There’s a little monster, way down deep inside, He’s waiting to get bigger, by eating up your pride. You’ve gotta be strong and have pride in yourself, Don’t feed the monster. Put negative things up high on a shelf, Don’t feed the monster.

That is the song that gets them on their feet dancing, clapping and singing along. “Don’t Feed the Monster” is the one they go home singing. It’s also the tune that’s made Julie Monroe a rock ‘n’ roll star, at least with the elementary school set.

Monroe is the founder and lead singer of Julie and the Bug Boys. The Orono native and her band perform at elementary schools throughout Maine singing songs that promote self-respect, manners, kindness, tolerance, safety, school pride and fun – with emphasis on the silly.

The 44-year-old singer brings costumes and props with her. Female teachers don poodle skirts and men sport black hats and dark sunglasses a la “The Blue Brothers.” They twist and croon, sometimes playing plastic saxophones, while their students giggle and sing along. Once, in Lewiston, a D.A.R.E. officer did handsprings in the aisle.

Equally important to the fun is the positive message Julie and the Bug Boys deliver.

“What I try to weave through the concert is really the golden rule,” says Monroe. “The strongest feeling I want kids to take away from a show is, ‘I can be myself; my own person.’ I want them to know they are good the way they are, but also to be more accepting of others. For some kids, school is the best place they are all day, and others aren’t treated very nicely at school.”

Monroe, who’s been playing guitar and singing since she was a fifth-grader, did not set out to front a self-esteem band. She was playing guitar in her daughter’s classroom at Asa Adams School in Orono about five years ago, when the guidance counselor suggested she put together a band for school concert.

That led to a performance at a meeting of the Maine Principals’ Association, where Monroe got the mostly male audience on its feet in a conga line. After that, things started to snowball. Julie and the Bug Boys have performed hundreds of shows in elementary schools from Portland to Houlton. They are especially busy during Red Ribbon Week in October, a time devoted to promoting drug and alcohol awareness in schools.

Every other year, however, they give a concert in Monroe’s hometown. Last month, they performed in Webster Park at a fund-raiser for the proposed Orono library. More than 100 families turned out and sang along to Monroe’s anti-abuse song, “It’s My Body, I’ll Say No if I Want To,” sung to the 1960s tune “It’s My Party.”

Monroe, who has a bachelor’s degree in child development and social service, prefers to use her concerts to promote self-awareness, self-esteem and self-respect.

“I don’t think I need to preach to kids about alcohol and drugs,” she says. “One of the kids’ favorite songs is ‘Oozebusters,’ our term for bad language, yucky TV shows, rude behavior, etc. We’ll ask our audience to join the fight against ‘Ooze,’ by shouting ‘Oozebuster!’ when we sing, ‘Who ya gonna call?'”

Drummer Don Barry and Clay Kirby, bass guitarist, are the Bug Boys. Both are entomologists and work in the Pest Management Office at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Kirby is an insect diagnostician

and Barry helps farmers reduce their dependence on chemical pesticides.

The two have been in bands since they were teen-agers. They became the Bug Boys when Clay Kirby’s wife, Karen, “volunteered” her husband to play backup at one of Monroe’s school gigs. Kirby invited Barry to play drums and the band quickly became a favorite of the preteen set. Jim Artesani, a special education professor at the university, recently joined the band as lead guitarist.

“Kids are the best audience you can get,” says Barry, explaining why he uses his vacation time to perform with Monroe. “Everyone’s appreciative. They applaud madly. They think we’re stars. We can see their faces light up, tell they’re having a good time, and learning, too.”

Several weeks before a concert, Monroe sends a packet of preparation materials to each school along with a tape of the songs. Some schools go all out, decorating the performance space with student artwork, including self-portraits where young artists depict their “large powerful selves beside tamed, tiny monsters,” according to Monroe. Other schools welcome the concert simply for its entertainment value, but all really enjoy the 45-minute show, she said.

“Monroe has a powerful message for school children at all levels,” says Martha Whitehouse, counselor at Asa Adams School. “She has a performer’s strong voice, a tremendous musical talent and the ability to put positive social skills into her lyric that today’s children so desperately need. Julie is a genuine educator that children, parents and teachers can relate to.”

When not performing with the band, Monroe teaches music to preschoolers at day care centers in Orono and Old Town. She still plays her guitar every day and carries a notebook with her everywhere so she can jot down lyrics when they come to her. She recently composed a teacher appreciation song called “I’m Gonna Take My Teach to Hawaii” that will be included in upcoming concerts. Monroe plans to take along grass skirts and toy ukuleles for educators to wear as they hula during the number.

Monroe and members of her band know they aren’t the only ones trying to get a positive message across to youngsters. They also understand that kids hear the same ideas in a lot of different ways.

“This is not the only media by which kids hear this message,” says Barry. “We aren’t on some love crusade. Music is a media kids respond to in a different way. … If you sing a song all day, even if it’s just in your head, the words get under your skin. You learn the message subliminally. Music is very powerful. It gets inside people and stays.”

For more information on Julie and the Bug Boys, call 866-2227.