Niles native ‘shows’ off science
By KATHLEEN EVANOFF Tribune ChronicleMost children who watch Saturday morning television have seen ''The Zula Patrol.''
What many might not know, however, is the creator, Deborah Manchester, is a Niles native.
Manchester, who grew up in Niles and graduated from Niles McKinley High School in 1970, created the program to help reach younger children with science.
''There is a huge void in science education for young children,'' Manchester said.
There is a whole different atmosphere in the way children learn and how we teach as compared with how it was done years ago, Manchester said.
The patrol is made up of odd-looking space characters who travel the universe to study planets, stars and even the weather.
''We used to do a good job with science and math,'' she said. ''But somewhere along the way, the level of education got focused on tests.
''We're teaching how to memorize instead of how to think,'' she said.
Manchester believes that science is a vehicle that teaches children critical thinking skills that, if taught correctly, will carry them throughout their lives.
Following her graduation from Niles, Manchester earned her Ph.D. in audiology from The Ohio State University. She went on to practice as an audiologist, a professional who diagnoses, treats, and manages individuals with hearing loss or balance problems, for the next 18 years. Manchester specialized in children with hearing disabilities. But the urge was strong to try something different, so she went back to school to become an animator.
It was following foot surgery when she came up with the idea for the characters that later became the Zula Patrol. Manchester noticed that there were no cast covers on the market.
So, as she worked to cover her own foot cast, she began getting ideas for cast cover characters for children. The cast covers soon moved to plush toys and the idea for a children's storybook was born.
She took her book to an International Book Fair in Los Angeles where Hollywood producers approached her about the idea of a television show.
''It was a long process to just get funding for the show,'' Manchester said. But one contact provided a springboard to others and soon a wealthy, science-loving investor, who to this day chooses to remain anonymous, offered to finance the program.
''The Zula Patrol'' was picked up by 80 percent of the PBS affiliates around the country, and is shown around the world and in more than 50 Latin American countries. The show is also popular in the Middle East, South Korea and Europe.
''When I look back, I think I was fortunate to have grown up in Niles,'' Manchester said. ''As an animator, I am still using concepts directly from my ninth grade math classes,'' she said.
''Debbie was always a good student,'' said her mother, Dorothy Manchester, who still lives in Niles. ''She was a happy child,'' Dorothy said, describing her daughter as a ''go-getter.'' Manchester also is the daughter of the late Frank Manchester.
The show recently partnered with IBM to release the program at Disney's Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla.
''The Zula Patrol,'' geared to children ages kindergarten through second grade, is shown on NBC on Saturday mornings and is available on DVDs.
In addition to the show, ''The Zula Patrol: Mission Weather'' travels to a different museum every three months, as well as a ''dome show'' that is presented in planetariums shown in six different countries and 40 locations throughout the United States.
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bruskii
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10-13-08 7:27 PM
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you go sister girl blinding us w. science .
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