BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Bob Mauk's brand of magic is going national.
Mr. Mauk, an Indian Hill resident, has taken a program that combines bits of magic with morality lessons into several local schools. The program, Magic Show for Winners, is quite popular locally and now has been duplicated in a Maryland school district.
Mr. Mauk, senior vice president at Ostendorf-Morris Colliers, has also received inquiries from other parts of Ohio and throughout the country.
"I'd love to see it in Toledo, Columbus, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle . . . but you have to have the right person to head it up," he said.
Those are cities he's targeted, either because someone has contacted him about the program or he's talked with someone. All of his contacts are volunteers, so approval would still be needed from the school districts.
The Magic Show for Winners began in 1993, when Mr. Mauk, 69, was tutoring at Douglass School in Walnut Hills, where his daughter, Julie Vorpe, teaches.
"I did not think I was getting the results I wanted," he said. "I dealt with four kids. I wanted to accomplish more than I did. Somebody was going to teach them how to add two plus two, but no one was going to tell them how to say please and thank you.
"They weren't getting that at home, and the schools were concentrating on reading, writing and arithmetic -- like they should -- and no one was teaching them morals and manners."
His magic lessons contain little magic. Yes, he uses a little to catch students' attention, but the lesson is the important thing. "We will do a magic trick every once in awhile, but the magic of it is that this is changing their lives," he said. "They are becoming winners. I am magically changing their outlook on life." His messages are fundamental: Walk Tall with a Smile, Manners Matter, TV is a Time Waster, Stay Far Away from Guns and Knives, Compliment, Don't Criticize.
His two classes a week at Douglass School soon turned into visits to more than 900 students at several area schools, and he now has 35 people helping him with the magic lessons. He's even got theme music and a video for the program.
"The kids love it," said Mr. Mauk, who delivers his lessons in a hot pink hat. "They cheer when I walk in the room."
Dick Allen, of Oxford, Md., runs a volunteer program in Talbot County Schools called "Character Counts! Talbot County." He incorporated Magic Show for Winners into his program after hearing about it through a mutual friend of his and Mr. Mauk's.
It is now being taught to 250 students in Maryland, and Mr. Allen will expand it to two other counties in September.
"It's so simple, so straightforward, and it doesn't cost a dime," he said. "The kids love it, the techers love it; the magicians -- I couldn't get them to quit if I tried."
