“My name is Allyson Whittemore, and I work at J.F.K Middle School in Bethpage.

On Friday, October 25th, 2019, our school had something we call “Soaring Eagles Day,” which is a school wide Anti-Bully type program. The students attended different assemblies during the day and also took part in activities in classrooms as a follow up. There were no regular classes during the day.

It was on this day that we had the pleasure of hosting Scott Baker and his partner, Vinnie Mark, and their program, “Socializing without Social Media.”

It was an absolute hit. The students and faculty could not say enough positive things about the program, even in the following weeks well after the day was over. On a daily basis, it is difficult to keep the students engaged and interested for a long period of time.

However, not during Scott’s presentation. The students were motivated to participate, clearly excited, and were absolutely moved by Scott’s honesty and candor.

It’s so important to actually connect to the students in a way that makes them feel that you are actively listening, that you care, and that you also have been where they are, and know what they might be going through.

Scott did just that; he made the students feel like he absolutely understands them and that he knows how difficult the years in middle school can be.  

During the presentation, it felt like every minute was better than the last! Having Vinnie there as well, truly added to the experience. Together, they brought their show business experience and their real life experiences to keep the presentation entertaining from start to finish.

Vinnie was a positive, pleasant addition to the presentation.  They both touched upon so many issues, i.e. boosting self esteem, how to communicate without social media, how to deal with stress and anxiety, and just really how to be a better human being overall.

Scott also talked about changing your way of thinking from, “I can’t” and “I have to,” to “I can,” and “I get to.” Middle school students are really unsure of themselves, so this was such a fantastic lesson to instill in their young minds. They really felt this message.

After the presentations were over for all three grades, both Scott and Vinnie took extra time and walked around to all of the classrooms where the students were doing their activities.

During this time, they were able to say a more personalized hello, answered questions, and by request from many of the students, signed autographs!

Not only do I highly recommend Scott and Vinnie, but I encourage the implementation of this program into your school or organization. Students and faculty thoroughly enjoyed it, learned a lot, and felt positive and confident after participating in it.”

Best Regards,

Allyson Whittemore - J.F.K. Middle School (Bethpage)

“I am writing to recommend Scott Baker as an exceptional instructor for children, teens and adults in the area of improv.

For several years prior to my retirement, I had the pleasure of working with Scott at Hofstra University Continuing Education. I had hired Scott to teach a variety of improv courses for different audiences, as well as to entertain at special events. All were huge successes.

As someone who strongly believes that both young people and adults need a variety of “21 st century” skills to thrive in both school and the workplace, I think it is essential to learn improv skills in order to deal with the challenges of a rapidly-changing world.

Scott also understands this concept and incorporates it into all his improv teaching, whether to help

youngsters and teens deal with bullying or to help adults deal with challenging coworkers. But most of all, his classes are FUN!

Scott is a consummate professional, very easy to work with, reliable, dependable and extremely creative. I highly recommend him for teaching improv to people of all ages and abilities.”

Sincerely,

Debbi Honorof - Hofstra University

“I am writing to recommend the ESTEEMProv assembly, presented by Scott Baker and Vinnie Mark.

Our middle school students experienced the benefit of participating in ESTEEMProv this school year, and I highly recommend the program for other middle schools.

Scott and Vinnie base their presentation on real life experiences, rooted in emotions and realities that speak to children in a relevant way. Indeed, the emcees effectively drew on their own life challenges and triumphs--in the worlds of family, school, work, entertainment and sports--to make an instant connection with their audience.

Additionally, the presentation style was creative, appropriately comedic, engaging, passionate and properly paced for the age group. In the end, students gleaned an interactive message about the power of perspective, resilience and kindness to both self and others.

On a side note, and from an administrative vantage point, Scott and Vinnie were, simply put, awesome to work with. They were highly flexible in terms of time constraints and related, needed adjustments while being extremely friendly and personable.

I am very grateful for the efforts of our school PTA and others who brought ESTEEMProv to our school; and, once again, I very much recommend the program for middle school students.”

Kindly,

Ralph Gerace - Assistant Principal at Terrill Middle School

“I wanted to take this time to recommend the comedy of Scott Baker, in an educational forum for the teen crowd. Scott brought another comedian with him and together they were quick thinkers, full of energy, and most importantly for this age group, all inclusive.

I recently booked Scott Baker to perform a “Whose Line is it Anyway” type of show at Sayville Library for teens, sixth grade through twelfth grade. We had 37 attendees, some with special needs; this was an unprecedented event for us.

The audience was immediately captivated, this included from the shy, bullied kid to the more rambunctious and outgoing kid. Whenever it was time for a volunteer, every hand went up.

Initially, I was afraid no one would want to participate, but I was proved wrong. Scott made everyone feel welcomed and that they were all a part of the show.

While I initially booked a comedy show, I did ask Scott to use his unique background and entertaining ways to include some anti-bullying messages because it was such an impressionable and diverse crowd.

Through improv and without condescension, he taught the kids communication and socialization without social media and how to use humor and real life experiences to combat bullying.

It is without hesitation that I would recommend Scott Baker for any educational setting to deliver a message that is now, more timely than ever. I look forward to hiring him again.”

Sincerely,

Marianne Ramirez - Teen Librarian Sayville Library