David Harrell has performed school assembly programs in hundreds of schools across the United States for students as young as five and as old as fourteen. His programs are interactive, humorous, and built on a story so honest that students don’t just watch it, they feel it. Teachers report conversations continuing for weeks after the performance. Administrators describe students as mesmerized. Occasionally a student who has been disengaged all year raises their hand for the first time.
All programs directly support Social Emotional Learning (SEL), character education, disability awareness and inclusion, and connect naturally to existing curriculum. All programs are built around The Three A’s: a practical resilience framework students and teachers can use right away.
Book David Today
📌 Book multiple programs in one visit and serve your entire K–8 student body
Grades K-2
The Boy Who Would Be Captain Hook
This interactive solo play tells the story of a young boy born without his right hand who discovers that the very thing that makes him different also makes him extraordinary. Through humor, storytelling, and full audience participation students become characters in the story, making sounds and joining the adventure, young children learn that being different is not a deficit, it’s a distinction.
Grades 3-5
A Little Potato and Hard to Peel (Grades 3-5)
This interactive solo play follows David’s journey from birth through young adulthood, covering his experience growing up one-handed, competing in athletics, navigating elementary school, and ultimately finding his voice as a performer and storyteller. The program is interactive, humorous, and deeply honest. It is directly tied to David’s award-winning novel of the same name, making it a natural fit for author visits, literacy programs, and One Book One School initiatives. Schools can pair a book order with the assembly visit for a complete literacy experience.
Grades 6-8
A Little Potato and Hard to Peel (Grades 6-8)
Designed specifically for middle school audiences, this expanded performance keynote goes deeper into David’s story; the identity crisis of adolescence, the pressure to belong, the moment he almost gave up, and the choice to move forward anyway. The program is honest, funny, and built for students who are old enough to recognize when someone is telling them the truth. Combined with an author visit tied to the award-winning novel, this program connects literature, resilience, and real life in a way that sticks.
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