Testimonials

I had the pleasure of working with Daniel during a residency as part of StageWrite’s ADAPTS Program. We taught in two autism-focused classrooms, working with children from kindergarten to fifth grade, coming from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, each with unique support needs.

Working with Daniel was a true pleasure. Daniel created and puppeteered an incredible puppet named Nudnik the Alien, which captivated the students, increasing their interest, attention, and engagement. This led to some amazing moments of spontaneous play from students who hadn't initiated such interactions before.

Daniel’s deep understanding of early childhood education and his ability to connect with both the puppet and the students was inspiring. It even made me want to explore puppetry further in my own work.

Additionally, Daniel documented our work through articles, reflecting on our big takeaways. I appreciated his ability to be present and subjective during teaching, while later translating those moments into objective reflections.

Overall, I’m thrilled to have worked with Daniel and look forward to future collaborations.

-Lauren Kivowitz, founder of Inclusive Arts

I’m really excited about a visit that Daniel and his puppet dog, Toby, made to our classroom the other day.

As soon as Daniel introduced Toby, my students were instantly engaged, excited, and ready to learn about the day's art lesson and the materials we would be using. Toby did a wonderful job demonstrating how to use the materials carefully, and the students were captivated by each step of the project. Because of this, they remembered the steps with less repetition, eager to follow Toby’s lead.

One student, in particular, couldn’t stop asking about Toby and kept mentioning him throughout the lesson, hoping Toby was having a great day.

Thank you, Daniel, for bringing Toby to our classroom! We’d love to have any of your puppets visit again!

-Steph Kudisch, Early Childhood Teaching Artist

It has been an amazing experience to have Teacher Daniel and Toby (the puppet) in my classroom. My students constantly talked about Toby and how much they looked forward to seeing him each week. They saw Toby as someone who understood their excitement about art and also the challenges that could come with it. Toby really helped encourage them to persist through these challenges and use art as a way to express themselves and feel seen and heard. I'm so grateful for Toby and the inspiration he's provided my students. Thank you!

-Amy Hu, TK Teacher, Francis Scott Key Elementary School