Published on September 22, 2006, in The Ocean Star

The Music Man Educational Outreach partners with a National Outreach for NJ/PA/NY Schools

By Brian McGinn

The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe in Lavallette is known locally for a number of things, an annual breast cancer walk that raises money for cancer research and a family-oriented ice cream shop that provides customers with a song and dance show.

But what many people do not realize is that The Music Man has something more to offer, art educational outreach program. Robert Agliata, owner of The Music Man and director of its educational outreach component, began the program in 2004. "We created cost effective programs that allow schools to take part in high-quality presentations and instruction," said Mr. Agliata. "The flexibility of our programs allow educators the ability to enhance the core curriculum by using our actors/teachers in the capacity of one-day seminars, weekly visits or an artist in residence approach."

Recently, Mr. Agliata joined forces with Ignite, an offshoot of Great American
Opportunities. Ignites' founders created and delivered the first on-site student mentoring program where students positively impacted younger students. Mr. Agliata said as part of the education outreach program, he and other members of the Ignite team travel to local schools to teach lessons on a variety of subjects, such as leadership and character education. The program also offers seminars on student-to-student mentoring, student led transition programs, and staff development training. Advisory coaching and curriculum are all pieces of the grand puzzle that Ignite can bring to a school campus. "Ignite can provide on site campus coaches, professionally trained in the art of facilitation, with award winning curriculum and experiential activities," Mr. Agliata said. "By keeping everything on-campus, we are able to keep costs down and create a camp-like atmosphere." Using 21st century technology, such as video clips, Ignite coaches can bring life and excitement to building and furthering a school's vision. Mr. Agliata said the combination of creativity and accountability will allow the programs to quickly become one of the newest and most valuable additions to a schools staff. "The ultimate goal is to reach as many schools as possible," Mr. Agliata said. "Right now, though, we have just launched the program." While the programs do carry some cost to the school district that hires Ignite, Mr. Agliata said there are grants available that allow the company to run sessions free of charge to the school district.

Mr. Agliata has a background in music and theatre education and received his degree in music education from The College of New Jersey. He later earned a masters degree in theatre-in-education from Ohio State University.

Mr. Agliata's teaching began with Princeton's McCarter Theatre Outreach Department where he developed educational programs and wrote original music for an educational play called, "Alice!"
As a professional actor, he has been seen throughout New Jersey in a multitude of productions, but is best known for The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe that serves more then 40,000 during its summer season. For further information regarding the full line of offerings or to receive an on-site consultation please contact Mr. Agliata 732-740-8833 or email robert.agliata@igniteforschools.com