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| Our counselor, Mrs. Garza,
was kind enough to bring us a visitor, Mr. Nacho Estrada. But he was not
just your average, everyday, garden-variety visitor, no, no. Mr. Estrada
is a ventriloquist. |
He emphasized to the children the
importance of listening and thinking, and of respecting each other. His
audience sat up straighter and followed his instructions effortlessly. |
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| He, of course, knew that Gardens is
the best school in the whole world. And he made sure that the children
knew that they were the best children in the best school. |
His sidekick did give him a little
trouble -- Maclovio's head is empty and his ears can't quite listen. He
tried to tell the children to misbehave, but Mr. Estrada knew the
listeners would use their heads and know what was right. |
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| Mr. Estrada had another companion
with him, too: Taco Bell, a dodo with a disconcerting habit of staring
with its beak open. The dodo also had an attention deficiency. But, of
course, the children in the audience did not. |
The students were respectful and
attentive. |
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| That is, they were when they were
not falling out laughing at Mr. Estrada's friends' outrageous remarks. (
We all know that boys aren't really ugly!) |
Helpers from the audience came up to
assist in some of the magic tricks that were performed. |
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| The magic talking ball went into
Marisol's head. However, she didn't seem any the worse for it. |
Maclovio did not seem to lose any of
his hilarious brashness, which was intensely appreciated by Mr.
Estrada's two helpers. |
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| In fact, Adán almost fell over, he
laughed so hard! |
The listeners forgot the bitter
weather outside and the TAKS woes of the previous day, to listen and
respect this fast-talking entertainer, who takes the message directly to
the children: Listen. Use your heads. Respect the people around you. |
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| Afterwards,
all the children shook hands with Mr. Estrada, when they managed to stop
laughing long enough to trudge back to other kinds of lessons. |