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Kyle Tiernan’s California-based elementary school assemblies are considered the best of all time, according to teachers at Sutter Elementary…

Jody Collins – Your assembly was right before report writing time and our campus was a little hectic.  I wanted you to know, though, that yours was one of the best assemblies I have experienced in my 30+ years of teaching.  You have a real gift!  Your pacing and sequencing of each picture was right on.  Have you ever thought of specializing in working with special needs children?  I don’t know how long you’ve been doing your program but you definitely come across as a seasoned professional. 

I work with K-1 special needs children and was worried that they might not be able to keep up with your instruction.  They were completely focused the entire time due to your expertise.  I’m sure you hear a lot of glowing praise but wanted to add my name to your list of admirers.  Here’s hoping that Sutter will become a permanent stop on your yearly schedule.  Thank you again for providing children with a fantastic experience.

Christe Farnum – I wanted to let you know how much my children LOVED the assembly! My students were completely engaged as you demonstrated drawing and cartooning. They were extremely excited, proud and happy that they were able to create such detailed and fun drawings.  All they want to do now is color them in, and show them off to someone. I was amazed at how easy it was for them to do.

Jennifer Kelly – I just wanted you to know that the assembly you gave the other day was fantastic!  The children really loved it. It is a busy time of year and we have had so much going on lately, so initially I though….wow, another 45 minutes not in my classroom, but when I saw how well you had the kids under control (that is always a teacher’s relief!) and how the kids were so excited that they were going to learn how to draw, I realized what a great choice this had been.

The kids could all do the drawings! It was detailed, yet to the point and your enthusiasm spilled over to the kids. It’s great to see all kids feels successful and you allowed that to happen. Thank you. They were so excited to go home and look for dust bunnies!

Kelly K. Burke  – Your assembly was awesome! Thanks for visiting Sutter Elementary all the way from sunny San Diego !  Your lessons with art were phenomenal. All of my students could draw! You made them all feel like super artists today!

They do not always feel like artists. They all were drawing along with you today! I know they felt good about their drawings. You gave them confidence by using basic shapes to accomplish super artwork! 

After we got back to class after the art assembly my fourth grade students asked if they could color their drawing secret sketches that you guided them with. After that we then shared our artwork. I would recommend a draw along assembly to all ages of learners. You inspired me to draw as well!  I am not an artist. Today I was! What did they enjoy? They loved drawing the penguin and your “sister” with the long arm in the spaceship.

We really enjoyed your passion for art. You are a fun person to watch perform, have a lot of charisma and inspiration for the arts. I have never seen an assembly with so much interaction before! All of the students were drawing and became artists with you! Thank you for bring out the arts in all of us Kyle! You are a super artist and now we are too!

Joyce Ottey –  I thought your presentation today was awesome!  (March 9th)  I teach kindergarten and every one of my students was totally engaged with your presentation.  Your pacing was great and I love the different modalities you included with your instructions (raise your hand and say…, etc.)  They were listening, speaking, moving and FOCUSED!  I did not see one child in the assembly that got upset or frustrated with his/her efforts to draw things.  I was drawing right along with the kids and just as entertained as they were.

I was mentally making notes about how you broke down each shape so that I could do the same type of thing in the future with my classes.  Your easy manner and funny comments helped make it all enjoyable too.  

Also I love the way you asked at one point is this a shape? (it was just a line at that point) and you said “You can’t color in a line.”  Which reminded me about how we are always trying to get the kids away from drawing ‘stick people”.  You’re right… there is nothing to color in on a stick person.  I hope you can do another presentation at our school and I would love it if you could teach us how to draw PEOPLE with some shape to them, not just a stick figure!  Thanks again for a great assembly. I will definitely vote to have you return. 

 On a personal note…we, the teachers, were discussing how much we enjoyed the show and how impressed we were with you.  You seem so young, but have developed this great life doing what you appear to love to do.  Good for you! Best of Luck! 

Linda Rich – I am a kindergarten teacher at Sutter and want to thank you for the wonderful assembly.

 All of my students were engaged the entire time you were instructing them. No one was frustrated or said they could not draw. They were very excited back in the classroom and I gave them time to color and add more details if they chose.

You have such a calm, pleasant voice and your presentation was very organized. I hope to be able to see you again.

Brenda Heiser – Thank you for a great assembly today!  My first graders really enjoyed drawing along with you.  They felt successful and were clearly able to complete their drawings with your instructions.  Your introduction of the shape family reinforced what I have been trying to teach them since September.  🙂  You established a positive and safe environment for the students.  You were able to keep their attention and focus by direct teaching with a clear plan for where you (and they) were going. Another great thing you did was to allow a physical response (two fingers in the air)  and an auditory response (shhh on the way down) throughout your presentation.  You gave them an outlet for their enthusiasm but it didn’t interfere with continuing the lesson.

Tom Funcheon – Principal – If you’re looking for a really good art assembly, I recommend Kyle Tiernan.  He did a great job today with the Sutter kids.  He does an interactive drawing assembly.  He did a great job keeping the kids motivated and enthusiastic and also had great control.  Both our upper and lower grades really enjoyed the assembly.

Marie Lanka – Thank you so much for your presentation today. Not only was the interaction fantastic, the kids LOVED being able to do things right along with you and the activities kept them engaged the entire time.

You also made use of some California State Standards vocabulary such as plane, length, width, height, etc. The students were able to draw, have fun, and learn.

Sue Casellini – My class and I loved the assembly.  You are great at keeping them focused and involved.  Your positive approach and encouragement really helped relax them and give them a “can do” attitude.