If you are tasked with choosing school assemblies for your school, the job, while exciting, may have some questions that can be difficult to answer. How do you know what shows and how many presentations to do for your school? This is a question that comes up with any elementary or middle school looking for ideas for school assemblies. Well, as the famous detective Sherlock Holmes used to say: “Elemental, dear Watson! Elemental!”

Have you talked to a twelve year old lately? Have you tried reading a bedtime story from a book designed to be read to a 6-year-old? How did that turn out for you? Not so good, huh?

Children’s minds change as they age. Well that’s a profound statement, right? Of course they do! And what engages and entertains the mind of a kindergarten student is radically different from what entertains a seventh grader. Even the differences between kindergarten and third grade are profound.

And yet many schools do not think of hosting a school assembly program for an audience of all grades, from kindergarten through eighth grade. It always amazes me! Sure, there are presenters who can pull it off and the school may think they had a good show. But what they don’t realize is how much better the results would have been if they had simply divided the audience in half based on age. Instead, they could have had a great show!

When all grades are combined, the performer of a school assembly has to become somewhat schizophrenic, first addressing the needs of one age group and then turning away from them to address the other half. The alternative is to simply introduce one half to him and let the other half fight. Or aim for the middle and ignore the extremes. Regardless of how you try it, it is basically a compromise that is rarely liked by everyone.

From the perspective of most school assembly interpreters, elementary school enrichment programs basically have three comfortably similar audience levels, with some overlap between them. The first hearing, or elementary, begins with pre-kindergarten and continues through approximately third grade. The second, or intermediate, hearing can start from second grade and continue through sixth grade. The older, or high school, audience begins in the 4th grade and generally continues into the young adult. When audiences are divided in this way, the presenter can change the style, vocabulary, and content of the performance to better meet the needs and tastes of that particular audience.

It is one thing to consider whether a school assembly program is appropriate for all grade levels combined, but you also have to ask yourself whether a particular program is really suitable for a particular age group. For example, some school assemblies, when broken down into different presentations, are pretty good for all grade levels in elementary school, but perform poorly in middle schools. Other school assemblies work wonderfully for middle schools, but they fly over the heads of elementary school audiences. It is wise to make sure before scheduling a program whether the program is truly appropriate for all the grades in which you wish to participate.

Finally, the possibility of organizing different programs for different grade levels can also be considered. For example, one might have a historical character for 4th grade, a science show for 3rd grade, a live animal program for 2nd grade, and so on. In this way, everyone gets exactly what they want according to their needs.

However, this assumes that cost is of little concern to you, and sadly, we all know that cost is almost always a concern. Obviously, multiple performances will be more expensive than a single all-encompassing performance. But one must remember that “one size never fits all”! If you’re going to spend the money to bring a presentation, it’s worth making sure the experience is the best it can be. And most editing companies and performers charge less per show for the second and third show, and sometimes considerably less. It is worth checking out. There really is nothing worse than having a program failing and realizing after the fact that a little extra planning and a few more dollars would have turned a sad experience into something great!