A Little Birdie Told Us (Make That a BIG BIRD!)

by Jill Cousins

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to sesame street?

Dr. Judy Levin of Maitland checks out Oscar the Grouch’s trash can on the set of Sesame Street, the beloved children’s TV show.

It’s the question that has been heard by countless children and their parents – by way of the Sesame Street theme song – since the beloved educational television series premiered on PBS in 1969.

Although Sesame Street is a fictional avenue in New York City, Dr. Judy Levin of Maitland does know how to get there and has traveled there more than once. The retired faculty member and program coordinator for the University of Central Florida’s Early Childhood Development and Education program spent time on the show’s set in 2012 as a consultant. And more recently, Judy completed a working sabbatical with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces the TV show.

In addition to meeting iconic Sesame Street characters such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch (both voiced by the late Caroll Spinney), Judy also interacted with many of the show’s talented puppeteers, writers, and producers. The experience left her awestruck.

Oscar Didn’t say “scram!”

“There were so many amazing opportunities to really get a feel for what Sesame Workshop does,” says Judy, the mother of three grown sons and the grandmother of five children. “It was absolutely fascinating to see all the work that goes into it.”

Her students and grandkids were pretty impressed, too.

“Nothing says cool professor or Grandma like being in Oscar’s trash can!,” says Judy.

After 18 years at UCF, Judy retired in May 2024. Prior to working there, she was a supervisor at The Roth Family JCC, where she worked at the Shayna Chi Presser Parenting Center (now Shayna’s Village) and created an inclusion program for children with developmental issues. Her expertise was a perfect fit for Sesame Street, which has a target audience of preschoolers, especially those in marginalized communities.

Judy’s Sesame Street involvement came about by chance, when her dean at UCF asked her to attend a meeting in Orlando between local representatives from WUCF and PBS and visitors from Sesame Workshop, which is headquartered in New York.

At the meeting, Judy struck up a conversation with a third grader sitting next to her. As it turned out, the child’s mother was Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, a developmental psychologist who is Sesame Workshop’s senior vice president of education and research. Judy and Rosemarie talked about Judy’s background, and a few months later, Rosemarie invited her to work on a project for Sesame Street.

The abcs and 123s of learning

“They were looking to put their curriculum online and asked if I would like to review and consult with them and make sure it would meet the needs of their target audience,” says Judy. “I thought, ‘That would be fun!’”

That led to an invitation about a year later to visit the Sesame Workshop offices in Manhattan, which in turn led to a request for Judy to serve on the panel that helped develop curriculum for the upcoming season. The theme for that season (2014) was child development – Judy’s area of expertise – and she spent a few days consulting with writers and producers.

Judy enjoyed the experience so much that when she decided to take a working sabbatical in the spring of 2021, she reached out to Rosemarie again and offered her free labor for a semester.

“It was like being in school again,” says Judy, who spent four months consulting with Sesame Street’s team members on Season 53, which featured a theme of racial and social justice.

“I got a full picture of everything they do,” says Judy. “There is so much thought and research and brilliance that goes into everything.”

The time Judy spent on Sesame Street is something she cherishes, and she hopes the show will continue to inspire children with its educational programs and inclusive messages.

“My takeaway is that unlike many other children’s shows, Sesame Street calls on experts in child development to guide every aspect of the program,” says Judy. “Nothing is by chance; it’s all research based. Yet it continues to be a show that children and adults can relate to and connect to. For me, it was just a wonderful experience.”