Fresno State students bring puppets to life

Fresno State students with dreams of one day having a classroom of their own are learning how to incorporate puppetry into their lesson plans.

Those who signed up for the puppetry class had mixed emotions at the start of the semester not knowing what to expect.

“Before I had a lot of skepticism cause like what are you going to do in a puppet class. But after the first day just the whole thing is just so fun,” C.J. Fisher said.

Dr. Nicola Olsen is a new professor at Fresno State with a background in theater education.

She works with liberal studies majors, who want to become elementary school teachers.

For Olsen, one of the most rewarding parts of the job is seeing the creativity students bring to class.

“They’ve just got these abilities to take a sock and bring it to life with googly eyes and a really long tongue and a wispy voice. It’s just delightful,” Olsen said.

The puppetry class is a service learning course that lets students take what they learn in class and apply it in their community.

During an ArtHop event inside the Betty Rodriguez Library, kids stopped by to make their own puppets with the help of Fresno State students.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for them to get hands-on experience with the kids, especially because there’s a lot of them here,” Torres said.

Kids took photos with their puppets and enjoyed a puppet show put on by the puppetry class.

Norma Torres brought her daughter to make a puppet and was thankful for the students who donated their time.

Doctor Olsen hopes students walk away from her class more confident, believing in the creativity they have to offer the world.