NTC and Dental Health School Programs
Theatre as a Teaching Tool:
Teacher Comments Backed Up by Research
The verdict is in!
Teachers from across Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina and Idaho who have received the Land of Smiles educational outreach program sponsored by Delta Dental and presented by The National Theatre for Children have responded with high praise.
Here are a few snippets of teacher comments:
“Much better than a lecture.”
“It was a fun way to get the students engaged and learning about how to take care of their teeth.”
“The presenters were very engaging and entertaining. All of the children were focused and definitely remember the importance of proper dental hygiene.”
“This program was phenomenal!! The students were highly engaged and enjoyed learning about teeth and dental care in such a lively and fun way.”
Teachers, of course, are not wrong.
Their praise of Land of Smiles, which uses theatre and storytelling as teaching tools, play out in multiple studies on the human brain, especially when it comes to retention.
20 years of research have found: The human brain is about 22 times more likely to remember facts that are presented in the form of a story, than if those facts are just presented outright.
22 times more!
That’s more than significant. It’s amazing.
When humans are simply told information as a list of facts, they retain only about 5-10 percent of it. Hence, we are always saying, “let me refer back to my notes” or “let me write that down so I remember it.” Yet, humans will remember 65-70 percent of a story. No notes or writing it down necessary. It’s how our brains work.
This also holds true with retention over time. As humans, we remember stories longer than we remember simple facts and figures. If you can embed those simple facts into a story, you have a powerful teaching tool.
The appeal of a story to connect to our human brains not only with information but with emotion as well, makes it memorable and meaningful for those engaged with the story. This connection also makes a longer lasting impression. It is why story-based learning, especially when trying to instill behavior change, is such a highly effective tool.
As organizational psychologist and leading storytelling expert, Dr. Peg C. Neuhauser puts it:
“…stories allow a person to feel and see the information as well as factually understand it … because you ‘hear’ the information factually, visually, and emotionally it is more likely to be imprinted on your brain in a way that it sticks with you longer with very little effort on your part…”
That part about “very little effort” is where, as a teaching tool, storytelling goes beyond just another method of relaying information. It becomes powerful. Learning through story doesn’t feel like learning, even though it enhances understanding, comprehension, and retention.
When the audience of school-age children watch Land of Smiles, they are not excited and engaged because they are learning how to properly brush and floss their teeth. They are engaged by the characters, plot, humor, costumes, props, and dialogue that is woven into the story that is unfolding in front of them. But, funny enough, they also learn the importance of good oral health and how to properly brush and floss their teeth. They also remember those things longer than if they were just told those same things in a lecture. In fact, as already stated, 22 times more. All with very little effort on their part.
This is all to say that the verdict is indeed in. Backed up by teacher feedback. Backed up by studies of the human brain. Backed up by leading researchers and experts. Learning through story works.
It Doesn’t End with the Teaching:
What Knowledge into Action Looks Like
We’ve all heard the saying, “Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Teach a person to fish, they eat for a lifetime.” Nothing to disagree with there. However, a step born of simple practicality does appear to be missing from the age-old saying. If someone doesn’t have a fishing rod, or tackle, or bait, it doesn’t much matter if they know how to fish.
In other words, tools matter.
Teaching students about good oral health is great. Teaching them in a fun and accessible way that makes it easy for them to retain what they’ve learned, even better. But, putting that newfound knowledge into action requires tools. Mainly, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss. All and all, it is difficult to develop good oral health habits without those tools. Much like it is difficult to catch a fish without a rod, bait, and tackle.
It’s why giving students Smile Bags as a part of Delta Dental’s Land of Smiles educational outreach program is so important. It makes student learning both hands-on and personal. Young learners like to have something to call their own, even something as simple as their own toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, and spool of floss. That ownership is a source of pride and appeals to their sense of independence and accomplishment. All good things to have when learning to adopt good oral health habits for a lifetime.
Since implementing the “Land of Smiles” program in Fall 2022, we have given out 245,434 Smile Bags across Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina, and Idaho.
When giving out individual Smile Bags, containing all the tools young learners need to put their newfound knowledge into action, they are empowered to build good oral health habits in a simple and practical way. It gives them the means to start actively using what they learned in the Land of Smiles performance right away and increases their ability to make good oral health habits stick over time, which is why the program exists in the first place.
The Delta Dental Land of Smiles education program has given out 245,434 Smile Bags since the Fall of 2022 across Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina, and Idaho. This is almost a quarter of a million individual packages of dental hygiene tools distributed to elementary students in just under 18 months.
This translates into:
- 245,434 tooth brushes
- 208,619 ounces of toothpaste
- 736,302 yards of dental floss
Enough toothpaste, if you will, to either fill 23 bathtubs, or almost half of an Olympic sized swimming pool.
It also equals 418 miles of dental floss. Enough to go around the base of Eiffel Tower 1,348 times.
Or put another way, Land of Smiles has given out enough dental floss in 18 months to stretch from either Chicago to Nashville, or Albuquerque to Denver, or Atlanta to Daytona Beach.
No matter how you put it, that’s a lot of tools!
Practical tools that are in the hands of young people, so they can put their knowledge to work and build life-long oral health habits. That makes Smiles Bags a whole lot to smile about.
Training Actors to Be Delta Dental Spokespeople while on Tour with Land of Smiles
Actor training encompasses more than memorizing lines and pretending to be someone you’re not. It involves understanding how your body looks moving through space or how you look in relation to others you are sharing the space with. It also involves learning to think on the fly, knowing how your voice and facial expressions convey meaning, and how to appear relaxed even if you are nervous. This makes actors not only good at portraying characters in a performance – It also makes them great spokespeople.
The PR department at Delta Dental of Illinois has taken advantage of these skills to do media training with the actors on tour with Land of Smiles. The National Theatre for Children, the company responsible for hiring tour actors, rehearsing the Land of Smiles performance, and scheduling the schools receiving programming, has collaborated with Delta Dental of Illinois since the Fall of 2022 to ensure their actors on tour are ready to get Delta Dental’s message into local media outlets. Coupling this with Delta Dental’s PR department booking media spots has yielded exceptional results.
Over the last 18 months, the actors on tour with Land of Smiles have done about 20 television appearances across Illinois. The Land of Smiles program has also been featured in local print throughout Illinois and on social media. Actors are trained to speak about Delta Dental, their mission, and goals for sponsoring the Land of Smiles program at elementary schools in Illinois.
The fun and entertaining way Land of Smiles teaches young students about good oral health habits is a great draw for local media outlets to feature on both TV and in print. Having the actors appear in costume and with props makes the TV spots especially appealing. Continued training and feedback from the Delta Dental PR experts make the actors better and better at effectively promoting Delta Dental and the Land of Smiles program.
Anika Flores, an actor touring the Land of Smiles program throughout Illinois this winter says that the training she has received from Delta Dental has helped make her nerves about going on live television go away. Anika says,
“Delta Dental did some mock interviews with us before we went on tour, which was helpful for me to get a few practices in. Even on the day of a news appearance, we had a Delta representative, who printed out the questions and talking points for this interview. I found this super helpful.”
Marcus Martinez, Anika’s acting partner in Land of Smiles, says that he always felt prepared for any news interview due to the thorough training he received from Delta Dental prior to any interviews they have done.
All in all, it is a collaboration that has gained Delta Dental of Illinois positive PR across the state.
Here are a few of the TV spots the Land of Smiles actors have done while on tour across Illinois.
Theatre as a Teaching Tool:
Teacher Comments Backed Up by Research
The verdict is in!
Teachers from across Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina and Idaho who have received the Land of Smiles educational outreach program sponsored by Delta Dental and presented by The National Theatre for Children have responded with high praise.
Here are a few snippets of teacher comments:
“Much better than a lecture.”
“It was a fun way to get the students engaged and learning about how to take care of their teeth.”
“The presenters were very engaging and entertaining. All of the children were focused and definitely remember the importance of proper dental hygiene.”
“This program was phenomenal!! The students were highly engaged and enjoyed learning about teeth and dental care in such a lively and fun way.”
Teachers, of course, are not wrong.
Their praise of Land of Smiles, which uses theatre and storytelling as teaching tools, play out in multiple studies on the human brain, especially when it comes to retention.
20 years of research have found: The human brain is about 22 times more likely to remember facts that are presented in the form of a story, than if those facts are just presented outright.
22 times more!
That’s more than significant. It’s amazing.
When humans are simply told information as a list of facts, they retain only about 5-10 percent of it. Hence, we are always saying, “let me refer back to my notes” or “let me write that down so I remember it.” Yet, humans will remember 65-70 percent of a story. No notes or writing it down necessary. It’s how our brains work.
This also holds true with retention over time. As humans, we remember stories longer than we remember simple facts and figures. If you can embed those simple facts into a story, you have a powerful teaching tool.
The appeal of a story to connect to our human brains not only with information but with emotion as well, makes it memorable and meaningful for those engaged with the story. This connection also makes a longer lasting impression. It is why story-based learning, especially when trying to instill behavior change, is such a highly effective tool.
As organizational psychologist and leading storytelling expert, Dr. Peg C. Neuhauser puts it:
“…stories allow a person to feel and see the information as well as factually understand it … because you ‘hear’ the information factually, visually, and emotionally it is more likely to be imprinted on your brain in a way that it sticks with you longer with very little effort on your part…”
That part about “very little effort” is where, as a teaching tool, storytelling goes beyond just another method of relaying information. It becomes powerful. Learning through story doesn’t feel like learning, even though it enhances understanding, comprehension, and retention.
When the audience of school-age children watch Land of Smiles, they are not excited and engaged because they are learning how to properly brush and floss their teeth. They are engaged by the characters, plot, humor, costumes, props, and dialogue that is woven into the story that is unfolding in front of them. But, funny enough, they also learn the importance of good oral health and how to properly brush and floss their teeth. They also remember those things longer than if they were just told those same things in a lecture. In fact, as already stated, 22 times more. All with very little effort on their part.
This is all to say that the verdict is indeed in. Backed up by teacher feedback. Backed up by studies of the human brain. Backed up by leading researchers and experts. Learning through story works.
Learn How to Build Your Education Outreach Program
Reach out to Eddie Eames, our Director of Client Success, to get your state its own dental health education program. There’s still time to get a tour together for fall 2024.
EDDIE EAMES
Director of Client Success
eeames@ntccorporate.com
Phone: 763-452-1100