SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : A Rising Star on TV and in Education

With his smart blue blazer and tie, his sharply combed hair and quietly eloquent talk about his love of education, Curt Visca appears a model of the serious and disciplined elementary school principal. At first glance, he looks sort of like a young, South County Mr. Chips.

Then you notice the Elvis Presley clock swaying its pendulum legs on his office wall and, on the bookshelf, the plastic plate of petrified spaghetti, its fork suspended in mid-twirl.

OK, this really could be the guy whom cable television-watching children call all sorts of names--like Sammy Surf, Yawney Johnny, Lester (Lunker) Smith, Pirate Petey, Slowpoke Joe, Handy Dandy Handyman, Mr. Wizard the Wiz, Paul E. Tician--all names of characters Visca has portrayed on his avidly watched television show “It’s Curtoon Time.”

For seven years while a teacher, assistant principal and interim principal in the Capistrano Unified School District, Visca has produced a show a week on Dimension Cable.

And even though he’s taking on new duties in September as principal of the district’s creative and visual arts school--Bathgate Elementary in Mission Viejo--the 30-year-old Visca says the show will go on.

“We all have hobbies,” Visca said. “Some people collect stamps or coins. Well, my hobby is being on television with my show.”

The format of Visca’s show has remained the same since he started taping it in his kitchen for the public access channel seven years ago.

Whether dressed up like nerdy candidate Paul E. Tician, goofy fisherman Lester (Lunker) Smith or 144-year-old Mr. Wizard the Wiz, Visca methodically shows his young viewers how to draw simple, happy-faced cartoons.

“I want kids to be real comfortable with drawing,” he said. “People feel good if they can draw things.”

As he draws, Visca maintains an ad-libbed monologue sprinkled with educational tidbits about science, math, nutrition and other subjects.

Three years ago, after Visca built a solid following, Dimension Cable provided him with a production crew and studio.

He now records two shows every two weeks, which are shown at 5:30 in the morning and evening.

With the professional help and better equipment, the show added a few MTV touches like on-screen graphics, jerky hand-held cameras and the “Fish-Cam” that recently shot Lester (Lunker) Smith from the water line.

“It’s the kid show of the ‘90s,” Visca proclaimed.

He might be right, at least among Dimension’s 180,000 subscribers, said its community programming director, C. Yvette Welch.

“It is one of the most popular shows we have on our local programming,” Welch said.

Despite his “Curtoon Time” notoriety, Visca--currently the interim principal at Marian Bergeson Elementary in Laguna Niguel--doesn’t bring his TV characters into his role as school leader.

Such seriousness made Visca an easy choice to run his own school, said Richard Thome, Capistrano Unified’s assistant superintendent for instruction.

“He’s very much a bottom-line leader who wants the best for children,” Thome said. “When you see him in very serious, conflict situations that are not fun, he shows a degree of toughness that you won’t see on TV.”

From early on, Visca has stood out, said the district’s community relations director Jackie Price.

She first met him when he was her student at National University, studying for his master’s degree in education.

“He’s a very talented and uplifting kind of leader,” Price said. “I just saw him as a rising star.”