Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Day of Dialog/Book Expo 2019

I recently returned from the Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES School Library System trip to New York City.  This was my second year attending the event, so I felt as though I had a better handle on what to expect.  However, there is always a level of anticipation and excitement that accompanies a work event on such a large scale.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 28th, I departed Buffalo and arrived in NYC after a quick and uneventful flight.  Over the course of the next week, I would be working closely with six other members of the Erie 2 BOCES team.  The focus would be to bring back as many books as possible to share with other school libraries in our region.  I was ready for the challenge!

School Library Journal's Day of Dialog
I was most excited for Wednesday because that was the day slated for School Library Journal's Day of Dialog event.  This day was particularly interesting to me because it is specifically geared towards school librarians.  Day of Dialog offered two full rooms of advance reader copies (ARCs) up for grabs, author panels, networking opportunities, and even author signings.

This year's event was held at the New York Academy of Medicine and the Museum of the City of New York.  Hosting the event at these two venues was a definite upgrade from the smaller venue from 2018.  The facilities were beautiful, and it was wonderful to get to visit the museum's exhibits for free.


There is so much to love about Day of Dialog.  I like that there is a mix of author and publisher panels, as this ensures that there is something to pique the interest of everyone attending.  It's also wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with publishers in between the panel presentations.  When you explain that you are a librarian looking for new books to promote to your students, the publishers are more than happy to point you in the direction of books that may suit your needs.

One of my main goals during Day of Dialog was to meet Jerry Craft, author of the sensational graphic novel New Kid.  This book has already gained quite a following at Iroquois Middle School, so I know the students will be happy to hear that Jerry Craft will be visiting our school in November 2019.  I couldn't believe it when Jerry Craft was one of the first people I met during Day of Dialog!  He seemed a little nervous about visiting the Buffalo area, but I assured him that it doesn't snow all year round in Western New York.


Meeting Jerry Craft, author of New Kid

The opening keynote was Jerry Pinckney, an illustrator discussing his most recent book, A Place to Land.  I don't consider myself to be very artistic, but I certainly marvel at those who have this gift.  Mr. Pinckney did an amazing job discussing the work and the thought that went into the overall illustration style of the book, as well as more detailed information about some pages.  This provides me with greater insight into the illustration process (and gives me lots to discuss with students who read the book, too!).

The first panel of the morning consisted of middle grade authors.  I was already familiar with books from Rob Buyea, but I was interested in hearing more from authors Tim Tingle, Ibi Zoboi, Celia Perez, and Nicole Melleby.  The authors discussed the importance of not shying away from more difficult subject matter when writing for middle school students.  I was glad to hear this because middle school students are often dealing with difficult issues in their lives.  Seeing their experiences reflected in the literature they are reading is extremely important.





The next panel of authors consisted of graphic novelists, including Jerry Craft!  This panel was also quite enlightening.  Much like Jerry Pinckney's address, each graphic novelist described their unique illustration style and the choices they made when producing their artwork.



The guest speaker who appeared right before lunch was Sharon Robinson, daughter of Jackie Robinson.  She discussed her new book, Child of a Dream, which is a memoir describing her life growing up during the Civil Rights movement.  This promises to be an amazing book.


After a brief lunch and a tour of the Museum of the City of New York, I listened to the Young Adult Author panel.  It was wonderful to get to see Thanhha Lai, author of Inside Out and Back Again, on this panel.  We have lots of fans of hers at Iroquois Middle, as the entire eighth grade class read her book.  As Day of Dialog was taking place, one of the eighth grade teams was working on a refugee/immigration research project inspired by her work.  Seeing her in person left me starstruck!


Meeting Thanhha Lai, author of Inside Out and Back Again

The next panel included editors from various publishing companies, including the popular author Kwame Alexander (who has started his own imprint called Versify).  This session proved to be the most thought-provoking of the day because the editors had an insightful discussion about bolstering diverse voices in writing.  Although the editors did not wholly agree with each others' approaches to this topic, it was amazing to see such a respectful discussion about a sensitive issue.


Day of Dialog concluded with an autographing session featuring the authors who appeared on the day's panels (as well as many additional authors).  I think that some attendees were tired out by the marathon length of the event, as the autographing session seemed to be sparsely attended.  This was great news for me because I was able to receive autographed books from every author in attendance!  These special titles will find a place within the Iroquois Middle School Library and other libraries throughout our BOCES region.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the behind the scenes work that happens during Day of Dialog.  Attending the sessions, meeting authors, and making connections with publishers is the purpose of the event, but our Erie 2 BOCES group also attends with the goal of bringing as many books back to the region as possible.  Since all of the books at Day of Dialog are free, we maximize our time by making multiple trips from the vendor hall and back to our bus.  When the event concluded, our group was able to procure dozens of boxes of new books for our Erie 2 schools.


 Book Expo Day #1
Thursday, May 30th was my first day of attendance at the 2019 Book Expo America (BEA) event.  Although there were other librarians in attendance at BEA, this is an event geared mainly to those in the publishing or book selling industries.  The event was held in the Jacob Javits Center, a venue capable of housing many large-scale events simultaneously.  During BEA, there were numerous author panels, special events, giveaways, and author signings.

The first day began with an adult book author panel consisting of Rachel Maddow, Malcolm Gladwell, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Karin Slaughter, and Marjorie Lu.  Each author had a chance to discuss his/her new book, and a copy of each book was made available to the attendees.  Due to the diverse subject matter covered by all of these authors, this made for quite the treat.


Once the morning author panel concluded, we got to work sweeping the room and grabbing all of the free books that other attendees had left behind.  Since BEA is more of a publishing event, many of the free books were not picked up by the conference attendees.  This was positive news for our team, since we were then able to take a large number of books.  When we had swept the room of the remaining books, we then packed and sorted the books we would be sending home.  The group had arranged for a courier service and school bus to accompany our group on the trip.   This made it relatively easy to get the boxes of books out of the venue and on their way back to WNY.

After the books were packed from the morning event, our group then visited the vendor area.  The vendor area contained large booths from various publishing companies as well as a designated area for author signings.  What was amazing about this experience was that all of the books were free!  It felt great to be able to visit a handful of booths and come away with a large number of free books to take home.  I made multiple trips to the bus to drop off the books that I collected throughout the day.

I tried to divide my time between visiting the publishers and waiting in lines to get books signed by authors.  I was able to meet two of my favorite authors, Jason Reynolds and R. L. Stine.  Both of these authors were promoting their newest titles.  It was a thrill to meet two authors that I admire.


Meeting Jason Reynolds.

Meeting R. L. Stine

During the afternoon, I attended the Audiobook Tea session featuring members of the audiobook community.  A huge fan of audiobooks myself, it was interesting to get a behind the scenes view into the making of audiobooks.  I was especially interested to again see Jerry Craft.  His graphic novel, New Kid, had been adapted to an audiobook format.  I found it interesting to hear the challenges associated with turning a graphic novel into a completely different format.  Also appearing on the panel were Laurie Halse Anderson, Philippa Gregory, and Euan Morton.  It was a fun panel which sparked lots of interesting discussion.



As our group readied ourselves to pick up any freebies from this event, we were a little let down by the small quantity of materials available.  There were a limited number of audiobooks set out for event attendees, meaning that not everyone was able to secure each of the desired titles.  We made the most of the situation and collected as many items as possible to bring back to WNY.


Book Expo Day #2
Friday, May 31st proved to be another jam-packed day.  Our day began with a breakfast and author panel, only this time the authors of children's books took the stage.  Barbara Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Tomi Adeyemi, Lupita Nyong'o, Eion Colfer, and Da Chen spoke about their latest selections for children.  This was a very special and memorable panel.  The authors had an amazing chemistry and deep respect for each other.  The way they spoke about one another displayed the admiration they had for each other's work.



We then got to work clearing the room of the extra goodies left behind.  The takeaways from this event included posters, tote bags, and multiple books.  It took us much longer to sort and package these items than it did the previous morning.  This event proved to be the biggest haul of the entire week!

Members of the team grabbed all of the tote bags and other free items from the Children's Author Breakfast.

Each of the bags were sorted prior to packing the boxes.

Over 100 bags were left behind at the Children's Author Breakfast!

I spent time sorting books before packing them.

It took over an hour, but the boxes were packed so it was again time to hit the vendor floor.  Like the day before, I was able to collect many exciting titles that I knew the Iroquois Middle School students would enjoy back home.  A highlight from the day was meeting wrestler John Cena!  He had recently published a children's book, so he was visiting BEA to promote the new title.


Meeting John Cena!

BEA was winding down, which meant multiple trips to the vendor area to pick up the last round of goodies.  This was followed by many trips out to the bus with our boxes of books.  BEA was over for 2019, and our group returned to WNY on Saturday.


After BEA
Just a few days after my return to Iroquois, the boxes I had earmarked for Iroquois Middle had arrived!  Since the trip itself was so fast-paced, it was as though I was seeing many of these titles for the first time.  In addition to the boxes for Iroquois, a number of boxes arrived for the Book Expo Bonanza event to be held on Wednesday, June 12th.

This was only the first in a series of Book Expo shipments headed to Iroquois.

 Book Expo Bonanza
In order to effectively distribute the books to the area schools, our BEA group decided to host two Book Expo Bonanza events on Wednesday, June 12th.  The events would be held at Iroquois and Fredonia, making it convenient for people to choose the location closest to them.  The purpose of the event is to allow librarians to take materials that will be of use to their schools.  Thirty-nine librarians and library staff members signed up to attend!

The invitation distributed to the Erie 2 BOCES library staff members.
After unpacking all of the materials collected from Day of Dialog and Book Expo, I was pleased to see that there were so many great items to share with area librarians.  I'm hopeful that every attendee from Book Expo Bonanza found some treasures to share with others.

Middle/high school level selections

Audiobooks

Picture books

Autographed picture books

Adult books

More adult titles


Impact
Spending time at Day of Dialog and Book Expo is as worthwhile as it is hectic!  This is an event with a tremendous impact on our regional library programs.  From attending Book Expo for just the last two years, so many amazing things have been possible just at Iroquois.  Here are just a few:

  • "Free Book Friday" raffle program for Iroquois Middle School and Iroquois Intermediate School
  • Formation of small "book club in a bag" activity sets
  • Teacher/staff book giveaways at the annual Book Bistro holiday party
  • Dozens of new books added to the Iroquois Middle School library's collection
  • Connections made with authors that have led to author visits for our district
  • Skype Book Club with other regional schools (books received at Book Expo were the focus of the Book Club)
  • Additions made to various classroom libraries throughout the school
  • Gained awareness of new authors and trends in children's literature (more knowledge when purchasing new books with limited funds)
  • Relationships built with publishers, leading to new items and books being sent to the library year-round

When I think of the impact just for Iroquois, I then multiply that times the number of school libraries in our region.  The ripple effect of these materials and connections is certainly powerful!

This event helps to strengthen our regional library programs and ensure that we are bringing current, relevant, and interesting reading materials to all students.  I hope that this remains a tradition for the Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES School Library System for years to come.

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Thursday, June 6, 2019

Girls in STEM/Iroquois Family STEM Night 2019

The spring of 2019 marked an exciting time for STEM learning within the Iroquois Central Schools community, but let's start at the beginning! 

During April 2018, I had met with Mrs. Ferger and Mrs. Nicosia in order to apply for a grant through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to support STEM efforts for under-served communities.  Although it took a few months of waiting, we had finally heard in the fall of 2018 that our school was the recipient of a generous $50,000 grant from the foundation!  The purpose of this funding was to support STEM education initiatives for groups that were traditionally underrepresented in STEM career fields.  We all felt passionately about gearing our efforts towards supporting girls in their STEM learning.


Forming the Girls' STEM Leadership Group
Once we received the grant funding, I met with Mrs. Ferger and Mrs. Nicosia in order to solidify our plans.  We were ready to organize a Girls' STEM Leadership Group comprised of outstanding girls in grades 6-12.  The STEM teachers in the middle and high schools sent us names of girls in their classes who were hard workers, displayed leadership qualities, and would benefit from receiving additional opportunities in STEM.  Invitations to our group were delivered to each of the girls.

The invitation sent to our outstanding STEM students.

As the date for the first meeting approached, we weren't sure what to expect.  Would anyone show up?  We were surprised (and relieved!) when over seventy girls showed up to our inaugural meeting on March 5, 2019.  The purpose of the meeting was to explain the purpose of our group, the timeline of activities, and to gauge interest in the ideas we had planned for the remainder of the school year.

Timeline of events for the Girls' STEM Leadership Group.

The majority of our group's focus would be the creation and facilitation of a Family STEM Night open to the Iroquois community.  Although the Iroquois primary schools have hosted STEM nights for their students, never before has Iroquois had a STEM event open to all K-12 students and their families.  The plan was for interested students in our Girls' STEM Leadership group to take an active role in the planning and implementation of this exciting family event.


Planning for Iroquois Family STEM Night
With dozens of girls on board for our Girls' STEM Leadership Group, we were now full steam ahead with planning Family STEM Night.  This event was to be held on April 9, 2019, so we had just under two months to piece together all of the details.  Our group held five after school meetings in order to solidify the STEM Night plans.  During these meetings, the group members took care of many details, including:
  • Brainstorming station activities
  • Planning and preparation for each station, including writing out instructions for hands-on stations
  • Writing press releases for the event
  • Designing event flyers to post in each school building
  • Sorting flyers to distribute to all Iroquois families
  • Creating signage for each room
  • Sending out event details via Instagram
  • Sorting supplies for the robot contest and gift bags for attendees
  • Signing up for shifts during STEM Night so all stations would be adequately staffed


Instructions made for the Glow in the Dark Slime station.

Sorting publicity flyers to distribute to each building.

Cutting out signage to go in front of each station.
Although it was a lot to ask in a short period of time, the members of the Girls' STEM Leadership group did an amazing job preparing for Family STEM Night.  Along with a small group of teachers who volunteered to assist, we were ready for the event to begin.


Iroquois Family STEM Night 2019
No one could have expected the amazing turnout we had on April 9th for Family STEM Night.  An estimated 700 people came to Iroquois Middle School to enjoy a fun and educational evening of STEM activities.  We had so many people attend that we quickly ran out of family gift bags and event programs!

As each family entered the middle school, they were given a program which outlined the event's offerings and activity locations.  The first 100 families were treated to a gift bag featuring a STEM book and other fun goodies.

Program distributed during Family STEM Night.

STEM Night swag, featuring a student-designed logo.

Families were then ushered into the auditorium where Dennis George, also known as the Quizmaster, was leading a rousing Family Feud-style activity.  Mr. George continued to entertain large crowds throughout the evening.

Dennis George was a highly entertaining presenter!
There were a variety of activity stations located throughout the school.  Families came and went to each station at their leisure.  The offerings for the event included:

Magician Demonstration

Nichols Robotics Team Demonstration



Coloring/Hands-On Microscope Stations


Robot Voting Contest (students made robots ahead of time for the chance to receive prizes)


Robot Making


Praxair Cryogenics Demonstration (complete with liquid nitrogen ice cream!)


Forensics Fun


Buffalo Museum of Science Stations


Straw Rocket Launcher Contest
 


Glow in the Dark Slime Making (this was VERY popular and VERY messy)



DIY Math Bombs (families made their own bath bombs)


Virtual Reality Roller Coaster Simulation


Robot Finch Hands-On Coding


Duct Tape Crafts
 

 

Drone Coding Challenges
 


Although it was amazing to see the happy faces of all of the event's attendees, the best part of the night was witnessing the joy and pride that the members of the Girls' STEM Leadership Group displayed throughout the evening.  Their ability to plan and implement an event at this large of a scale is a testament to their efforts and abilities!  It was a privilege to see each girl grow as a result of this special leadership opportunity.

 

 


Mrs. Nicosia, Mrs. Ferger, and I are thankful to all that have made the Girls' STEM Leadership Group and the Iroquois Family STEM Night possible.  There are so many people that have lent their support, including teachers, staff members, and parents.  Although Family STEM Night is over for this year, there is still some fun in store for the Girls' STEM Leadership Group!
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