Hello, my name is Dennis Sloan. I have been passionate about empowering urban youth through positive self-esteem since college. In college I was a drill instructor for my fraternity’s youth drill team which started in a Durham, NC housing project. I also used my position as president of the Student Government Association to reach out to Durham’s youth through child literacy volunteerism and youth comprehension engagement at the public library and schools in poorer areas.
After graduating I worked for the Fisher Branch YMCA (Detroit). It was the same YMCA I learned to swim at. I helped design youth development programs. I headed the Physical Fitness Department and ran the After School Fitness Fun program. I also created and coordinated a Fisher Y community parade. I had the pleasure of wearing so many hats because I rolled up my sleeves and pant legs to get knee deep in my passion, working with and empowering children. I found a gift of engaging children in fun, non-threatening ways. I have always pushed children to embrace education and excel academically.
20+ years after, at a very low point in my life a late model Jag pulls up beside me and a smartly dressed man bolted out. This frightened me at first because of the violence that was beginning to envelope my neighborhood. The driver rushed toward me saying “Mr. Sloan, I know you don’t remember me but you used to be my basketball coach at the Y. Thank You! The lessons you taught me and your encouragements helped me stay out of the streets and in school.” He reached into his pocket before shaking my hand and thanking me. He also slipped me a $100 bill. This was a pivotal point in my life. At a point when I was considering giving up on the vision that God gave me, I received confirmation not to get tired.
After the Fisher YMCA branch closed, I changed career directions and entered the business world as a sales/service professional. I had the opportunity to work with a number of Fortune 500 Companies including MCI, Ameritech, Nextel Communications, Radio Shack, General Foods and University of Phoenix. I also trained under Ron Gibel, owner of Urban Office Products which was at the time of my employment, NYC’s largest minority office supplier. This is where I was able to learn about the art of the deal.
After the death of my mother, I re-evaluated my life and priorities. I needed to make a difference and leave this planet in a better position than I found it. In 2005, after seeing a neighborhood child twerk and rap every lyric of an inappropriate gangsta rap, I engaged her. After discovering she did not know her phonics sounds and recognizing her intellectual brilliance from previous conversations with her, I got busy.
If I could someway make reading fun, I could grab her and other children, who were at risk of illiteracy's attention. I knew that if I could grab her attention I could help motivate her to read. I made a sock puppet and started tutoring her in reading. It worked! She began to build her alphabet recognition and other reading skills. Soon, many of the neighborhood children began to approach me. They asked me if my puppet could tutor them.
I began creating a puppet show that motivated children to read and let them have fun building their reading skills. I began having free puppet shows in my back yard. The shows were cheesy. The puppets looked like and were handmade, the stage was a discarded refrigerator box and the soundtrack was amateur at best. Even though the shows were cheesy the children loved them. I used my business experience and looked at the shows from the customer’s (children) perspective. I knew their experience had to be ‘child friendly” AKA fun. With limited resources I focused on simple things. I just needed to be creative in using them. I served freshly popped popcorn. I also served grape Kool Aide with lemon Kool Aide ice cubes made in a mini fruit ice cube mold. I performed physical humor to make them laugh. I created short raps and songs for the children to sing with me. As the children sang, rapped and laughed, they ate fresh popcorn and drank Grape Kool Aid served in a clear plastic cup showing Lemon Ice floating around in the shapes of fruit. They LOVED it!
One day after one of these shows I spoke to a grandparent. She thanked me for the shows and mentioned that her daughter was always dumping her son off on her to go to a party or happy hour and that she was glad her grandson could come to an educational happy hour. Father Time’s Educational Happy Hour was born. One of my first projects was designing the 'Reading 2 Win' literacy program for a local non-profit. It was used in the Detroit Public Schools system. With the proceeds from that job I developed a much more professional puppet show. The puppets were still handmade but with a newly purchased sewing machine. The stage was built with corrugated plastic. The soundtrack was created on a used laptop, purchased to allow the insertion of sound effects and the opportunity to learn basic graphic art skills to further develop the show.
Now it was time to take my show on the road. I've had the pleasure of performing or holding puppetry workshops and storytelling sessions for children at Boys and Girls Clubs in Southeastern Michigan, the Detroit Public Schools & Library systems. In 2007, I performed at the Michigan State Fair as a guest of the Highland Park School System. These venues were in addition to the countless backyards and basements that I performed in front of children at risk of suffering illiteracy. In 2008 I authored my 1st children’s title- 'Do Not Give Up! The Barak Obama Story and Activity Book' to commemorate the historic election of President Barack Obama. The story identified the similarities of President Obama with urban children as motivation for them to excel academically.
One day I was walking through the Motor City Casino and heard someone loudly rapping the lyrics to a rap in my puppet show. I turned toward my rap and recognized a vendor from an East side Detroit Flea Market I performed at a few months prior. The vendor was rapping the lyrics to 'If I Can Read You Can Read', a motivational rap that helps build blending skills. The vendor began telling his companion about the show and the reaction from the children. He told his companion “this man is Sesame Street from the Hood.” He began telling his friend about how child engaging, hip hop and fun the show was.
I saw it then and I see that now. The educational content of my stories, puppet shows and storytelling are effective motivating inner-city children at risk of illiteracy to want to read and to build their reading skills. Why? Because they are fun! This Casino encounter was the conformation that I needed to take a leap of faith. I knew I can compete with Sesame Street and Dr. Seuss as far as the effectiveness of my educational content. The challenge is to produce it within a business model that monetizes it but keeps the core value in place, empowering children at risk of suffering illiteracy. Now it was time to get busy.
I am committed to develop a series of multi-media projects that will reach a broader audience of children most at risk of illiteracy and that would be enjoyed by all children. This has meant living a very meager lifestyle that included homelessness a few times. But that commitment has lead me to obtain a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from Wayne State University’s Tech Town Fast Trac program and a Certificate of Completion from High Scope’s Youth Workers Essentials Series. I've also sought out cost effective graphic arts, animation, video and audio editing training and access. I remember a lesson taught to me by Ron Gibel- “To be successful in business you have to know your business like the back of your hand, invest your time to the end result, work your business like tomorrow is not promised and instead of talking about success, just be about success.”
Graphic Arts, animation, video and audio capabilities are necessary to further evolve my passion into cartoons, hip hop music videos, etc. Why? The Magic Word is just the first of many future multi media projects that have the Dennis "Mr D" Sloan flavor of children's educational entertainment. In completed or draft form, numerous multi-media projects are being created to target urban children at risk of suffering illiteracy but entertaining to all. These include The Magic Word, The Magic Phrase, What’s My Name?, Alphabet Soup, If I Can Read You Can Read, The Power of Practice and Little David’s Big Problem, the first of a biblical project I is excited to begin working on.
I am still living a pretty meager lifestyle but GOD has been able to work on me in this humble state. Everything happens for a reason. I am very excited to introduce to yor the very first of my 'published' titles, The Magic Word.
After graduating I worked for the Fisher Branch YMCA (Detroit). It was the same YMCA I learned to swim at. I helped design youth development programs. I headed the Physical Fitness Department and ran the After School Fitness Fun program. I also created and coordinated a Fisher Y community parade. I had the pleasure of wearing so many hats because I rolled up my sleeves and pant legs to get knee deep in my passion, working with and empowering children. I found a gift of engaging children in fun, non-threatening ways. I have always pushed children to embrace education and excel academically.
20+ years after, at a very low point in my life a late model Jag pulls up beside me and a smartly dressed man bolted out. This frightened me at first because of the violence that was beginning to envelope my neighborhood. The driver rushed toward me saying “Mr. Sloan, I know you don’t remember me but you used to be my basketball coach at the Y. Thank You! The lessons you taught me and your encouragements helped me stay out of the streets and in school.” He reached into his pocket before shaking my hand and thanking me. He also slipped me a $100 bill. This was a pivotal point in my life. At a point when I was considering giving up on the vision that God gave me, I received confirmation not to get tired.
After the Fisher YMCA branch closed, I changed career directions and entered the business world as a sales/service professional. I had the opportunity to work with a number of Fortune 500 Companies including MCI, Ameritech, Nextel Communications, Radio Shack, General Foods and University of Phoenix. I also trained under Ron Gibel, owner of Urban Office Products which was at the time of my employment, NYC’s largest minority office supplier. This is where I was able to learn about the art of the deal.
After the death of my mother, I re-evaluated my life and priorities. I needed to make a difference and leave this planet in a better position than I found it. In 2005, after seeing a neighborhood child twerk and rap every lyric of an inappropriate gangsta rap, I engaged her. After discovering she did not know her phonics sounds and recognizing her intellectual brilliance from previous conversations with her, I got busy.
If I could someway make reading fun, I could grab her and other children, who were at risk of illiteracy's attention. I knew that if I could grab her attention I could help motivate her to read. I made a sock puppet and started tutoring her in reading. It worked! She began to build her alphabet recognition and other reading skills. Soon, many of the neighborhood children began to approach me. They asked me if my puppet could tutor them.
I began creating a puppet show that motivated children to read and let them have fun building their reading skills. I began having free puppet shows in my back yard. The shows were cheesy. The puppets looked like and were handmade, the stage was a discarded refrigerator box and the soundtrack was amateur at best. Even though the shows were cheesy the children loved them. I used my business experience and looked at the shows from the customer’s (children) perspective. I knew their experience had to be ‘child friendly” AKA fun. With limited resources I focused on simple things. I just needed to be creative in using them. I served freshly popped popcorn. I also served grape Kool Aide with lemon Kool Aide ice cubes made in a mini fruit ice cube mold. I performed physical humor to make them laugh. I created short raps and songs for the children to sing with me. As the children sang, rapped and laughed, they ate fresh popcorn and drank Grape Kool Aid served in a clear plastic cup showing Lemon Ice floating around in the shapes of fruit. They LOVED it!
One day after one of these shows I spoke to a grandparent. She thanked me for the shows and mentioned that her daughter was always dumping her son off on her to go to a party or happy hour and that she was glad her grandson could come to an educational happy hour. Father Time’s Educational Happy Hour was born. One of my first projects was designing the 'Reading 2 Win' literacy program for a local non-profit. It was used in the Detroit Public Schools system. With the proceeds from that job I developed a much more professional puppet show. The puppets were still handmade but with a newly purchased sewing machine. The stage was built with corrugated plastic. The soundtrack was created on a used laptop, purchased to allow the insertion of sound effects and the opportunity to learn basic graphic art skills to further develop the show.
Now it was time to take my show on the road. I've had the pleasure of performing or holding puppetry workshops and storytelling sessions for children at Boys and Girls Clubs in Southeastern Michigan, the Detroit Public Schools & Library systems. In 2007, I performed at the Michigan State Fair as a guest of the Highland Park School System. These venues were in addition to the countless backyards and basements that I performed in front of children at risk of suffering illiteracy. In 2008 I authored my 1st children’s title- 'Do Not Give Up! The Barak Obama Story and Activity Book' to commemorate the historic election of President Barack Obama. The story identified the similarities of President Obama with urban children as motivation for them to excel academically.
One day I was walking through the Motor City Casino and heard someone loudly rapping the lyrics to a rap in my puppet show. I turned toward my rap and recognized a vendor from an East side Detroit Flea Market I performed at a few months prior. The vendor was rapping the lyrics to 'If I Can Read You Can Read', a motivational rap that helps build blending skills. The vendor began telling his companion about the show and the reaction from the children. He told his companion “this man is Sesame Street from the Hood.” He began telling his friend about how child engaging, hip hop and fun the show was.
I saw it then and I see that now. The educational content of my stories, puppet shows and storytelling are effective motivating inner-city children at risk of illiteracy to want to read and to build their reading skills. Why? Because they are fun! This Casino encounter was the conformation that I needed to take a leap of faith. I knew I can compete with Sesame Street and Dr. Seuss as far as the effectiveness of my educational content. The challenge is to produce it within a business model that monetizes it but keeps the core value in place, empowering children at risk of suffering illiteracy. Now it was time to get busy.
I am committed to develop a series of multi-media projects that will reach a broader audience of children most at risk of illiteracy and that would be enjoyed by all children. This has meant living a very meager lifestyle that included homelessness a few times. But that commitment has lead me to obtain a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from Wayne State University’s Tech Town Fast Trac program and a Certificate of Completion from High Scope’s Youth Workers Essentials Series. I've also sought out cost effective graphic arts, animation, video and audio editing training and access. I remember a lesson taught to me by Ron Gibel- “To be successful in business you have to know your business like the back of your hand, invest your time to the end result, work your business like tomorrow is not promised and instead of talking about success, just be about success.”
Graphic Arts, animation, video and audio capabilities are necessary to further evolve my passion into cartoons, hip hop music videos, etc. Why? The Magic Word is just the first of many future multi media projects that have the Dennis "Mr D" Sloan flavor of children's educational entertainment. In completed or draft form, numerous multi-media projects are being created to target urban children at risk of suffering illiteracy but entertaining to all. These include The Magic Word, The Magic Phrase, What’s My Name?, Alphabet Soup, If I Can Read You Can Read, The Power of Practice and Little David’s Big Problem, the first of a biblical project I is excited to begin working on.
I am still living a pretty meager lifestyle but GOD has been able to work on me in this humble state. Everything happens for a reason. I am very excited to introduce to yor the very first of my 'published' titles, The Magic Word.