SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Springfield, Ohio — Fluorescent lights really bother Cordon Blue when he's trying to read. He tells the children at Warder Literacy Center that the lights seem to aggravate his Attention Deficit Disorder.

But since the orange-faced puppet with the yarn hair was able to identify his challenge and find a way around it, he has helped the children — the majority of whom have ADD — see they can do the same.

Cordon Blue acquired Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD when his owner, Adam Burdsall, decided it would help the children at the literacy center identify with the puppet who performs skits and songs to reinforce the lessons the young readers are learning at the center.

Burdsall, a geology major at Wittenberg University, started performing at the center in the fall to meet his service project requirements. He has met that requirement yet returns monthly to the center because he believes he's making a difference for the kids.

David Smiddy, volunteer coordinator at Warder, agrees.

"Kids react and interact with the puppet in a way they won't react to adults," Smiddy said. "When the puppet starts to talk they become very engaged. They start opening up."

Bursdall has opened up as well, writing his own skits for Cordon Blue's performances — something he had not done while performing with his church's puppet troupe.

"Smiddy gives me the outline of what he wants and I turn that into a working skit," Burdsall said. "I kind of see this as a way to bring this ministry into the public."

Many students who have volunteered at Warder continue after their required service hours, so Smiddy wasn't surprised when Burdsall agreed to continue this spring.

"But I'm also not surprised because of Adam's enthusiasm for what we are accomplishing," Smiddy said. "I see him using the puppets out in the schools and the community."

That's fine with Bursdall, a sophomore.

"I think that's the kind of direction I'm heading," Bursdall said. "The further it goes, the more it reaches."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0347 or kmori@coxohio.com.