Author visits are inspiring events that deepen students' enthusiasm for reading and writing. Lonni Lane Marketing works with hosts throughout the process to make author visits run seamlessly with all the details ironed out in advance of the event. Learn more about these authors and their unique programs, which can be customized for different audiences: R. W. Alley, Jonathon Auxier, Mary Casanova, Candace Fleming, Donna Gephart, Cyndi Giorgis, I.W.Gregorio, Greg Howard, Julie Leung (local author), Emma Otheguy (local author), Margi Preus, Caroline Tung Richmond, Eric Rohmann, Barb Rosenstock, Laura Shovan, Elly Swartz, Cat Winters, Dan Yaccarino

Step into the magical attic of twins Novel and Novella, where an unexpected guest—world-famous apple chef, Chef de Pomme—makes a grand entrance! He’s on a quest for rare and special apples to create his renowned desserts, and he needs the twins' help. Novel, an apple enthusiast, is thrilled, while Novella, always up for adventure, is curious to meet new friends—even if apples aren’t her favorite. In a flash, the Bubble Buggy whisks them away on a whirlwind journey! Together, they visit orchards and festivals across the globe, meeting fascinating people and learning new skills along the way. The Apple-Y EverAfter Show captivates children with catchy rhymes, sight words, and interactive songs that make literacy fun. Through music, dance, and delicious apple-filled adventures, the show teaches kids to be brave, try new things, and celebrate diversity. Join Novel, Novella, and Chef de Pomme as they hop from one exciting destination to the next, whipping up scrumptious apple desserts and learning that everyone can grow to love apples—maybe you will too! For educators, this show is a great resource for fostering a love of literacy in your students. With interactive activities throughout the show, such as filling out their own Passport of Fun, students will be actively engaged. Theatrical experiences have been proven to not only benefit students’ academic achievement, but to also foster socioemotional learning, improve communication skills, enhance memory and concentration, and develop critical thinking skills. Set your kids up for academic success by booking our show! After the show, you get to pick from two interactive programs: Cuddle and Read, or Playful Picasso.

------"Stand Up! Stand Out!"------ Jason’s amazing performance will grab students’ attention with high-energy juggling and comedy while giving them the tools to make a positive difference in any bullying situation. This 60-minute program can easily be adjusted to fit grades K-12. The performance will address topics like: -What is bullying -The roles bystanders play in bullying including; Outsiders, Upstanders, Reinforcers, & Assistants How to become an Upstander and help fellow students -What to do if you are bullied -Jason’s personal struggle with bullying and how he overcame it -What is an Upstander? -An Upstander is someone who sees bullying and intervenes, interrupts or speaks up to create an environment of empathy and acceptance. Based on guidelines from StopBullying.gov and the US Department of Health and Human Services. ------TUNNEL VISION------ “Tunnel Vision” is a complete character education performance that will grab students’ attention with Jason’s amazing performance skills, while showing them the importance of setting goals and making positive choices. Topics include: -Practice, perseverance, and the willingness to make mistakes -Making healthy choices for your mind and body including eating right, exercising, and drug awareness -Getting a good education as a foundation to building their goals and dreams -Kindness to others and anti-bullying From Pre-K to high-school, this show can be tailored to fit any grade level. Jason is also available for: -Career Day Presentations -Health & Fitness based Programs -Character Educational shows -Field Days -Juggling workshops This eye-catching, eye-opening program is an excellent way to reach students from elementary to high school. It has been rated #1 by countless schools, students and PTAs! Jason Tardy has been performing for over 30 years in schools with his motivational shows and has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Inside Edition, Disney Cruise Ships, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, and even The White House in Washington DC three times! ------Juggling Workshops------ Jason has taught juggling to thousands of people across the country and abroad. He will teach step-by-step how to get started on this fun and entertaining hobby that has brought him all over the country including the White House in Washington, DC THREE TIMES! These workshops are usually 45 minutes long but can be adjusted to be a quick lesson or a day long or even multi-day residency. Jason supplies all the materials needed including scarves, juggling balls, and other fun circus props. Recommended for grades 4th - 12th but can be adjusted for younger students as well.

Captain Bill's Seneca Lake Cruises has developed two field trip cruise opportunities highlighting local history, and geography, in an attempt to create a sense of place for students grades K through 7. This cruise is in the GST BOCES exploratory enrichment coser #426. K through 4th grade is a 50 minute cruise at a rate of $15 per student for 2025. Grades 5 through 7 is a more in depth look at geology, history and the ecology of our area This is a 90 minute cruise at a rate of $23 per student fir 2025.

You Inc provides engaging programming for K-12 to encourage students to develop good money habits and growth mindsets about money early on and continuously throughout their development. Topics related to money and personal finance should be introduced to students at each grade level. Just as math and reading have several different facets and sub topics for children to master from kindergarten to 12th grade and beyond, personal finance also has its own nuances and categories that can and should be mastered early in a child's development and continue to evolve into more complex topics and subtopics as children grow and develop into young adults. By doing so, we develop a generation of financially secure adults who experience better financial outcomes due to making better financial decisions. Our workshops help students understand the basics of earning, saving, budgeting, and giving back. For younger children, we use interactive activities and storytelling to introduce financial concepts in a fun and relatable way, laying the groundwork for good habits and smart decision-making. For older students, we dive deeper, covering topics such as goal-setting, smart spending, credit, and pathways to building wealth—all tailored to prepare them for the responsibilities of adulthood. We also emphasize the importance of financial independence and provide students with tools to break free from cycles of financial instability that they may see in their communities. Our culturally competent approach ensures that all students see themselves reflected in the material, and we prioritize empathy, understanding, and real-life application in a way that fosters financial inclusion for all. Our team is certified in financial education from the National Financial Educators Council with over a decade of experience teaching financial literacy across New York State. We are also a certified NYS Minority and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE). Our goal is to help K-12 students gain essential life skills and grow up feeling confident and capable in managing their financial lives. Let's inspire a generation of students who are not only financially aware but also equipped to pursue their dreams with a strong, sustainable financial foundation. In addition to k-12 programs, we offer Family Finance Programs for the entire family unit, including parents and caregivers. These one day programs can take place in the evening and students attend with their parents/guardians and two separate workshops take place simultaneously, equipping the family ecosystem to elevate their money conversations in the home, and providing tools and strategies to help parents optimize their family finances while nurturing a culture of healthy financial habits in the home.

Black Girls Don't Get Love is a book and multimedia coming of age brand for girls of color. Our mission is to use media to turn silence into language and change the way Black women and girls are perceived in society. Our non-Profit arm, Black Girls WILL Get Love, Inc. facilitates all of our philanthropic Programs such as the acclaimed Black Girls Don't Get Love Prom, the Black Girls Don't Get Love Slumber Party, the Black Girls Don't Get Love Outdoor Exploration, the Black Girls Don't Get Love Film Training Program and the black girls don't get love screenwriting workshops and labs. Our programs are a creative and engaging approach to addressing DEI and low literacy rates.

Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo offers many different learning opportunities for all ages and abilities. We can travel to your location within a one-hour radius of the zoo. We can do virtual learning for anyone, anywhere! Onsite at the zoo we offer guided tours, project-based learning projects, professional development for teachers to learn more ways to use the zoo as a living classroom, self-guided educational opportunities, Pre-K literacy series, STEM challenges and immersive classroom experiences. Choose from one of our topics or we can customize a program specifically for your needs.

Buffalo Comedy Collective is Western New York’s home for improv comedy! Our offerings break down into three major sections: - Performances: Our mainstage show is Comedysportz, an all-ages improvisational comedy show played as a sport. This high energy short-form improv show has two teams of professional comedians improvising games, songs, jokes, and scenes while a referee calls fouls and fields suggestions from you, our loyal fans. Loyal fans will vote for which team they like best and Mx Voice will declare an ultimate winner for the evening! Best of all, this show uses humor that is appropriate for people of any age. We're clean enough for your kids to enjoy and funny enough to have adults laughing out loud. - Education: We offer workshops that help students connect, open up, and laugh! These interactive sessions have students up & moving while being creative, working together, and learning the importance of support through positivity. Workshops can be held as individual focus groups, combined with a performance, or set-up as an interactive, informal performance where the focus is on getting as many participants involved that are interested. - Professional development: The fun isn't only for kids! Improv helps to develop comfortability in public speaking, enhance communication skills, improve active listening & adaptability, and boost creativity. Studies have shown that improv also helps to reduce anxiety, stress, and uncertainty intolerance, making these skills useful in both a private & workplace setting.

About Anna (check out my website to learn more about me and my art practice): Anna holds her BFA in Printmaking/ Education from The College of Saint Rose and her MFA in Studio Art from The State University of New York at Albany. Anna is a Professionally certified K-12 Visual Arts educator in New York State. Anna currently teaches High School but has experience teaching homeschool, elementary/middle and college level courses. -Example of Services- I'm also interested in working with YOU to create a unique lesson/ workshop/ PD As an artist and educator I'm dedicated to amplifying the importance of art in our lives. My goal is to provide an intimate insight into art making, collaboration and reflection. All workshops can be for any grade and can be tailored to what you are specifically looking for. Artist Talk/ Lecture (Workshop/ PD- Hands on or Virtual): - I share my background and artistic journey focusing on past and current artworks/ concepts. - I critique classwork and provide feedback/ insight Graduate Work Exploration (Workshop/ PD- Hands on or Virtual) -Part of my graduate work I focused on object(s) as portraits of people from my life. Through a personal excavation, I collect and repurpose intimate artifacts that have been preciously stored away. These personal relics and other mass-produced items are combined with the common house fly in portraits of significant people from throughout my life. I examined our obsessive fascinations with objects and their associations with individual people. -Students will listen/ watch a presentation of my work and then pick an object that has significance in their life- students will sketch out this object from memory and at the end we will see which object(s) reappear between students- the link that joins us all together. Printmaking (Workshop/ PD- Hands on): With my extensive background in Printmaking, Bookbinding, and Paper making I can do a variety of hands on workshops for students and staff. -Printing demos of: Relief, Intaglio, Mezzotint, Kitchen Litho, Monoprinting. -Paper Making Demo -Paper Making Workshop -Bookbinding Workshop -Zine Workshop Other: Polymer Clay Jewelry or Cane Building (Workshop/ PD- Hands on) Cyanotype: what is JUNK? (Workshop/ PD- Hands on) Hand Tufting (Rug Making) (Workshop/ PD- Hands on) Mixed Media (Workshop/ PD- Hands on) Portfolio Building/ Critique

On Monday they’re cast as characters. By Saturday, they’ve GAINED CHARACTER. The kind that really counts! A week-long residency STARRING 50-60 of your local school age children in a full-scale musical. A tour team arrives in your town in their Red Truck loaded with a set, lights, costumes, and props, everything it takes to put on a play…except the cast. The team holds an open audition and casts 50-60 local students to perform in the production. The show is rehearsed throughout the week and two public performances are presented at the end of the week! Our Mission: Empowering children and adults through theatre education and performance to develop lifelong skills while enriching communities worldwide through live productions.

As a read aloud advocate, I believe in the power of stories to nurture empathy, self-confidence, and imagination in young readers. My award winning books focus on social-emotional themes that support early childhood development, creating meaningful narratives that resonate with children, educators, and parents alike. *Fantastically Me!* (ages 0-8) touches on themes of self-belief and growth mindset. Whereas *Making Friends Together * (ages 0-5) is a board book that addresses kindness and friendship. In my author visits, I bring these stories to life for students up to 2nd grade through engaging, interactive read-aloud sessions, inviting children to explore their own feelings and ideas in a fun, safe environment. For older elementary students, I offer hands-on writing workshops that guide them in crafting their own stories, encouraging self-expression, creativity, and a love for writing. These sessions are designed to inspire confidence in young writers, from filling in imaginative story blanks to creating characters and worlds that spark their curiosity. With each visit, my goal is to leave students not only with a memorable experience but also with the tools and encouragement to tell their own stories.

Theatre for Young Audiences at the Historic Cohoes Music Hall Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Cohoes Music Hall, the 4th oldest operating music hall in the U.S., with our annual Theatre for Young Audiences productions! Hosted at this iconic venue, these lively, educational musicals bring beloved characters to life, blending classroom lessons, catchy tunes, and plenty of laughs for audiences of all ages. Introducing students to theatre arts fosters creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving while connecting classroom learning to the stage. Our shows offer students the opportunity to experience the thrill of live theatre, learn proper theatre etiquette, and engage in post-show discussions that enhance camaraderie and conversation in the classroom. Educators will also receive a curriculum-based activity packet before the performance, designed to explore the creative process and core themes of the production.