Elementary school teacher Darrell Yoder stood in the Oak Leaf Manor retirement home Monday, surrounded by fifth-graders.

"There is no magic time machine that can take you back (in time)," he told them.

But one form of magic did open the doors to the retirement home.

Sixteen fifth-graders from Elizabeth R. Martin Elementary School, in the School District of Lancaster, walked across Wabank Road and performed magic tricks for about a dozen of the home's residents.

       Fifth-grade magicians

The students performed four tricks —each of which reinforced a math lesson —for 20 minutes and then asked the residents about their lives.

Ten-year-old Lucas Myers hopped up and down in front of 75-year-old Raymond Miller.

Lucas held three cards in front of Miller: a seven of diamonds, a seven of "clovers" and a seven of hearts.

The seven of diamonds and the seven of "clovers" were friends, Lucas said. Then the seven of hearts came along.

There was no way they could all get along.

"Can you take him out for me?" Lucas, pointing to the seven of "clovers," asked Miller.

Lucas moved the cards so they were facing down, and Miller reached for the the seven of "clovers." He tugged on the card, flipped it right side up and paused.

It was a joker.

"I was only kidding," Lucas said.

Yoder said Lucas modified the trick slightly. The idea, though, was to teach students about fractions, to show them that there are numbers between 7 and 8, for example. Lucas could have pulled out a 7.5 instead of a joker, Yoder said.

Lucas moved on to another trick in which he used mathematical sequences to guess which number between one and 31 his partner had chosen.

Even the boxes Lucas and his classmates held their supplies in were part of a math lesson.

The students, Yoder said, crafted their boxes out of posterboard. Yoder told the students what volume their box needed to be, and it was up to them to discover how big each side of the container needed to be.

Yoder, a members of the Professional Magician's Club of Lancaster, said he's been teaching Martin Elementary students to do magic tricks since he got to the school, in 1994. He's been taking them to the retirement home every December for the past eight years.

"It gives them a chance to explain their thinking in a fun way," Yoder said.

Lucas said he loves doing the magic tricks Yoder taught him and his fellow classmates.

"Mostly what I like is that it can amaze people, as long as you don't let the trick be revealed," Lucas said.

And, he added, "There always seems to be a good story from one of the residents."

Yoder said the nursing home was the perfect place to let the students demonstrate their talents. The residents, he said, are extremely supportive.

"They make my kids feel very successful," Yoder said. "They're so happy to see the kids. It doesn't really matter what they do."

Mary Hartman, 84, was among the students' most vocal supporters.

"I hope they come back again, and soon, like tomorrow," she said. "They oughta take that show on the road."

Yoder said at the event that his students would be excited all day. They'd run around sharing the stories they heard from the retirement home residents.

As Yoder told his students at the end of their visit, "There is no magic time machine that can take you back (in time). If you meet somebody who's older than you, they can tell you about it."


Staff writer Liz Navratil can be reached at enavratil@LNPnews.com or 481-6014. blog comments powered by Disqus