Our History
In Fall 2009, students in Michael Husni's very first Fundamentals of Acting I class were tasked to develop unique children's show scripts and puppets in order to explore techniques used in children's theatre. With an array of crafting materials that included paper bags, popsicle sticks, fun foam, and even a fast food chicken bucket, students developed several performances that Husni thought to be wildly entertaining. Out of these ideas, Husni asked whether students would be interested in learning the art of puppetry after school to possibly take their shows to elementary schools in the district. By Spring 2010, Pupetry in Education, or Puppet Club as it become known amongst students, was formed and began creating its first show. Thanks to a partnership with elementary school teacher, Lori Paderewski, PiE was able to identify several character-building script ideas that could benefit Ms. Paderewski's students. Anti-bullying was the topic chosen to explore for their pilot season. PiE members decided they could make characters from the crayon groups Ms. Paderewski used for tables in her classroom and create a story about a new crayon to the box who had to face bullys in his/her new classroom. And so, their first performance, Los colores, was born. In their pilot season, they were even fortunate enough to return to Ms. Paderewski's class to watch a show that her students made for Puppet Club members.
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After such a successful pilot season, PiE was fortunate enough to receive an Opportunity Grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, which allowed them to buy needed materials to build more amazing puppets. PiE continued to grow, each year creating a new show and new puppets that covered topics such as cultural tolerance, being yourself, and the problems of lying. They have explored different mediums for puppetry, from their favorite foam, muppet-style puppets to shadow puppetry and even television/video performance. However, despite evolving as a group, core characteristics, like designing their own puppets and keeping their shows interactive have remained throughout the history of the group. As years pass, members graduate, donning their Puppet Club cords, and new members step up to take leadership roles to create more amazing puppet performances.
Our Director
Michael Husni is a Spanish/Drama teacher at Middletown High School. After graduating from Middletown High School, Husni attended the University of Delaware where he earned an Honors Bachelor of Arts double majoring in Spanish Education and English with a concentration in Drama. In addition to his academic studies, Husni was also heavily involved in the performing arts at Delaware, performing in over eight productions, as well as serving as Publicity Coordinator for the Harrington Theatre Arts Company, Finance and Marketing Chair for the Resident Student Association, as well as marketing director for several shows with E-52 Student Theatre. His leadership earned him a YouDee Award as RSO Male Leader of the Year in 2007. His studies led him to London, studying Performance at Queen Mary, University of London. While in London, he encountered a wide variety of performance styles, including puppetry.
I feel very fortunate to be inspired with my students to innovate every day we meet. Puppetry lends itself to so much creativity and fun that it is hard not to want to show up everyday. The puppetry community as a whole is a widly generous bunch of artists that are willing to push each other to create more amazing performances each and every yer.

He started doing research on the basics of hand puppetry, reigniting a love he had for Jim Henson-inspired puppetry. When he returned home to teach at his alma mater, he was inspired by the stories created by his first acting class, and decided to involve his students in his exploration of puppetry. Since founding Puppetry in Education, Husni has taken his skills and interest in puppetry to lead guest workshops at the Everett Theatre in Middletown, Delaware as well as joining Puppeteers of America, where he regularly attends National Puppet Festivals. Most recently, Husni was named a national scholarship recipient by Puppeteers of America to attend the National Puppetry Festival at the University of Connecticut.
For more information about our director, Michael Husni, click links below: