Don’t take it the wrong way when Mickey Campaniello says he clowned his way through graduate school. Working as a clown helped pay the bills while he was earning masters degrees in physical education and public health. Now 47, he’s
Don’t take it the wrong way when Mickey Campaniello says he clowned his way
through graduate school.
Working as a clown helped pay the bills while he
was earning masters degrees in physical education and public health. Now 47,
he’s putting his education and his penchant for performing to work on
schoolchildren.
He and his Someone Special program are on Kaua’i this week,
involving the island’s youngest students in his health and safety campaign.
This year’s theme is fire safety. Campaniello’s mission is to use storytelling,
magic, juggling and audience participation to get kids 4 to 6 years old to
avoid the hazards of fire.
Performing as Mr. Mick (“It’s easier to
pronounce than Campaniello,” says the Massachusetts native), he’s been doing
this sort of thing since 1992 for more than 115,000 students at 400-plus
schools in Hawai’i and Thailand.
“I have a passion for this. I believe it
works,” he said. “It gets a tremendous response from the kids.”
Young
children are the focus because they and their parents are usually more open to
his messages, said Campaniello, who has taught physical education in schools,
is a bachelor and has no children.
As a non-profit organization, Someone
Special depends on grants for financial backing. Sponsors include HMSA and the
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
Campaniello was scheduled for KIDS
School and All Saints Preschool this morning, will be at King Kaumualii
Elementary School and Lihu’e Hongwanji Preschool tomorrow, and will finish his
ninth annual visit to Kaua’i on Friday at Wilcox and Kapa’a elementary schools.
He was at Kekaha and Kalaheo elementary school yesterday.
Editor Pat
Jenkins can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and pjenkins@pulitzer.net
