Girl Scouts Have Fun And 'Shine Bright' In 'The Isle Of Skoo'
Girl Scout Troops 50628 and 50766 enjoyed a morning full of music, art, and puppetry in a special The Isle of Skoo performance at C.H. Booth Library on Saturday, June 7.
The show has children venture to the imaginary Isle of Skoo, a vibrant and colorful place where kids can build empathy, self-awareness, and social connection through interactive lessons and music.
As performer JoJo DeVellis guided the Girl Scouts through the isle, they met the kind-hearted Skoo the Lighthouse Keeper, the dazzling diva Sasha the Seahorse, and the wise Sir Radio who shared messages with them.
The Daises and Brownies were encouraged to march and shine bright, swim through the water, and clap along to music over the course of their adventure.
Children also had a chance to draw whatever they wanted with crayons. Everyone excitedly hunched over the page as Sasha and DeVellis "swam" around to ask them about what they were drawing. Some of the girls drew themselves or their family members, while others drew clementines, flowers, or dogs.
After their "neat drawings," DeVellis and Skoo encouraged everyone to draw something messy. The girls had fun scribbling and blending colors on the backside of their paper, much to the dismay of the perfectionist Sasha.
It was through this activity that everyone, including Sasha, learned that it is okay to make mistakes and not be perfect.
The show ended with everyone designing their own "beam of light" to give to a loved one.
Creating Compassion And Connection
The Isle of Skoo program is an offering from Ben's Lighthouse, a nonprofit based in Newtown that aims to foster children's potential to create a more compassionate and connected world.
Ben's Lighthouse Executive Director Francine Wheeler, who is the mother of the late Ben Wheeler whom the foundation honors, wrote the music and programming for The Isle of Skoo.
Wheeler started developing the program in 2017 and later piloted it in 2018 at the library. Since then, Wheeler said, the program has served about 1,000 children in Newtown with its camps.
She said Ben was the inspiration for The Isle of Skoo, as he loved lighthouses and always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper. Francine came up with the show as a way to make everyone a lighthouse keeper, not just in Ben's honor, but to help children everywhere see the light inside of themselves.
The performance for the Girl Scouts on Saturday, Wheeler said, was the very first new library program Ben's Lighthouse is bringing around Fairfield County. The nonprofit will also take the program to Bethel, Danbury, Waterbury, and more to "spread the light past Newtown and all around."
"Everybody needs to find that spark," Wheeler said. "We need to let kids know to feel safe and feel important."
DeVellis said he found the job to perform in The Isle of Skoo in The Bee Extra's Classified section around a year ago. This was a natural opportunity for DeVellis, who does theater around the area, with a focus in children's theater.
"I do stuff over at the downtown cabaret. We do seasonal kid shows every year, so this is my bread and butter. I love performing for kids," DeVellis said.
He rehearses the show about once a month to keep it in his head and said performing for children around the area been so much fun.
Leah Newman, who helps oversee Girl Scout Troop 50628 along with Stephanie Kearns, said the program is "a perfect match for our 20 plus girls in the Girl Scouts who are now in their third year together learning, making friends, and growing their leadership."
To learn more about Ben's Lighthouse and "The Isle of Skoo," visit benslighthouse.org.
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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.