Teacher Sandy Wood Produces Documentary: The Life of Ollie the Frog: A Puppet Made Famous

Mention the name Sandy Wood, and many Boyertown Elementary School graduates over a 40-year period remember an energetic art teacher who often used drama and dance as part of the art classroom. Especially memorable was her wide-mouth frog puppet Ollie who helped her demonstrate the techniques of van Gogh, Cezanne, and Matisse.

After many years, as the beloved puppet became somewhat of an adjunct faculty member, Sandy introduced another puppet Clara Jean to Ollie. Students and staff witnessed their “romance” blossom, culminating eventually in a wedding between the two puppets in which the entire school participated. Ollie’s and Clara Jean’s wedding remains a fond memory for many students and staff.

And so, to honor the memory, Sandy recently produced a short documentary of Ollie with the assistance of Bill Cherkasky, Boyertown High School’s telecommunications teacher.

In commenting on the video, Sandy shares, “I wrote the script and gathered all the material in various forms. Bill had to convert it all into useable formats and then edit and add the music. He did a wonderful job especially of the wedding as there were 3 videographers and he had to root through their tapes.

“My only stipulation was to use the entire audio of the ceremony and to make sure to capture Terry Wade saying, ‘Don’t do it, Ollie!’ It was a great time back then, a special memory for me and apparently for the many students who witnessed it. It’s a memory of my work as a teacher that I enjoy knowing is still treasured.

“I’ve since found a tray of super slides of Ollie’s travels that I’d love to substitute or add. Maybe they’ll be a sequel. Stay tuned,” she concludes.

Sandy Wood: Multi-talented World Traveler, Thespian, Teacher, and Consultant

Sandy’s presence and influence extended into local theatre as leading lady in many roles, set and costume designer, choreographer, and graphic artist. In her retirement, she served as independent consultant for Crayola Art and Literacy and Art in Math programs, and exercised her teaching chops in summer classes at Studio B during its fledgling year. In her journey as artist, she studied water color and pastels with nationally known painters.

But for her friends and fans, Sandy’s “second act” as the poster child for a satisfying and successful life as a fine artist who traveled the globe as a plein air painter is most inspiring. Her wide-ranging travels, teaching, and natural energy and enthusiasm for life inspired landscapes and still life paintings reflecting her delight in refreshing images lush in color taken from her environment. She then brought her world and travels to Boyertown in exhibits featuring an array of paintings demonstrating her love affair with color and form.

Reflecting on her style, she says, “I start with something realistic. I like the paint and color to be loose and juicy, yet I want to control the contour of the shape and the shading.

“We live in an age when our world is bathed in artificial light and fast-paced altered images. My work focuses on reacquainting the viewer with the nuances of natural light, color, and form. All my images are personal expressions of actual objects or places in my environment,” she notes. Her delicate water colors capture the joy of pattern, color and texture found in the natural world.

“My work reflects a continuous effort,” Sandy explains. “Like an athlete in training, you have to work at it every day to improve and push yourself to go beyond the next level.” During her travels Sandy made sketches and paintings of the many sites and places she visited and bound her sketches into booklets.

Sandy earned a BS in Art Education and a M.Ed from Kutztown University. She taught art education classes occasionally as an adjunct for Kutztown University. Always the teacher, Sandy was dedicated to promoting art education and brought back experiences from 10 classrooms around the world to local classrooms.

In her career she acted as Supervisor of Art for 15 of her 40 years, enjoyed membership in Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA) for over 35 years and board membership for over 19 years, presented at most of the PAEA conferences, and attended many national art education conferences. She was honored by PAEA as Outstanding Supervisor in 1990 and Outstanding Retired Art Educator in 2009.

Global changes to teaching art fuel her dedication. “Art is essential in the growth of children,” Sandy offers. “When I visited China, I learned it is changing its approach. They have discovered that graduates need verbal, interpersonal, and higher-level thinking skills to ensure their success. They recognize that enhancing creativity and problem-solving skills is an integral part of a successful education. I just wonder how they’d react to Ollie’s and Clara Jean’s wedding!”

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