The bGreat Show is presented by comic-magician Brian Richards, one of the most humorous assembly performers in the country. Using the perfect blend of entertainment and educational content, Brian’s assemblies are loved by students and staff alike. Though they will laugh and be fooled by his tricks, your school will also get excited about character! In this interactive, 45-minute elementary school assembly and camp show, Brian Richards will use magic, comedy, storytelling, audience participation, and more to help your students learn about Anti-Bullying, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, and Citizenship. The message to students is: “Do you want to be great? It begins with you taking the first step!”

Backtrack Vocals is an a cappella group from New York City. They have extensive touring history across the United States, as well as performances in Vietnam and Kazakhstan. They infuse heart and humor into their educational programs, and their versatile repertoire, spanning Top 40 hits, Motown, classical, show tunes, and original music offers programming for any age! They have conducted educational programs at over 250 schools worldwide, from elementary assemblies to college workshops and a cappella camps in the US and abroad. Our offerings include school assemblies, choir workshops, professional development for choir directors, and introductory clinics on: beatboxing, group vocal improv, pop vocal techniques, choreography, and more. You can find testimonials and more details on these programs here: https://www.backtrackvocals.com/educational-programs

I am a children's book author with long experience visiting schools around the country, from California to South Carolina, Texas to Illinois. I am especially happy to visit ANYWHERE in New York State, from Long Island to the North Country and everywhere in between. I've published a range of books from PreK to Young Adult, and I'm still actively publishing today. I love visiting schools and I'm grateful to meet and try to inspire young readers and writers.

We provide high-quality, interactive live music concerts/performances for children 5-12 years old. FIESTA WITH FLOR is a multicultural musical celebration! Kids and families will join in the fun as they learn about different musical genres through dance, storytelling and songs, traveling with Latin GRAMMY® nominee Flor Bromley to the countries where the rhythms were born. This is not your typical children’s concert, it’s a whole family fiesta!

MUSIC OF THE EARTH - A Celebration of World Cultures and Our Planet! Mysterious, exciting, information-packed! World cultures come alive through the powerful vibrations of exotic instruments from around the globe. Unique, interactive assemblies with giant drums, crystal singing bowls, Australian didgeridoos, Chinese gongs, Native American flutes and chants, Indian snake charmer, Aztec wind whistle, Scottish Bagpipes, and much more! Special programs available for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice, Earth Week (April) and St. Patrick’s Day.

"Visual Thinker" Roxie Munro is the Author/Illustrator of more than 55 award-winning nonfiction, STEM/STEAM, and concept books for children, many using "gamification" to encourage reading, learning, and engagement. Recent books include Maze Play; A Day in the Life of the Desert; Lizards at Large; ABCity; Anteaters, Bats & Boas (2 starred reviews); Dive In; Rodent Rascals (3 starred reviews); Masterpiece Mix; Market Maze; Slithery Snakes; Busy Builders; EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures (starred reviews; Smithsonian's Best Science Book for Children); Hatch! and many others. Awards include The New York Times Ten Best Illustrated; Outstanding Science Trade Book, NSTA & CBC; Society of International Librarians Honor Award; Bank St College Best Books List w/Outstanding Merit; the Bank St Cook Prize Honor for STEM, others. Fourteen of her paintings have been published as covers of The New Yorker magazine. Programs are lively multimedia presentations with beautiful highly illustrated visuals, short videos with sounds, and great fun facts and information. The most popular program for PreK-2nd grade is "Nature," in which lots of the world's most interesting animals are discussed. For 3rd grade and up, the most requested is "Creating a Nonfiction Picture Book" - learning how to research, use sources, and develop critical thinking. Making the book: Storyboard, thumbnails, roughs, finished art and text. Editor's involvement. Designing a cover. For a complete menu of all of Roxie's programs, with grade levels, visit https://www.roxiemunro.com/school-visits.html Roxie's art is exhibited widely in the US in galleries, museums and is in numerous private, public, and corporate collections. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, presented a 4-month solo exhibition: "Inside-Outside Dinosaurs: Creating a Book with Roxie Munro" and she has two books represented in "Building Stories," the children's book exhibition curated by Leonard Marcus at the National Building Museum in Washington DC (up through Feb 2026). Her children's book art, texts, and processes are in the Kerlan Collection (Univ of Minnesota), De Grummond Collection (Southern Mississippi), the New York Public Library, and the Mazza Museum (Findlay, Ohio), among many others. Roxie studied at the University of Maryland, the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Hawaii, attended graduate school at Ohio University (Athens), and received a Yaddo Fellowship. She lectures in museums, schools, libraries, conferences, and teaches in workshops. See complete resume and lots of free fun and educational activities for children to download at https://www.roxiemunro.com/

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!

Hanford Mills Museum offers on-site field trips and in-class outreach programs to schools in several regions. Our water-powered saw mill and grist mill provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about the history of science and technology dating back to the mid-1800s. Every field trip includes a tour of the 1840s mill, featuring demonstrations of our working waterwheel and saw mill. All programs align with NYS learning standards and focus on a range of topics from simple machines to watershed health. Our educators are our mill workers, and use that knowledge to introduce students to one of a kind artifacts letting them feel, smell, and use our range of historic tools and technology that are outside the realm of traditional classroom environments. On-site picnic space is available in our covered pavilion. Program information, including costs and times, are available on our website. If you have any questions, or would like to book a field trip or an outreach program, contact our Education Coordinator today!

What is Opera Saratoga’s Education Program? Each year, Opera Saratoga tours an Opera production to more than fifty public and private schools throughout the greater Capital and lower Adirondack regions of NY. The performances feature charismatic professional artists who love to share their joy of music and theater through the opera, as well as through question and answer sessions where students have the opportunity to meet the artists and learn about the music and what it takes to put on a performance. In a world where the default forms of entertainment for children are primarily television, video games, and the Internet, Opera Saratoga’s In-School Opera program provides youth with an all-too-rare opportunity to experience the visceral thrill of the live performing arts, up close and personal! Opera Saratoga's touring program includes a lesson plan that arrives a month before the performance, a professionally staged opera performance in your school, along with a post-performance discussion between the artists and your students. Schools will also receive an invitation to the dress rehearsal of the performances in Opera Saratoga's summer festival. Contact us now to book your opera performance for March 2025!

I offer two one-person plays (one about Langston Hughes the other about Dr. King) and one poetry reading from my award-winning poetry collection Boneyarn, the only book of poems about slavery in New York City, where the oldest and largest slave cemetery in the United States is located. In conjunction with any of the above presentations, I have thematically related writing workshops so students can have their own creative experience to go along with my presentations. Below are descriptions of the three shows. I also give talks about the Harlem Renaissance, Jazz Trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart Jr, who was part of the first group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. Below are descriptions of the Langston Hughes, Dr. King and Boneyarn presentations. DAVID MILLS PRESENTATIONS 1) The Dreamweaver: Langston Hughes Performance and Creative Writing Workshop What better way to celebrate Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes—affectionately known as “Shakespeare in Harlem”—than to have students see a dramatic 45-minute presentation about Langston Hughes. Actor David Mills, (whose Hughes show was voted the #4 young-adult show in the nation by The American Library Association) does just that. He takes students on a theatrical odyssey of Hughes’ life spanning six decades from his humble Missouri childhood to his days living in Harlem as an adult. Mr. Mills also captures Hughes’ world travels and writing of his classic poems, such as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Mother to Son,” “I, Too,” “Montage of a Dream Deferred” and “Madam Alberta K.” While playing black and white, young, old, and male and female characters, Mr. Mills captures Hughes’ unending love for Harlem—with its foibles and fantasies, bruises and beauty. Mr. Mills show also explores how Hughes wrote nearly 50 plays. A Q&A would follow the presentation. Mr. Mills could also conduct a writing workshop using a Hughes blues poem as a model. 2) Dare to Dream: Dr. King Performance and Creative Writing Workshop In a 45-minute, dramatic presentation for an auditorium of students and teachers, actor David Mills would take the audience on an engaging, historic journey, where they witness Dr. King go from a young preacher (with uncertainties about Civil Rights during the Montgomery Bus Boycott) into the nationally-recognized figure he became during the 1963 March on Washington. Mr. Mills’ stirring performance looks at Dr. King as both the public figure and private man. Be roused, be inspired, be transported by “Dare to Dream,” Mr. Mills’ theatrical tribute to Dr. King. A Q&A would follow the performance. Mr. Mills has worked as a teaching artist and performer for over 20 years in schools, universities, and senior centers. So, in conjunction with the performance Mr. Mills can also lead a 45-minute creative writing workshop, in a smaller classroom setting, using Dr. King’s iconic “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” as a writing prompt. This workshop will get students to write poems in the forms of letters that relate to their lives. Talking to the Bones: Poetry reading about slavery in New York City and Creative Writing Workshop. Award-winning-poet David Mills would read from his collection, Boneyarn, winner of the North American Book Award and the only poetry collection about slavery in New York City, where the oldest and largest slave cemetery in the United States is located. Mr. Mills would conduct a 45-minute reading to an auditorium and use projected visuals to give attendees a sense of 17th-19th century New York. Mr. Mills would discuss the research and writing process that went into creating this groundbreaking book, where he weds little-known colonial history and poetry. What lessons can be learned from coupling these two disciplines. The reading would also be followed by a Q&A. Mr. Mills has worked as a teaching artist and performer for over 20 years in schools. Therefore, in conjunction with the reading, Mr. Mills can lead a 45-minute creative writing workshop that uses a question-and-answer form from his book Boneyarn to get students to write their own poems reflecting on slavery in New York City.

We provide an exciting, motivating assembly that includes a group jump rope showcase, gymnastics and dancing with a jump rope, audience participation, and discussion on healthy lifestyle choices. Students and staff alike will leave with the desire to pick up a jump rope.

I am an award-winning children's bool author, poet and photographer with over 45 books. With so many books I discuss how I achieved success by cultivating the Mind, Body and Spirit. In this inspiring and fun group presentation, I discuss my books, my life, my inspiration and how students can achieve success. Since many of my books are in verse, I offer poetry and creative writing workshops. As a photographer I also offer photo workshops.