Welcome to the Statewide Art and Enrichment Roster, Hosted by CiTi BOCES
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This directory of artists, presenters and vendors is for contact information only. Please note that all
approvals are determined by individual BOCES and/or District criteria and do not guarantee acceptance of
proposed contracts.
Rooted Movement
The day-to-day life of children and teens can be hectic and challenging on multiple levels. Experiencing stress, anxiety and exhaustion can affect physical and emotional well-being, social relationships, academic success and sleep. Rooted Movement Classroom Yoga offers students skills and experiences that can help increase self-awareness and build resilience. As an embodied practice of mindfulness, yoga asks us to pay attention to what we are feeling, both physically and emotionally, in the present moment. These practices can send signals of safety back to the brain and soothe the nervous system.
Our program (based on the work of Jennifer Cohen Harper’s Little Flower Yoga) focuses on five main areas:
1. Connection to oneself, one’s environment and others.
2. Breathwork, which promotes communication between the body and the nervous system.
3. Movement to help process stress hormones and give our students a sense of being strong, flexible and capable.
4. Focus Practice: when we can observe our minds wandering or becoming fixated on negative thoughts, we can bring the mind back to the object of focus and improve our capacity to stay present in the moment.
5. Relaxation to alleviate stress and tension.
Whether in a single classroom session, an interactive workshop or over the course of a residency, students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of techniques, so they can gain some experience and deepen their own relationships with these practices.
Teaching Themes around which we can develop a program to serve your students:
1. Interoception: what does your body feel like on the inside?
2. Building strength: how our bodies can teach our minds that we’re strong
3. Yoga in a Chair: learning yoga snacks you can do throughout the day
4. Mindfulness meditation and relaxation to down-regulate the nervous system
5. Balance practices
6. Spacial awareness and proprioception
7. Building a collaborative community through movement
8. Our brains, our bodies, our nervous systems and movement (4th grade and up)
9. Imaginative practices: connecting yoga poses to seasonal imagery, animal world, relevant classroom curriculum, etc. (K-3)
10.Dealing with challenges in a playful way
11.Self-reflection
Professional Development:
Rooted Movement also offers professional development for teachers and staff, including self-care programs and yoga/mindfulness tools that can be integrated into the classroom.
Some Professional Development Topics:
Basic Yoga
Core Conditioning
Chair Yoga
Restorative Yoga for Deep Relaxation
Breathwork and Meditation
Applying Yoga for Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom
Our publisher visits bring the world of publishing to your classroom or library! Technology has made publishing more accessible than ever before, and it's important that kids learn how books are made from start to finish by creative people, not machines.
Our school visits:
- show kids what publishers do and who is involved in the book-making process
- teach kids how a picture book takes shape, from manuscript to printed book
- give students the opportunity to ask questions
- include real-life examples for students to interact with
- demonstrate how kids can publish their work through a fun zine-making activity
We are a professional baseball team located in the Capital District of New York, more specifically, Troy. Each year we offer multiple Education Day games which are special matinee games aimed to incorporate learning with the game of baseball. We create a unique curriculum that covers things from spending money at the concession stand, geography and location of our opponents, baseball terminology and more. For these games we reach out to all of our local schools and invite them to attend this game which is typically $12 per person and includes admission as well as a lunch. We kick off the game with an Anti-Bullying peace pledge, and the concourse features tables from our sponsors with STEM centric activities. Many schools attend each of these games and look for assistance to ensure they can be a part of it.
Growing up a reluctant reader himself, it took Eric Luper a long time to learn to love reading and writing. Join Eric on a fun (and sometimes funny) journey through his past challenges as well as the current techniques he uses to write books for Scholastic, Cartoon Network, DC, Disney and others. Students will learn about first drafts, revision, brainstorming and other important techniques… and learn if they have what it takes to be a writer.
Kate Klise wrote her first book when she was ten years old, so she speaks with a certain authority when she encourages children to begin their writing careers now. With more than thirty books to her credit (picture books, early readers, middle grade novels, and one YA title), Kate relates well to students of all ages. When working with early readers (grades K-2, 30 minutes), Kate offers gentle advice about writing stories and invites students to create an original story on the spot. When presenting to older students (grades 3–6, 50 minutes), Kate focuses on the writing process: where she gets her ideas, how she writes her rough drafts, why the art of rewriting is so critical, and—yes!—how she comes up with all those punny names in the Regarding and 43 Old Cemetery Road series. In addition, Kate explains the classic elements of storytelling, including the importance of sending characters on journeys. In addition to large-group presentations, Kate also offers fiction and non-fiction writing workshops for smaller groups (30 students or less, 50 minutes). As a 15-year veteran for People magazine, Kate enjoys sharing her tips and tricks for writing on deadline. Over the years she’s taught countless students how to write colorful, compelling, and often hilarious People magazine-style stories about themselves and others.
Education Network for Teachers & Artists, Inc. (ENTA)
ENTA’s visual and performing artists work collaboratively with K-12 classroom teachers to develop customized arts-in-education programs that concentrate on any curricular content and allow students to express their knowledge and mastery through a creative process (visual, performance, process arts).
We work in all subject areas -- ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. We also offer services to Art, Band and Choral classrooms. Our programs are customized to meet the needs and desired outcomes of the classroom teacher(s) and we usually work with all the students in an entire grade level.
Through the Arts, students and teachers experience their studies in active, hands-on, problem-solving, challenging environments that produce measurable and meaningful results.
Sample Programs include: Improv & the Salem Witch Trials (7th grade Social Studies); Taking A Stand – Art for Social Change (8th grade ELA); Biomimicry & Sculpture (7th grade Science); A Book’s Journey – develop & hand-build original book (4th grade ELA); Sol Lewitt – Math, Language & Art (MS/HS); Geometry & Landscape Drawing (3rd grade Math); Books on the Boards: Theater & Reading (K-3 ELA); Anatomy & Figure Drawing (HS Art)
Currently running more than a dozen on-going programs in mid-Hudson region pubic schools. All developed collaboratively with classroom teachers.
I am a visual fiber artist based in the Catskill Mountains who spent the last three school years as a visiting artist for 8th graders at Van Antwerp and Iroquois Middle Schools in Niskayuna working with art teachers Katherine Chwazik, Alyssa LaPatra, and Dana Sela. I visited students for two days per quarter (different groups each quarter and averaging around 75 students per day).
I collaborated with the schools prior to my arrival to collect recycled fabrics from quilting fabric to second hand clothing, which were the basis of a recycled fabric collage project. My visits began with a brief power point lecture about my practice working with fibers in needlepoint, chair weaving, and fabric collage to set the stage.
Each year, the teachers I worked with wanted the project to have a different focus based on the gaps they thought it could fill in the curriculum.
The fabric projects were: landscapes ('21-'22), merit medals ('22-'23), and yarn/fabric abstract works based on music ('23-'24). The projects allowed students to express their individuality through choosing subjects that meant something personal to them, whether that be a landscape of their hike in the Adirondacks, or creating abstract shapes based on their love for Taylor Swift.
As a fiber artist, this project does not fit neatly into the Visual Arts categories listed, and therefore I think provided kids with an unusual opportunity to explore an unorthodox medium for a public classroom setting.
This project is flexible in terms of subject and I can accommodate the lesson plan for a wide age range of kids, from 6th grade to 12th grade.
The Reppin Fitness Live Puppet Show brings fitness and fun directly to your students! Brick Headstrong transforms your classroom or event location into an immersive and interactive fitness experience with his entire podcast studio.
This unique show features Brick interviewing a special guest of your choice—whether it's your gym teacher, principal, or star student athlete—ensuring a personalized and memorable performance. With engaging fitness routines, practical healthy living tips, and dynamic content, Brick captivates and educates students, making fitness both fun and informative. Each 30-45 minute show is crafted to keep topics relevant and on point, inspiring kids to embrace a healthy lifestyle.
The “Silly Nomads” book series is a five-volume collection of children’s literature that target children ages 7- 12. I drew heavily on my own vibrant childhood experiences while growing up on the island of Jamaica. These stories, immersed young readers in a world of imaginative adventures and cultural discovery. Each book within the series encourages creativity and exploration, fostering a love of reading while subtly reinforcing essential life lessons and positive character traits. Beyond the books themselves, I actively engage with students through interactive school readings, aiming to ignite a lifelong passion for literature.
The “Silly Nomads” offers a unique opportunity to introduce students to a different culture, enriching their understanding of the world and fostering empathy and appreciation for diverse perspectives. I look forward to sharing my childhood adventures with you and your students.
At the Utica Zoo, we are able to offer a variety of educational experiences both at the zoo itself and at Beaversprite, our conservation education center. Firstly, we offer field trips at both sites. Field trips to the zoo can be self-guided or fully educator led and can include a zoo introduction or curated conservation class tailored to the groups learning objectives. Beaversprite trips are all educator led and include exploration of the visitor center and guided hikes of the pristine 1300-acre wetland property. We additionally offer zoo outreach programs in a variety of styles, in which we aim to bring the zoo to you. For our outreach "Zoomobile" programs, we typically bring between three to five live ambassador animals and give a presentation on their biology, ecology, and conservation status and challenges. We also offer more heavily conservation focused programs, stressing issues like climate change, habitat loss, or invasive species. For these programs we bring fewer live animals but will bring a customizable PowerPoint presentation on the topic of choice and/or a guided activity that encourages active engagement by the students.
We offer an interactive Author Visit for grade Prek-5 where we bring our character Farley (the world's favorite penguin!)
We have three signature songs that we incorporate into our visit. We teach the children the process on becoming an author and getting your book published which we focus more on with the older grades.
We offer a bundle pack where the children can get a book and a Farley plush for a discounted price. The class that has the most book order forms can win a pizza party with Farley.
Through the Caffe Lena "On The Road" program, we coordinate 2-3 day residencies with professional touring bands and musicians, sending them around the Saratoga Springs community and wider Capital Region for private, unadvertised, 30-60 minutes performances and/or interactive workshops. The program is supported by grant funding and donations to our non-profit venue, and each community visit is FREE for the host organization.
The locations range from school visits (music classes, assemblies, after-school programs) to elderly care centers, shelters, soup kitchens, recovery programs, and other spaces which serve people who may not be able to seek out this professional music in a standard venue for a variety of reasons.
*IMPORTANT* These residencies do not occur on a regular basis. Please reach out if you would like to be added to the list of host organizations, and we will contact you when there is an opportunity to coordinate a visit from a band or artist.