Perseus Academic: Cootie Shots by Norma Bowles

For nearly two years, Fringe Benefits, a team of professional artists, teachers, parents and youth, have been working to concoct Cootie Shots, a delicious assortment of plays, songs and interactive performance pieces that promote tolerance and celebrate diversity by presenting role models of people of many different races, classes, genders, abilities, sexual orientations, religions, shapes and sizes. In all, Cootie Shots is comprised of about 50 2–15 minute educational plays for Elementary School audiences.

The lessons covered are:

o Love is what makes a family

o Children should feel free to play with whatever toys appeal to them, study whatever subjects interest them and choose career paths unhindered by gender stereotypes

o Name-calling is never acceptable

o Putting people down because how they look and whom they love is neither kind nor fair.

The cast of characters includes:

Rapunzel

Rosa Parks

Cesar Chavez

Harvey Milk

Emily Dickinson

Alexander the Great

The Statue of Liberty

and more!