! There will also be musical entertainment and delicious concession treats to eat. All proceeds benefit the Elyria Special Olympics.
The Spring Craft and Vendor Fair is Saturday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Elyria High School. Get caught up on all the details with our guests, Shari Goodsite and Andy Menner of the Elyria Special Olympics Committee.

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

Take a listen and you'll quickly learn why students of Eastern Heights Elementary were selected by Disney Musicals in Schools and Cleveland's Playhouse Square to bring a Disney classic to life: "101 Dalmations!" These young actors demonstrate their paw-some talent as they easily slip right into character on this episode of Petey Podcast. This is the first-ever on-stage production of Eastern Heights Elementary School because the school hasn't had an existing drama club--until now, that is! Eastern Heights is the only school in Lorain County, Ohio,--and one of only a handful of schools in Northeastern Ohio--to become a 2023-2024 recipient of the Disney Musicals in Schools program. This remarkable project is a collaboration with Cleveland Playhouse Square to create sustainable theater programs in schools. In March, the "101 Dalmations" crew will showcase their talents on stage at Playhouse Square, and again with a full production in April at the Elyria High School Performing Arts Center. You're in for a treat with this show--woof, woof!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

Imagine waking up one day in someone else's shoes, literally! That's what happens when characters "Ellie" and "Katherine" swap bodies in the madcap tale of "Freaky Friday One-Act Edition." And this is the oh-so-fun musical Northwood Middle School Drama Club is bringing to Elyria's Performing Arts Center stage in March. We caught up with a handful of actors and backstage experts of the cast and crew to learn all the details of the hilarious performance. Take a listen on this episode of Petey Podcast!

It's a great day to be a Pioneer! Thanks for listening. Find Elyria Schools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!