Team Spotlight: Meet Mikayla Oz

After School Programs

Mikayla Oz is also the CEO and Founder of the The Magician School After School Programs. Mikayla first got involved in after school programming in 2017. She was approached by Aileen Hunnell who was looking for a magician to come teach magic to her students during the week. Oz, who was already teaching private magic lessons, agreed and started by teaching magic in an afterschool setting once a week. After the first semester of teaching magic, more schools heard about the success of the program and wanted to have it at their school. By 2018, Oz was teaching magic in 15 elementary schools in the Des Moines, Iowa Metro Area.

Magician Schools Around The World - The Magician School

Adapting

When the pandemic happened in 2020, schools shut down and the future was uncertain. With the suggestion from her good friend Aileen, Mikayla Oz started producing video content for these schools. Word quickly spread again and Mikayla Oz was working with 30 different Iowa Schools to provide virtual and online based after school programming. Mikayla went back to the drawing board and wondered if other schools might be interested in this program in other states and thus The Magician School was born. The Magician School now serves over 150+ Schools Nationwide and is quickly expanding. It currently has 6 different school programming options for ages K - 8 and a small team associated with it.

The Early Days

Besides running The Magician School Program, Mikayla Oz is also a Professional Magician performing nationwide. She got started in magic at the age of 4, after seeing a magician performing at a library. Immediately after that show, Mikayla’s mom Charity checked out a few books on magic and helped Oz make the tricks in the book! Oz had her first monthly gig performing at the McDonald's Play Area by the age of 8. Compensation for these gigs included a McDonalds Kids Meal and a $25 gift card! As Oz got older, she continued to perform in every place she could from YMCA’s, Birthday Parties and Talent Shows. Mikayla won her first talent show in 4th Grade which sparked a passion for her to perform at the Bill Riley Talent Show at the Iowa State Fair where she made it all the way to be a Finalist in the Sprouts division(ages 4 - 12).

Present Day

It was around this time, when Oz joined the local Magic Club and met her longtime Mentor, Steve Daly. Daly taught Oz the business of being a magician and performer when she was 12 years old. Because of Daly’s guidance and Mikayla’s mom driving her to shows on the weekend, Mikayla had a successful business being a birthday party magician! As she got older, more opportunities opened and Oz was performing at Restaurants, Fairs, Festivals, Colleges, Private Parties all by the time of college. Oz took a year or two off from performing magic regularly to focus on College and figure herself out, but came back in spades. Now graduated, Mikayla Oz, currently performs at Theme Parks, Colleges, Corporate Events, Schools, Libraries and Theaters Nationwide. In addition, Oz has gained success on Social Media, which has allowed her to be featured on Penn and Teller's Quarantine TV Special and on Magic Caught on Camera on the Travel Channel. Mikayla Oz has also been featured in the USA Today, Associated Press, Huffington Post, Pink News and countless other media outlets.