District Membership SUPPORT THE VISUAL ARTS IN YOUR SCHOOL NYSATA offers a wide array of opportunities for students. Included are numerous exhibits at the local, state, and national level; student scholarship opportunities; the Olympics of the Visual Arts Competition; and the Portfolio Project Assessment, to name a few. All new this year, the District Membership Program gives students access to all these great programs without the need for individual teachers to also become members.* District Membership Benefits Include: Access to all student programs and opportunities, including: The NYSATA Portfolio Project* The Olympics of the Visual Arts* The NYSATA Legislative Student Exhibit* The NYSATA/School Boards Association Student Exhibit* Student Scholarships Opportunities: The Zara B. Kimmey, Bill Millikin, and Goldberg/Snow 20% discount on registration fees for the NYSATA/School Boards Association Exhibit and Legislative Exhibit Ready to share and print Award/Recognition certificates for outstanding visual art students (one certificate per school building) Access to members-only resources on the NYSATA website www.nysata.org Regular E-News information and advocacy alerts Subscription for each art teacher in your school or district to quarterly NYSATA News digital and print editions Member rates on all art teacher registrations for our annual conference, regional institutes and workshops, the Summer Institute at Sagamore, and other professional development opportunities Full benefits of membership for every art teacher in your school or district Getting your teachers connected to a learning community and INVOLVED (priceless!) *Additional registration fees apply for certain programs and exhibits. Questions? Please contact us at districtmembership@nysata.org.

Animal Adventure Park Interactive, Educational Animal Experience Grades: K–12 Length of Program: 2–3 hours ---------------------------------------------- Get Outside! Get Wild! Go on an Animal Adventure! Experience over 300 birds and animals, representing over 100 species; while embarking on your self-guided adventure throughout the well laid out and kept grounds of the park! Our collection is housed by geographical region, with all exhibits boasting educational and informative signage about each species. Our interactive exhibition concept allows our guests to get up close and hands on, feeding hundreds of our animal ambassadors, and allowing you to get within feet of our less cuddly carnivores! Groups are welcome to bring bag lunches to enjoy during the stay in our large Base Camp Pavilion! Upon submitting your reservation request via our website, a confirmation “things to know” email will be sent to you within 48 hours, containing all information for your visit with us! Get out of your classroom and join us in ours! This performance supports the following NYS Learning Standards: English Language Arts Common Core Learning Standards: • Vocabulary Acquisition and Use Science and Engineering Practices • Asking questions • Analyzing and interpreting data • Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information Categories: Animals & Environment; Science Costs: July 1 - Aug 31 2026 (group min. 25 guests) $14 / Guest $3 / Souvenir Feed Cup Sept 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 $14 / Student ages 3 - 18 (includes souvenir feed cup) $14 / Chaperone (souvenir feed cup not included) $3 / additional Souvenir Feed Cup

We offer pattern drawing and mandala drawing workshops. We learn a little about the background of mandalas, explore patterns and the benefits to drawing patterns; and of course draw patterns and mandalas. During the class everyone will have the opportunity to draw patterns and a mandala, but it is more about the process and less about the finished mandala. Throughout the workshop we will learn (and experience) how drawing patterns and mandalas can reduce stress, alleviate anxiety, improve focus and increase creative thought. We will also work together to create collaborative designs, exploring the impact of everyone contributing their own unique approach toward a common project. Benefits: • The practice of pattern drawing reduces stress and increases focus. • Exploring how to draw complex patterns helps us understand how to break large goals into less overwhelming segments. • Our collaborative activities create a visual demonstration of how we all approach a similar task from different perspectives and how amazing the result is when everyone contributes to a common task or goal. • Becoming more aware of patterns all around us leads us to look at our surroundings with great curiosity and appreciation

STEM education has never been more important, and Liberty Science Center understands educators' needs to teach science and technology in alignment with the newest national standards. The Science Center is a premier field trip destination and provider of STEM experiences for students, educators, and families. Our STEM education programs can enhance your science instruction with engaging activities online, at LSC, or at your school (within a 60-mile radius). We also offer highly interactive professional development programs for individual educators or groups. Start planning your fun and engaging day of science learning with Liberty Science Center. For more information about our offerings call 201.253.1214 or email mmcdonald@lsc.org.

Kevin Szawala, also known as Mr. Peace, is a nationally recognized youth motivational speaker from Metro Detroit with a focus on diversity and inclusion, student mental health, bullying prevention, character education and staff enrichment. Additionally, all of his presentations are interactive, high-energy, and adaptable, and they all feature age-appropriate information, interesting multimedia, and inspirational hip-hop musical performances. Heart-focused programs like those Mr. Peace offers are more important than ever to support our children’s entire well-being in light of the consequences of the epidemic and remote learning. Consider booking an in-person or online visit for your upcoming assembly, conference, keynote, retreat, workshop, or other event to bring one of his motivational lectures to your school or organization (list of topics folow). Anti-Bullying Program | Diversity Program | Positivity Program | Leadership Program | Respect Program | Cyberbullying and Social Awareness Parent Program | College/Career Prep | Substance Abuse Prevention | Suicide Prevention | Staff Enrichment

Your school will be amazed at the magic. They will laugh at the hysterical comedy. But most importantly, they will get excited about being Fit! The bFit Show is a 45-minute elementary fitness and nutrition program designed to get your kids interested in getting Fit. The show uses magic, comedy, juggling, music, and tons of audience participation to deliver a powerful and motivational message that kids in America need to hear! The bFit Show uses magic, comedy, juggling, and audience participation to get your elementary school excited about eating healthy, fitness, nutrition, and exercise! Students, teachers, parents, and administrators will love and talk about The bFit Show for days, weeks, and months to come. And this program may help your school fight child obesity, diabetes, and heart disease! The bFit Show with Brian Richards is an elementary health and fitness assembly that will get your students up and moving!

Take the Stage! is our flagship 6-week, music-led performing arts program designed for every 5th grade student. Built around exciting school-wide themes like Awesome 80s! or Rock ’n Roll 4Life!, the program immerses students in early theatrical skills through an engaging classroom-based experience led by professional Teaching Artists, Musicians, and district Music Teachers. Along the way, students develop essential performance skills including projection, diction, stage awareness, and ensemble collaboration, while building the confidence to take creative risks, make bold choices, and fully commit both onstage and off. Each class learns its own themed songs, choreography, and short scripted scenes, creating a unique 35-40 minute performance that blends music, movement, and storytelling. Teaching Artists visit classrooms throughout the residency, while rehearsal videos help students continue practicing between sessions. The experience culminates in a full Performance featuring opening and closing numbers, individual class performances, and even occasional appearances from teachers and staff, with both a school assembly and an evening showcase for families. More than just a show, Take the Stage! helps students build confidence, creativity, collaboration, and the courage to step forward and be heard long after the curtain falls.

I’ll start each workshop with a slide show of my personal journey into the arts. This will start from my entrance into the arts back in high school where I was guided away from the arts by guidance counselors and administration. I’ve found this to be helpful to mention as many students can relate to this. My entrance into the arts started in ceramics and has led me to Mould Making, Metal Casting, Fiber & Silversmithing. I’ll discuss how perseverance, determination, hard work, and elbow grease has awarded me with scholarships, grants, shows, and teaching opportunities that enable me to travel to craft schools and residencies to continue making work. I’ll show the evolution of my work and include photos of in-process works from different studios throughout the years. This introduction will last about 30 minutes concluding with 15 minutes of questions. I’ll continue with about 20 minutes of demonstrations and disperse materials for hands-on building. At this point, I’ll make my rounds to meet with each student and troubleshoot their project ideas and the best way to construct them. I’ll call the class over to discuss which method of building would be best depending on the desired outcome as there is no one way to make something. Program Descriptions Workshop 1: Personification of an Object First steps into the world of Abstract art by warping reality one object at a time. Students are prompted to give humanistic features/characteristics to inanimate objects to create something that’s never existed before. Workshop 2: Re-Create Everyday Objects Students will be asked to bring in 3-5 everyday objects. We’ll discuss different methods of construction, play with scale, and explore the surface through color and texture. Refrain from bringing in objects that are made out of ceramic materials. Workshop 3: Large Forms inspired by the Ancient World and Today This workshop focuses on giving students the necessary skills to create large vessels. Students will be asked to find references of Vessels from Ancient Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, or contemporary artists. -hand-building on a larger scale helps beginner students quickly adapt to the properties of clay and respond to the material quicker than something small. This method of construction [coil-building] is the oldest method of building with clay, allows for lots of adjustments to form and scale for a beginner student, causes you to be attentive to the material. -Discuss the benefits of hand-building and the freedom/ability to build in a gestural way, why this is helpful. -Ask students to choose or draw a silhouette to mimic for their vessel – A blueprint/reference photo is VITAL to making a successful shape, make this mandatory, this will help assist them in achieving the shape they want to. -brief demo on darting– show them how to edit a shape that’s not going in the direction (shape-wise) that they’re going for. Workshop 4: Advanced Techniques Ask students to make an object (sculptural or functional) using the extruder and slab roller. These can be very gestural, architectural, or realistic. -Demo how to construct a form using slabs slumping/wrapping/template techniques (cut-outs slipped and scored together) -Emphasize that the appearance of the object will be determined by what method of construction students wish to use (explain and show examples of architectural vs. gestural, organic vs geometric forms, etc.) -Demo how to use an extruder and how to attach extruded shapes securely together/to the form. Clay & tools can be provided for an additional fee.

Join my nature adventures from childhood family trips to hiking with my own children, exploring Israel. We'll read the story A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2024) and discover some behind-the-scenes secrets from the work process on the story and illustrations. We'll find out what makes the tiny country of Israel one of the most diverse places in the world with mountains, rivers, forests, beaches, dry deserts, tropical reefs and more! I'm traveling to the USA for a book tour during the month of November and would love to visit your school in person. I live in Israel, so on any other month, I would be happy to visit your school virtually. During my visit in November, I also offer art workshop, in which we will create Israel's national bird, the hoopoe, using cut colored papers and oil pastels, demonstrating how this beautiful bird can open and close its feathered crown! I can be reached by email: miri@mirileshem.com or phone: +972-152-871-5525

I've been presenting at schools all over the country for more than 25 years. Each year, I develop new, interactive presentations to keep things fresh and exciting for everyone. While the structure and content are new every year, my presentations are always fun, fast-paced explanations of how I create my books. Using a grade-appropriate, interactive digital slide show, I explain the writing process from generating ideas to writing rough drafts to editing and revising. I emphasize the vital importance of all the revisions and changes that all good writers do to their work. I share rough drafts with the students and demonstrate why it's so important to keep working and reworking the writing. I also show how I create the artwork for the books and explain how the writing and illustrating processes are linked for me. Each presentation ends with a drawing demonstration and questions from the audience.

Lime Hollow’s field trips offer standards-aligned, hands-on opportunities for students throughout Central NY to connect with the nature world and the concept they are learning in school. Field trips are inter-disciplinary and align with standards across curriculum including science, math, language arts, social studies, and social emotional learning. Each field trip is led by trained environmental educators with the support of the participating school’s teachers and volunteers.

The Wacky Science Show takes the magic of theatre, attention-grabbing comedy, and scientific truths to your students in a fun-filled way! More than twelve students will participate throughout the show, putting science in their hands! In this school assembly with a focus on science, the wacky and zany presenter, Dr. Science, helps students learn about the Scientific Method in a fun and straightforward way with lots of magic tricks and some comedy too! Your students will crack up at the craziness, but your staff and teachers will really enjoy the lessons. Our science show includes learning the Scientific Method, Physical Sciences, Math, Life Sciences, Earth Science, the Human Body, Air Pressure, Acids/Bases, Levers/Machines, Dinosaurs, the Natural World, Outer Space, States of Matter, Safety in the Lab, Bernoulli, Reactions between Chemicals, and more. Additionally, older students in middle school will learn Centripal/Centrifugal forces, kinetic energy, potential energy, inertia, connections in technology, and using chemicals in observations. The Wacky Science Show has exercises and science concepts for students at different levels of scientific discovery!