What is The Penguin Project? The Penguin Project is a musical theater production that casts children and young adults with disabilities in all roles. Those individuals (artists) receive assistance from on-stage peers (mentors). The Penguin Project is open to any individual age 10 and up with a disability. This includes (but is not limited to) Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, visual impairment, hearing impairment and neurological disorders. The Penguin Project utilizes a “peer mentor” system linking each artist with an age level peer who does not have a disability. The peer mentors work side by side with their partners.
Penguin Project artist Gannon Rossmeyer recently donated all of his proceeds to Flagler County Playhouse’s Penguin Project. This is Gannon’s story told in his own words.
“A few months ago my mom was scrolling through Facebook and stumbled across what sounded like a really fun and educational event. It was called the “Daytona Beach Children’s Business Fair.” It was around the same time that we found the Penguin Project.
They had the 1st fair last year with 20 booths. I did not know about that one. This time they offered 40 booths to young entrepreneurs. We completed the registration form that also included a business plan. It asked some really important questions about starting your own business. We completed it and the next thing we knew we were accepted. It was such a popular event that the business fair ended up offering 90 booths to young entrepreneurs.
Anyway, back in 2020 I started homeschooling and creating paint-by-sticker pieces. I had quite a few completed. Art relaxed me and assisted me with my fine motor needs. That gave us the idea to start selling my pieces. We named my business, “Stuck on You Creations.” By: Gannon James Rossmeyer.
Then we got busy creating more pieces and preparing for the fair that was held on March 25th, 2023.
My family and I decided that all of my proceeds would go to my theatre group, “The Penguin Project.” I earned $353.00 dollars. The people that came to the fair were very supportive and liked my work. They also took pictures of the play’s information. Many mentioned that they wanted to come to see Annie too!
Many visitors at the fair were also asking for penguin merchandise and art. This gave us the idea to possibly design and offer some penguin merchandise to sell on the evening of our June performances. We’ll have to check with the president about that idea.
Thank you for letting me share my story.”
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