I offer both Picture Book presentations and Creative Writing workshops. My 5 picture books are centered on themes such as rejection/belonging, kindness/friendship, trying new things, etc. These stories are delightful for young ones, catering to their imagination, and are not preachy! My Picture Book Presentation consists of pre-reading Q&A, picture book reading, digital presentation of writing-illustrating-publishing process, and post-presentation Q&A. This is suitable for one time sessions for grades K-2. My Creative Writing workshops consists of helping young writers to create their individual story outlines which they then use to begin writing their story drafts. I read their drafts and give them personalized feedback for them to use in their new drafts. These workshops are suitable for multiple sessions and for grades 3-5. For references, see my website. My credentials include having a Creative Writing degree from Columbia University and I was also a former ELA/ENL Teaching Fellow.

Diane Edgecomb brings top quality to your school with Entertaining Performances that Enhance Elementary School Curriculum. Folk & Fairy Tales! Myths! Environmental Literacy! Seasonal Nature Tales for young learners! Diane’s dynamic storytelling assemblies get every single student excited about core-curriculum topics, proving once again that story is the shortest route to imaginative learning. Choose from performances designed to enrich and engage: Folktale Superheroes around the World dovetails English core studies in folktales and myths. Students discover that folktales from China, Africa and South America all have their own versions of Superheroes! Tales for the Earth teaches important lessons about bio-diversity and water conservation through Diane’s engaging original tales. Environmental literacy can be not just meaningful but fun. Looking for something for K-2? Choose Diane's Seasonal Nature Tales for young learners: Fall Tales Celebrates how the leaves got their colors and the Star in the Apple, Spring is for Planting Seeds, Nesting Birds and Composting Adventures, Insect Comedy teaches about the value of our six-legged friends through entertaining and informative stories sure to get students excited about the unbelievable lives of insects. Diane galvanizes student’s learning with award-winning stories. Give your teachers a helping hand in meeting English Core Curriculum requirements with Diane’s follow-up master class in storytelling techniques. Students learn about the power of their own imaginations through hands-on exercises sure to have everyone participating. By the end of the workshop, each student is retelling a folktale to a partner an English core-curriculum requirement! “Your stories were wonderful. The teachers and the students agreed that your presentation is one of the best we’ve ever had. Thank you so much for bringing to life our study of myths and legends.” Missy Thomson, teacher and school librarian, Woodville School, Wakefield, MA “Ms. Edgecomb had even the most restless audience members completely mesmerized. Her physicality, variety of voices/sounds, involvement of her young charges, and respect of nature ~ appealed to me as well as my students. Thank you! The program was first rate.” B. O’Connell, teacher, Ralph Talbot School, Weymouth, MA Diane has received numerous awards for her work, including the ORACLE award for storytelling excellence in the Northeast, the national Circle of Excellence award and the Parent’s Choice Silver. Diane has been featured on NPR and is one of New England’s favorites storyteller what about Recommend by Elementary library school collection.

We are Company K, 67th NY Historical Association based in Sayville, Long Island, New York and we are Living Historians, bringing the Civil War era to life for the purposes of educating the public and preserving history. We strive to emulate the original soldiers that comprised the original Company K of the 67th New York Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that was also known as the First Long Island Volunteers. Our Mission as stated in our New York State Charter is to educate the public and preserve history. We are also fully insured and recognized as a public charity under 501c3 of the IRS code. Much of what we earn is donated for the preservation of battlefields and other historical sites.

Empowered Educator provides professional development that supports the social and emotional well-being of the adults in schools. As arts teachers, you know that SEL is inherent in the work you do. However, the well-being of your program is dependent on the well-being of its educators. Empowered Educator programs give teachers practical strategies for stress relief, time management, energy efficiency, advocacy and emotional intelligence so you can make the massive impact you want to make for your students and your school communities. As a former music teacher, Jen Rafferty tailors Empowered Educator programming to be relevant, accessible, and meaningful for fine arts teachers.

We offer programs by Joseph Bruchac, whose books for young readers have been adopted by the NYS curriculum and may be be found in virtually every school library nationwide. For the last 40 years he has been a popular visiting author at schools throughout New York State and the nation. Dr Bruchac’s visits may include traditional Native American music and storytelling and relate directly to themes of environmental awareness, respect for others, and conflict resolution. Programs can be individually tailored to the needs of the school, focus on one or more of his books, or be more general in nature. He also offers workshops in writing poetry and in storytelling. He may also be accompanied—at no extra cost other than food and lodging—by his son Jesse Bruchac, musician, storyteller, film writer and linguist, who is the founder and Director of the School of Abenaki at Middlebury College.

We offer outreach programs, virtual classroom programs and museum tours. Our outreach programs bring the museum to your location. They are interactive and feature hands-on learning with art and artifacts from the museum and a craft or activity to take home. These programs meet NYS standards. Our virtual classroom programs also feature our art and artifacts but are presented virtually and are taught live with the option of student participation through classroom devices such as laptops or tablets. Our museums tours can vary from a self-guided free play tour to our Explore and Create and Explore and discover options, which feature a craft or cultural lesson.

CMOO is a non-profit children's museum with 10,000 square feet of hands-on interactive exhibits whose mission is to inspire children to learn, create, discover, and explore through the power of play.

It's Chinese New Year, Curious George - IN PERSON Author Visit (Book Reading & Chinese Culture Presentation): This IN-PERSON program provides children the opportunity to learn about multiculturalism and diversity through an engaging and interactive author visit. Maria Wen Adcock, author of IT'S CHINESE NEW YEAR, CURIOUS GEORGE, will teach students about Chinese culture through the traditions mentioned in the book that features everyone's favorite monkey, Curious George! She provides in-depth, kid-friendly information about the symbolism behind each tradition, cultivating an uplifting, high-energy, and celebratory event that kids will remember. The author will provide free digital printables (coloring sheets and worksheets related to the book) that teachers can use with their students in their class after the presentation. The author's A/V requirements are a laptop connected to a Smartboard or screen and a microphone. Stay curious!

I am a third generation artist whose paintings of race horses are in a number of private collections of prominent horse people across the country. I would like to do presentations involving reading my children's book "Awesome Elijah," a drawing lesson, and play and sing the song that I wrote that goes with it, or play a professional recording of it. Elijah, the calf, is rescued from certain death, and grows up to be a much loved steer who is ridden at a Horse Expo at the Saratoga Race Course. This true story illustrates just what an effect one act of compassion can have on so many lives.

We offer a one of a kind school mural program where the students are centered in the work and entire process from brainstorming to final painting. Our mural process involves a brainstorming session where we have the students drawing and coming up with ideas that touch on the theme that is chosen by their school. We then take those drawings and create a digital sketch using the actual drawings from the students. We involve every student from the school in the painting process so that they are able to have ownership and a hand in the creative process. Our unique approach creates a sense of joy and excitement for all participating students and staff as we are able to transform these hallways into large colorful pieces of public art that have an authentic student look and feel to them. We make sure that the final outcome looks professional and clean while still elevating student work from the paper to the wall. We have painted with over 7000 students in the past 2 years creating about 25 murals! We also offer a variety of arts based hands on workshops crafted for all age groups like mask making, printmaking, paper pulp sculptures, paper mache and much more!

Annie & the Hedonists is a quartet, sometimes quintet with drums, from the NYS Capital District. The band performs vintage blues and jazz as well as a variety of acoustic Americana music. We feature multi-instrumentalists, stand up bass, piano, clarinet, banjo, and guitar and an amazing lead singer, and lots of harmony. Annie sings songs of the great female blues and jazz artists of the 1920s through 50s as well as contemporary folk, gospel, and rhythm and blues. The band offers workshops on the roots of blues and jazz, hootenanny sing-a-long, songs of Bob Dylan, and many others. Also available is a trio or Annie & Jonny duet. A residency could include interactive dialogue and hands on participation with students about the band members instrument, what it is like to be a professional musician, participatory singing and playing, with the goal of encouraging students to continue or initiate interest in music.

I offer an entertaining and educational group presentation, Mind, Body and Spirit, focused on how I develop the Mind, the Body and the Spirit for success. I perform poetry from my books and show each attribute's role in my life and work. There is no audience size limit. I also offer poetry and photography workshops and a popular new addition, Becoming a Ninja: The Secret to My Success, which focuses on goal setting and achievement. Due to the participatory nature of the workshops, participant size is limited to 30 students. I can also do virtual visits, which can be customized to your needs.