Messenger - Vol. 4, No. 1, Page 3 1994 Pre-schoolers boogie with Mr. Al Look out Raffi. Beware Sharon, Lois and Bram. There's a new guy in town, and he's capturing children's hearts faster than you can say "Barney." He's been called "the M.C. Hammer of the toddler set" and "the Elvis Presley of the pre-school set-their king for sure." He's cut seven albums, has a video in the works and there's talk of a future television pilot. Children love him, teachers adore him and even world- weary reporters who cover his events have been surprised to find themselves dancing in the aisles when he breaks into such hits as the "Wiggle Your Knees Boogie." Enthusiasm for life and a love of kids and music have transformed Alfred E. Rasso Jr., Delaware '76, '84MI cum laude, from a not-quite- traditional classroom teacher into "Mr. Al," the high-energy, wild and wacky children's entertainer and educational consultant. Based in Santa Monica, Fla., Rasso travels the country performing for children and presenting in-service seminars for educators on cooperative classroom techniques. Favorite seminar titles include "Sing Me Some Sanity-Please!" and "United We Learn-Divided We Brawl." Listening to him, you won't find any syrupy lyrics or sing-songy tunes. You'll find creative words set to up-tempo music ranging in style from '50s rock to '90s rap. It's a world miles away from the Deer Park Tavern in Newark, Del., where Rasso's musical odyssey became serious in the late '70s when he sang and played bass for Mother Flag and Country, a New Jersey rock band and Newark favorite that twice opened for a just-starting- out Bruce Springsteen. Ironically, Rasso left the band because he was tired of the travel. Now, years later, in a very different venue, he's on the road again. "It's a better audience. There are no cigarettes; nobody's drunk; and you can use exactly the same techniques in the classroom that you use in nightclubs," he says. For several years after leaving the University, Rasso taught elementary school-most of the time at Avon Grove Elementary School in West Grove, Pa. He taught pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. In 1985, he married and moved to Florida. He taught first grade there for a year and was encouraged by the response to his music and lyrics in the classroom. In 1987, taking out a loan, he recorded his first album, "Mr. Al Sings Colors and Shapes," a conglomeration of all the songs he had written while teaching. Favorite cuts include "Do the Circle" and "The Square Shuffle." In his words, "It did so great in southern Florida that it was picked up by a national company- Melody House of Oklahoma City." Mr. Al's other albums include: * Mr. Al Sings Friends and Feelings Designed to help young children develop their social and emotional skills, with such songs as "What Do You Worry About?" and "You Gotta Have Hugs." * Mr. Al Sings and Moves Geared directly to the physical development of the child, with songs that include "Rock 'n' Roll Body Parts" and "Wiggle Your Knees Boogie." * Just One World Written in collaboration with Stephen Fite, president of Melody House, featuring songs that help children become more aware of the world around them and the potential environmental problems that they could face. Songs include "Conserve Is the Word" and "Blues for Our Blue Skies." * Back To School Another collaboration with Fite designed to make the transition from home to school a little easier for children, teachers and parents. Songs include the "Back To School Bop" and Don't Talk To Strangers." * Sing Me Some Sanity Intended to help teachers, parents and children through the routines of the day, with such songs as "The Slow Boogie, Please Stand Up" and "It's Clean-up Time." During an in-service program, it's not unusual for Mr. Al to summon teachers on stage for "Teacher Humiliation Day," while demonstrating his routines. He also asks teachers to break into small groups and write original lyrics to his tunes, often with side- splitting results. At the end of a children's concert, he's likely to put his techniques into practice by having children leave the auditorium doing the "Slow Boogie" (designed as an effective way to keep children in line) after he has had them atwitter for an hour or so. Naturally, Mr. Al is full of educational theories to go along with his workshops. In a recent issue of Teaching K-8 magazine, he made a plea for giving students the gift of time-allowing them to develop at their own pace instead of rushing them into subjects. "We assume children are ready to read at 6. We're not taking into account the different developmental levels of the children we're teaching. Some simply aren't developmentally ready to read until they're 8 or 9," he says. Rasso began his own adventure into music at the age of 5, taking classical piano lessons. By the time he was 16, he was also proficient on guitar, bass guitar and drums. He is the father of three children-Jason, 20, who is a sophomore at the University of Florida; Jamie, age 8; and a new infant daughter, Erika. "Jamie has always been the first person I try my new songs on. If he likes them, they go in the album. If he doesn't, it's back to the drawing board." -Beth Thomas