I love to share the process of book illustration. With PowerPoint, I start by sharing slides of my childhood journey as an illustrator. People need to know that they can succeed even if they experience setbacks. I emphasize hard work, patience, and continuing learning. I show various slides of personal drawings and artwork along with the many steps involved in making a picture book, such as reviewing the manuscript, researching, sketching, and creating artwork. In addition, I may bring sketchbooks, original artwork, and various visual aids for the audience to see firsthand to understand my work better. My presentation lasts 35-45 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. Presentations will be adjusted according to grade level. I can do up to three presentations per day of the visit.

It’s not just a highly engaging circus-themed school show! And it’s not a normal character education school assembly. While most character ed assemblies focus only on defining character traits and explaining how to use those traits, Diversity Circus goes much deeper. This powerful and effective character assembly will teach your students that every person belongs. “Be Fair, Be Aware, include others, and use Respect” are the four lessons students will learn during the Diversity Circus character education school assembly. This effective elementary character education program also covers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s character message, Cultural Diversity, Diversity in the Classroom, Being Fair, and more. It’s a perfect program to honor the MLK Holiday, and Black History Month, and to support your school’s PBIS program and anti-bullying efforts. The Diversity Circus character school show uses TONS of audience participation, hilarious comedy, kooky characters, costumes, incredible one-of-a-kind magical illusions, and non-stop hysterical action to engage students and to keep kids talking long after the show is over.

Cheryl Wills is the 3x great granddaughter of Civil War Veteran Sandy Wills. The Emmy award winning journalist and children's book author visits schools nationwide teaching about her family's transition from Slavery to Freedom in Tennessee using primary sources in an exciting and captivating power point presentation. Cheryl made national news in 2024, when she hired an archaeology team to locate the remains of her heroic grandfather. He was found in an unmarked grave and the U.S. Army reburied Pvt. Sandy with full military honors in August of 2024. See report on CBS News! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGQybuYerV4&t=8s

The Collaborative School of the Arts gives students the opportunity to witness world-class dance, theatre, music, and film. Students experience live professional theatre while learning curriculum at the same time on our MainStage or at our GE Theatre at Proctors, MainStage at Capital Repertory Theatre, or in the Great Hall at Universal Preservation Hall. Curriculum guides are available to reinforce key concepts before and after the field trip.

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

Author, Program Creator: Farm/Garden to Table Author Visits: 1. Fidget Grows a Pizza Garden - children learn about their food sources in a creative way through the art of storytelling while helping to encourage life skills and cooking activities at home. (activities depend on size of groups, but included planting, pizza making, storytelling workshops, how a plant grows, etc) 2. Fidget Screams for Ice Cream - children not only learn about their food sources through the art of storytelling, they also learn about using alternatives such as honey and fruit to sweeten their ice cream, while helping to encourage life skills and recipe making activities at home. (activities depending on size of groups, but included planting, ice cream making, story telling workshops, etc.) 3. Gal’s Apple-licious Eats - children have fun with recipe making workshops. 4.

CEPA (Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art) promotes photographic and related media artists of all levels, supporting the arts community through exhibitions, education, and critical public access to image-making resources. CEPA provides individuals, schools, and nonprofits with workshops, classes, and community spaces that are accessible to all ages, abilities, and incomes.

You Can Do a Graphic Novel, Comic Book, Meme, or Zine Categories: Creative Writing, Visual Arts Curriculum. Costs VIRTUAL PROGRAMS (ZOOM) One-hour interactive classes, unlimited participants: $500.00 LIVE IN-PERSON PROGRAMS One day: $1,200.00 Four days: $3,800.00 Eight days: $6,500.00 For venues more than 40 miles from Hudson, NY travel cost of $0.50 mile will be added. For venues more than 40 miles from Valatie, NY travel cost of $0.50 mile will be added. Available year-round. Program Theme: Students learn how to create a graphic novel beginning with a six page comic. It doesn’t matter if they can draw. Stick figures are an expressive way for the reluctant artist to begin. Participants are encouraged to bring their sketchbooks and characters they may already be working on. They will learn about The Creative Process, how to write a Character Study, focus on the beginning, middle, end and twist of a story, and Create Layouts. If the program is an assembly, Barbara talks though the program with on-screen illustrations of the process. The school is to provide a computer, projector and screen. Program Description: Each program is custom tailored to the grade, number of students in the class, and number of sessions. If there are four or more sessions per class, the program finishes with a Graphic Novel Exhibition (see below). The Creative Process: 20 creative tips. Creating Characters: Participants complete bio sheets with the character’s name, age, best friend/side kick, powers (if any), biggest fear, life goal, etc. Plotting: Learning how to plot challenges the student to complete a story. Too many begin the story and throw it out somewhere in the middle. The student learns to plot by color code, a method used by film/tv/graphic novel writers. Layout: Participants learn about panels, thumbnails, dialogue balloons, sequence, and making a page pop. Rather than drawing “talking heads,” they draw a close-up, pull back for a long shot, followed by interior, exterior, bird’s eye views. Everybody works at their own pace. Some are advanced artists/writers while others are beginners. It doesn’t matter where they begin as long as they get going. I hand out a “character bible” sheet and encourage them to think about the beginning, middle, end and twist of their story. The twist is what makes the story interesting. I bring in samples of character bibles from Marvel comics which they can keep, and scripts written by professionals. Feedback is an important part of the program. It usually begins when I hold up a student’s drawing and ask them to suggest a name, age, or character trait. The student can take the suggestions or discard them, however, it opens up discussions. In the first session, students are sometimes quiet/shy with other students but by the second, they open up about their characters and stories. After the last workshop, the doors open to parents, friends, relatives, the community, and the local press. Students show and talk about their work…where they got their inspiration for characters/story. The “Graphic Novel Exhibition” attracts a lot of attention and often results in newspaper articles. Having artwork in the newspaper is great for a student’s self-esteem and for their portfolio. Copies of Barbara's textbook You Can Do a Graphic Novel can be ordered for the school library, and discounts are available from the publisher for class-size orders. http://youcandoagraphicnovel.com/students1.htm

A former college professor with an MFA in Creative Writing, Ken Waldman combines Appalachian-style string-band music, original poetry, and smart storyteller for an experience unique to him. He's been a visiting writer at over 100 colleges, and has been a visiting artist at over 250 schools in 35 states, and works with kindergartners, at-risk and advance placement high-schoolers, and with all ages in between.

Diane Edgecomb brings top quality entertaining performances to your school 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 storytellers as recommended by Elementary library school collection.

Magic of 5-A-Day is an interactive, 45-minute elementary school assembly, designed to promote good nutrition and exercise. Brian Richards brings the importance of nutrition together with a little magic that will captivate your students and leave them laughing and smiling throughout his whole performance. This nutrition and health assembly is unlike any you have seen before! With the aid of magic, comedy, audience participation, and powerful visual aids, your students and staff will learn… Why we need to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day How the colors of fruits and veggies are good for different parts of our bodies Why balance and moderation is so important How to know the difference between a “sometimes food” and an “all-the-time food.” And much more…Plus, your students will take the 5-A-Day Challenge and pledge to eat their 5-A-Day every day.