VTS in New York State

A Short History

Philip Yenawine presented a VTS introductory workshop at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse in 1996.  At that time Marion Wilson, Curator of Education and Pam McLaughlin, Associate Curator of Education worked with Marlene Roeder, magnet facilitator at Franklin Magnet School of the Arts, to create a museum-school partnership.  Funding from the New York State Council on the Arts “Empire State Partnerships Project,” supported an entire school VTS implementation. The Everson Museum of Art has continued to work with VTS, presenting workshops for docents and educators throughout Central New York.

New York State Teacher Centers

New York State has an innovative consortium of regional Teacher Centers whose goal is to “support student achievement by deepening educators' knowledge and skills.”  Marlene Roeder, VUE national trainer and Upstate Regional Director, has been working with educators in schools supported by the following regional teacher centers:

• The Catskill Regional Teacher Center (Mary Ann Luciano, director) and SUNY Oneonta sponsored a VTS Introductory Workshop at their Best Practices Conference, The Art and Science of Education: Integrating the Arts across the Curriculum.

• The Cincinnatus Teacher Center (Pat Rice, director) and VUE continue a whole school VTS implementation project at Cincinnatus Central School with funding from NYCSA, and additional support from a SUNY Cortland Teacher Leadership Quality Partnership Grant. Judith Schillo, lecturer at SUNY Cortland and VTS trainer, is working with Roeder to facilitate professional development.

• The Cortland County Teacher Center (Bonnie Calzoleio, director) has provided an introductory workshop for teachers in the Homer School District.

•  The Dryden Teacher Center (Bobbi Krout, director) is in year two of supporting VTS professional development for teachers in the following schools: Cassavant Elementary School, Dryden Elementary School, Freeville Elementary School, and Dryden Middle and High Schools. Judith Schillo is also working with teachers at these sites.

• The Teacher Center of Broome County (Gail Szeliga, director) is in their second year of a VTS regional “seeding” project. Szeliga has invited teams of teachers from various school districts to commit to an intensive full-year VTS program with classroom coaching, ongoing professional development, mandatory reflection journals, and teacher action research. The team of teachers is then expected to work with their own school district to secure future funding for VTS. Katherine Bouman, education director at Roberson Museum and Science Center, is working with Roeder on this project.

• Tioga County Teacher Center (George Lohman, director) has provided an introductory workshop for educators in their region.

Other VTS Partners:

• The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks's W!LD Center (Stephanie Radcliff, director; Jen Kretser, Director of Programs; Kerri Ziemann, naturalist) and LP Quinn Elementary School in Tupper Lake have been working with VUE and Marlene Roeder implementing a standard VTS curriculum and developing VTS Adaptation Lessons to support the goals of this innovative science museum. Kretser and Ziemann have presented introductory VTS workshops at regional workshops.

• Binghamton City School District: The Binghamton City School District Challenge Teachers (Lisa Rieger, coordinator) were successful in securing funding for a five year turn-key district-wide elementary/middle school implementation program after participating in year one of the TCBC’s “seeding” project. Marlene Roeder is mentoring the Challenge Teachers as they prepare to lead VTS professional development in the following district schools, Calvin Coolidge Elementary, Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Macarthur Elementary, Horace Mann Elementary, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Elementary, East Middle School, West Middle School.