PSUSD program uses ‘I Love Lucy’ to teach students valuable lessons

Eight schools from the Palm Springs Unified School District are looking to teach students some valuable lessons based on the classic sitcom "I Love Lucy."

Teacher and owner of "Howling Hounds" entertainment, Bonnie Kole, created the program after using "I Love Lucy" episodes in her classroom for more than 25 years. Kole says the program has proven to be entertaining, educational and most importantly, engaging for the students.

She was able to bring the curriculum to the Coachella Valley with the help of Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

“Anything that would help kids get smarter in school and be savvier with people. I think my folks would be just thrilled. They’d love this,” Arnaz said.

Educators gathered at the district service center on Monday to learn more about “Lucy Lessons."

The program introduces fourth-grade students to the beloved 50s sitcom classic. Educator Bonnie Kole says the program will offer students much more than just laughs. There’s an opportunity for them to learn about different backgrounds and for teachers to connect better with bilingual, Spanish-speaking students through the character of Ricky Ricardo, played by Dezi Arnaz. 

"We loved that he was Latin, and he was Cuban, he brought the music and he was like this upstanding, you know, wonderfully handsome, doing pretty well, guy," said Lucie Arnaz said. "So it's all teachable. Their real-life is teachable, and the show is teachable."

Check Out: Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, discusses her parents’ legacy

In addition to being entertaining, "Lucy Lessons" also meet California’s common core standards for English language arts, and math.