The perfect tool

Seven years ago, Paul Behnke left his job as a teacher to be a full-time troubadour for kids.

It wasn’t because he no longer liked teaching. In fact, Behnke still spends his working hours in front of children. But now he teaches with a guitar in his hands. In churches, his entertaining, interactive musical presentation teaches about God’s love, as well as the importance of prayer. In schools, he imparts literacy skills or educates about bullying.

“Music is a perfect tool to teach kids,” the Bright, Ont. resident, and member of Glencairn MB Church in Kitchener, says. “It draws them in.”

In the bullying presentation, for example, Behnke uses songs and real scenarios to give kids tools for how to react to bullies. He teaches them to stay calm, to never get involved in a physical confrontation, to do as much as they can on their own, but then get trusted adults involved.

After one show, he recalls, a grade 8 boy came up to him and said, “I’m a bully and I don’t want to be one any more!”

Behnke loves what he does. “There’s no better audience to play for,” he says. “Kids are so open and involved.”

Latest CD

That love sparkles in his latest collection, “Happy Hands, Happy Feet,” a CD featuring 11 short, toe-tapping, and catchy original songs. Whatever the pace, Behnke’s voice is warm and inviting.

Behnke says his own children – 10-year-old Quinn and 4-year-old triplets Peter, William, and Marie – definitely impact his songwriting. Two of the tunes on the new CD connect directly to the experience of having triplets.

One is the song “Fussy Time,” with a backdrop of crying babies and lines like, “things are coming apart at the seams.” But, the song goes on, “we wouldn’t trade them – not even for a Gretzky rookie card.” (Quinn chimes in, “in mint condition!”)

The other is “Moms are special.” This song is a tribute to Behnke’s wife Linda – “a fantastic mom” and part-time high school math teacher – and all the “moms” of Glencairn Church. For six months after the triplets were born, some 70 women took turns coming over, three at a time, every Monday to Friday afternoon. While Paul and Linda would “crash and sleep – the sleep of the dead!” the women, he says, would “zip around” cleaning, making formula, and doing whatever else needed to be done. It was “a big hand of love.”

Behnke tries to do most of his shows in Ontario schools and churches, to keep his family priorities first. But he also does occasional tours to other provinces. This year, he’s focusing on Alberta.

For further information, or to order, see Paul Behnke.