Shennen Bersani's Weblog

A visit to Erie PA

The past two days I have been in Erie, PA. I have been to PA countless times in my life visiting my mother's large Pennsylvania Dutch family, but I had never gone as west as Erie. The city surpassed all of my preconceived expectations! Not only are the people wonderful (a fabulous basket full of Erie souvenirs and homemade banana-nut bread was waiting in my hotel room for me - thanks to the thoughtful women from OLCS), but the Lake is simply gorgeous in this location!

I thought that I was on Cape Cod!

I was greeted at the airport by Our Lady's Christian School's librarian Nancy Andersen. After a quick stop to one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at, the Bel-Aire Clarion, Nancy brought me out to dinner. Here we met up with a number of other OLCS teachers:

Yesterday I gave presentations to all the students, K-8. It was heartwarming to me to have the kindergarten children wholeheartedly applaud every time one of my illustrations came up on the screen! And it was equally rewarding to have the junior high students engrossed in my presentation, asking me well thought out, purposeful questions.

These kids are top notch. One of their fellow classmates, a fifth grader named Brittany, is in Children's Hospital awaiting a heart transplant. In one day's time, these kids raised over $5,000. to help her family!

Another impressive thing the OLCS students are doing is in the Erie community. They have been working with an artist-in-residence to create glass birds which will be displayed for one year in the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle.

The birds will be hung in the tower, flying free beyond the glass windows.

The students have already been preparing the inside walls of the tower. Nancy Andersen brought me to visit the TREC to show me poetry the kids have already written on the walls in chalk.

In addition to our visit to the TREC, Nancy gave me a tour of the Peninsula. I was captivated by the sight of little houses anchored on the lake.

My many thanks go out to Nancy, Jeanne, and the rest of the Author Day Committee for making my visit so memorable!

Playing in Boston's Symphony Hall

Today my daughter Bethany played her oboe in Boston's Symphony Hall.

She is part of Brockton High's Wind Ensemble. They recently competed in the MICCA Festival. MICCA stands for the Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association. Under the direction of conductor Vincent Macrina, the Wind Ensemble earned Gold in the recent competition.

Stars at Symphony was a presentation of all the Gold winners.

Brockton High's Wind Ensemble enters Symphony Hall.

Congratulations!!

A visit to the Liverpool Elementary School, Liverpool, NY

A visit to the Liverpool Elementary School - otherwise known as; What DOES Mom do when she is away??

I just returned hours ago from a three day trip to Liverpool NY. Since this is April Vacation Week in Massachusetts I took along my daughters Bethany and Kerrin.

When I travel, the girls are always curious as to just what I do... now they know:
I give presentations, I give workshops on how to make books, I sign my own books....

I spent two mornings giving presentations to K-6th grade, and two afternoons giving book making workshops to the third graders.

The entire staff at LE were phenomenal! Many thanks for the breakfast and lunch they provided us Thursday and Friday; and a special thanks go to art teacher Debbie Walsh and librarian Doreen Bergman for coordinating my visit. I won't soon forget you gals... extra thanks for the LE Gaters tee shirts!

In the book making workshops the third graders wrote their own alphabet books and illustrated pages from the book. I scanned in each page while I was at the school and I will print and bind them together for the kids over this weekend.

Windows make terrific lightboxes for tracing!

I thought this photo was funny - from this angle, it looks like the young girl is picking my nose...

LE is in the Village of Liverpool, just outside of Syracuse, NY and on the shore of lovely Onondaga Lake.

A visit to the Lincoln Elementary School, Grand Island, Nebraska

I returned home today after spending Monday and Tuesday at the Lincoln Elementary School in Grand Island Nebraska. Monday I gave five presentations and Tuesday I did one presentation and ran two workshops to future authors and illustrators.

Photo credit, Lane Hickenbottom, The Grand Island Indepentent full story: http://www.theindependent.com/stories/040307/new_illustrator03.shtml

During my workshops I gave the students one of my own assignments - an ocean pop-up book - to work on. Here we try to unravel the engineering of the folds.

...and here students work independently

I am interviewed for a school project.

My thanks to Maura Hendrickson for taking these photos.

This was my first time visiting Nebraska - and I LOVED it! I flew in from Denver on a small 20 seat plane to the sight of migrating flocks of sandhill cranes and was greeted by my host, Lincoln Elementary Integration Specialist, Maura Hendrickson. Maura showed me the sights of Nebraska - acres of cornfields, a one-room school house, small towns. I had a terrific time, making new friends, seeing new sights, visiting a wonderful school with bright, enthusiastic children!

A special thanks to Maura for all her help. She is a fabulous asset to her school!

I hope that my travels bring me back to Nebraska soon!

This stagecoach's last stop.

A one room schoolhouse.

A small town.

farm roads through the cornfields

from the airplane, cornfields as far as the eye can see...