“Sesame Street” made it OK to love the green fuzz that resided in garbage cans. The famous children’s program made it fun to gobble down cookies by the dozen. It brought America joy in the form of an eight-foot tall, blindingly yellow bird that had more feathers than Enron has paper shreds.

The M.O.O.S.E. went to the College of Education’s department of teaching and learning and found three faculty perspectives on “Sesame Street” and the show’s impact on each of them. Their views on the show demonstrate that “Sesame Street” transcends all age groups and impacts each person’s life in one way or another.

“Those characters stay with you and you never outgrow them,” said Nina Dorsch, assistant chair to the department of education and learning.

Back in November of 1969, there were about a dozen residents living on the Sesame Street block. Jim Henson’s Muppet creations – Bert and Ernie, the Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Herry Monster, Snuffleupagus, Count von Count, Guy Smiley, Prairie Dawn, Telly Monster and the relatively recent but insanely popular Elmo – interacted with human regulars Susan, Gordon, Bob, Maria, Luis, David and Mr. Hooper throughout the program.

Now, there are close to 100 characters, including Elmo. The streets are filled with new fuzzy friends who trot around hastily with the help of two wire canes under their arms.

“Sesame Street” put the fun back into the fundamentals of learning. There always was a song for whatever ailed the learning process. If you needed to learn the letter “B,” then the natural next step was to cover The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” Or you could let Count Von Count get you to the number 12 with the help of a psychedelic pinball game.

In 1985, “Sesame” came out with a feature-length motion picture titled, “Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird.”

Like the TV series, the film benefited from a handful of celebrity cameos, including Chevy Chase as a newscaster (teamed up with Kermit the Frog), John Candy as a cop, Waylon Jennings as a country-singing truck driver and Sandra Bernhard as a Grouch Waitress.

The last few years put Elmo on the map and seemingly had the show revolve around him. But now creators are keeping things even, as Big Bird has a new contract and the Cookie Monster is happy with the changes. Elmo is content with being tickled while Snuffleupagus is looking to get liposuction and a little tummy tuck.

“Sesame Street” indelibly is etched in the hearts of children from all generations and all walks of life. It seems that as long as there are children, “Sesame Street” will be there.

All you have to ask is for someone to tell you how to get there, ’cause sunny days are sweeping the clouds away. And after your first trip, you’ll never forget how to get … how to get to Sesame Street.