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Jocko the Clown entertains at Poland library
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Jocko the Clown kicked off his performance with a behind the scene experience for children, who looked on in amazement as they watched him put on his on his make-up at the Poland library.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Jocko posed with Kelsie Rudolph (left), Jackson Spin (middle) and Noelle Spin (right) after the Summer Reading event at the Poland Library.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Jocko the Clown kicked off his performance with a behind the scene experience for children, who looked on in amazement as they watched him put on his on his make-up at the Poland library.Jocko and his volunteer, Zachary Pflug, entertained the crowd as they balanced three dishes at the Poland library.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Jocko played music as his volunteers, including Maya Littletown (right) danced with his marionettes. Maya enjoyed the trick so much that she bought two books from the bookstore on being a clown after the show.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.One of the tricks Jocko performed at the Poland library was to make a tree out of newspaper that was almost as tall as he was and was sturdy enough to hold in the air.
By ALISA MANNA
Throughout the summer, the public libraries of Youngstown and Mahoning County have brought in several special programs to encourage children to continue reading while on summer break.
The Poland library recently had special guest Jocko the Clown entertain with an afternoon of juggling, magic, puppetry and balloon sculpting for the whole family.
Jocko began by putting on his makeup and outfit in front of the children as to not frighten them. He then immediately went straight into his act. Everything the clown demonstrated at the program he learned from books at an early age.
“I found every time I learned something it stimulated me to learn more,” Jocko said.
Jocko said learning from books worked for him, so he went into the clown business hoping it would be good for children in the audience as well.
“I’ll do anything to get them out of the mode of pushing buttons with their thumbs,” he said. His show was interactive and included participation from the viewers, educating the children visually.
“It was like what you get out of a book,” Jocko said. “They didn’t just hear it, but see it. And it makes them think they can do it, too.”
Children’s Librarian Annette Ahrens said programs such as Jocko the Clown spark childrens’ imaginations and gets them excited to read.
“We have a lot of books on magic and juggling on display upstairs,” she said. “So they can see the things Jocko did today and then they can take the books home and maybe learn a new trick.” The summer reading program’s main priority is to keep the children invested in reading even when they’re aren’t in school.
“There’s statistics about how much reading kids lose between the time they left school until the time they go back in September,” Ahrens said. “The summer reading program is to promote reading during the summer so they don’t lose their reading skills and fall behind.”
Christina Parisi from Boardman brought her son, Zachary Pflug, to the library for a play date. She said Zachary enjoyed the show very much and didn’t expect to be a part of the show.
Maya Littletown from Boardman was a little girl who also got to be a part of Jocko’s act. After the performance, she bought two books on how to be a clown from the bookstore.