The sold-out Penguin Project had it’s opening performance last weekend. It was held at the Brunner Theater on the Campus of Rock Island’s Augustana College. The Penguin Project is an annual performance where kids with special needs and mentors work together to put on a musical. Jill Brokaw of Aledo is mother to Jake who is on the Autism spectrum and is a performer in the Penguin Project. Brokaw says parents of children with special needs keep a busy schedule of appointments and the project has a way of lifting the spirits of both parents and children. Brokaw tells the MerCo Movie Guys Podcast, she was able to find a network of support through parents that usually wouldn’t have crossed paths.
Brokaw says kids that participate in the Penguin project come from all parts of the region including Mercer County. Some of the Peer Mentors are also from Mercer County.