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DEMCO Sponsors electric safety magic shows for students -- 11.01.2009
Scott Davis uses magic to teach students about electricity
Flip the switch and – voila! – light fills the room. If you didn’t stop to think about the turbines, the transmission grid, the substations, the transformers and all the myriad elements involved in producing power and delivering it to your home or business, you might think it just appears right out of the thin air like magic. While where’s nothing magical about creating electricity, sleight-of-hand artist Scott Davis has found a clever way to use magic tricks to teach children about this important resource.
During a week-long period in October, DEMCO arranged for Davis to perform his act in several schools located in each of the seven parishes served by the electric cooperative. One of those schools was Slaughter Elementary, where Principal Kim Glascock gave the performance a ringing endorsement.
“I thought Scott did a really good job of keeping the students entertained and engaged in what he was saying,” Glascock said after the outdoor show as the children were filing back to their classrooms. “They seemed to have a good time and I think they learned a lot. Magic is a great way to get children interested in a subject that may be hard for them to understand.” The overarching point of the magic show is actually to use mystery and deception to de-mystify electricity, the way it’s created and the way it’s utilized. The goal is to give students the knowledge that will enable them to make wise choices when dealing with electricity.
During the performance at Slaughter Elementary, Davis invited two students to come up to the front and presented a lesson on electrical safety while making three colored handkerchiefs disappear. The three handkerchiefs were inscribed with three single words – stop, look and think – to reinforce his point that children should be cautious around electricity. “We try to keep them from seeing
electricity as something that’s bad, something that’s negative,” Davis said afterwards. “It’s not something to be
afraid of and avoided like narcotic drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. We teach them that it’s a tool like a hammer
or a saw that we use for something good, something that we use to improve our quality of life. We teach
them that when handled foolishly electricity can be dangerous and even deadly, but then we explain how it’s
created and how to use it efficiently and safely and make good decisions.”
As Davis worked through his box of tricks and gags, the children learned the fundamentals of electrical safety, such as never climb trees or fly kites near power-lines, never stick anything other than a plug into an electrical outlet, never use anything electric in or around the bathtub and never plug in any electric cord that has become frayed or has exposed wires.
DEMCO’s Vice President of Marketing and Member Services Turk Tynes said the cooperative often visits schools and events to stage safety demonstrations as part of the organization’s efforts to support education, but the magic show was a unique way to present the message.
“If we can teach these ideas to students at an early age, they’ll grow up to understand the importance of safety and they’ll become smarter, wiser, more efficient consumers of electricity,” Tynes said. “Sponsoring programs like this is just the right thing to do for the community, especially when many schools don’t have the budget to afford to do something like this themselves.”
The 30-minute program wrapped up on a high note with an appearance by Sparky, a figure resembling an electrical socket drawn on a white board. Davis made Sparky come to life and the two engaged in a conversation about what not to insert in an electrical socket.
“Do you know the reason the power cooperative made the holes in the socket so small,” Davis asked the kids as Sparky’s eyes shifted back and forth. “So that you can’t stick your fingers in them. Or, maybe that’s why they made your fingers so big!”
Davis, who hails from Benton, Ark., has been performing magic professionally since the age of 14 and has taken his act to students, trade shows and corporate events in more than 15 states across the country. More on Davis and his magic show can be found at www.makingaccidentsdisappear.com.
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