It was not your typical panel of Tufts experts. But nine-year-old Evan Scarlett and ten-year-old Mira Dobrow Vale certainly knew what they were talking about.
The two were two members of an informal group of "experts" who gathered last Friday in Tisch Library to honor producer Craig Bartlett as the first recipient of the "Eliot-Pearson Award for Excellence in Children's Television" for his animated children's show Hey Arnold! The presentation marked the official kick-off of the 38th annual Kids' Day at Tufts.
Hey Arnold! first aired on Nickelodeon in 1996 and immediately became one of the highest-rated programs on the children's cable network. Revolving around the trials and tribulations of childhood in the city, Hey Arnold! was among the first children's programs named to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences "Honor Roll" for programs that "reflect diversity, challenge stereotypes, and promote understanding."
"Hey Arnold! presents an ethnically diverse cast of characters who deal with real issues in children's lives in ways that are sensitive, poignant, developmentally appropriate, and funny," said Julie Dobrow, coordinator of the Tufts Family and Media Initiative and an Eliot-Pearson staff member.
Arnold quickly became a star at Tisch on Friday, as the audience of students, professors, and parents were treated to a series of clips from the program. The panel of children's television experts - including Bartlett, Tufts child development Professor Maryanne Wolf, and sociology Professor Paul Joseph - offered commentary on the short clips.
But it was Evan and Mira - the true experts - who gave the most important input to the informal panel. The two fans each described their favorite episodes of Hey Arnold!, often repeating entire scenes verbatim.
The clips also sparked discussions about some of the children have to deal with, such as "tattling." "I think most people might be afraid to lose their friendship," Evan said.
Wolf praised the series for tackling "moral and ethical dilemmas that everyone, of every age, faces."
Bartlett, the executive producer of the series, said that while many episodes have happy endings, the show's writers try not to create unrealistic solutions. "I just don't think it's right to have a happy ending without some sort of compromise," he said, "I think kids would see it as phony."
Before presenting Bartlett with a plaque, Dobrow remarked that Hey Arnold! "embodies what we at Eliot-Pearson think good developmentally appropriate children's TV should be." Bartlett, who originally had considered a career in the fine arts, decided to go into children's television because he saw telling stories as a way to "reach more people."
"This kind of validation is really rare in the work that I do," Bartlett said. "Knowing that kids like it is the most important thing."
The award ceremony and the subsequent Cabot Auditorium screening of more Hey Arnold! clips marked the official beginning of the Kids' Day festivities on campus.
"We thought it was a great way to work together with another department at Tufts," Kids' Day Co-Coordinator Sarah Stroback said. "When the Child Development Department approached the leaders of Kids' Day about the upcoming award," Stroback said, "we jumped at the chance."
This year's Kids' Day on Saturday was well-attended, and the1,000 student volunteers marked the largest number since the program's inception 38 years ago. "We got such an overwhelming response from the Tufts community that we knew it was going to be a huge event before we even got the kids' registration packets in," Co-Coordinator Kate Elder said.
Children from 35 local public and private schools were invited to attend, and the registration packet was translated into Spanish and Portuguese for the first time in an effort to attract even more kids.
A number of Tufts students sacrificed precious hours of sleep to set up decorations early Saturday morning, transforming the campus into "Tufts in the Tropics," this year's theme. Group leaders could be found decked out with straw hats, leis, and Hawaiian shirts. The weather was, unfortunately, not quite tropical, with a chilly breeze blowing the brightly-colored balloons to and fro all afternoon. But the sun did shine for most of the day, and fears of rain proved unwarranted.
The approximately 650 kids who came to campus from the Medford/Somerville area were treated to a day full of activities. Officers from the MBTA police gave canine demonstrations, and kids applauded with glee as a large German Shepherd lunged at an officer playing "the bad guy." Fletcher Field was transformed into a mini-amusement park, featuring attractions such as a small Ferris wheel and a swinging boat ride. There was also a magic show, a performance by Travelling Treasure Trunk, and a chemistry show that demonstrated how to make slime. At one point, the kids gathered on the President's Lawn to learn the hula from the Hawaiian Club.
This year's Kids' Day was organized by a committee of 23 students, led by co-coordinators Stroback, Elder, and Eric Siwy. Many volunteers led groups of children around campus, while others staffed the over 35 booths on the residential quad set up by various students organizations. Kids had the opportunity to get their faces painted, play with Lego's, build creations of marshmallows and toothpicks, decorate cookies, and make sand art.
Most of the student volunteers enjoyed themselves as much as the kids. "I just always have fun when I do this," said senior Kristy Baskerville, a group leader for the second time.
Stroback said that although it was a lot of work, she enjoyed organizing Kids' Day. "It's really been the best experience I've had at Tufts," she said.
