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Applications are now open for the 2025 New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) In-Residency program. This program will provide students with the opportunity to study alongside professional artists in a competitive yet nurturing environment. Students can choose from one of the following program options: Media Arts, Theater, or Visual Arts. Each program culminates in a public showcase or exhibition. The four-week programs will be held on the SUNY Fredonia campus and will run from July 6 – August 2, 2025.
Students in grades 8-12 from across New York State are eligible to apply. Early decision applications must be submitted by January 12, and regular admission applications are due on March 14. Acceptance into the program is based on a rigorous audition and portfolio review process.
To apply for this program, students are required to submit an online application, an artist statement, and a portfolio or audition. All information for applying, including specific portfolio and audition requirements for each program, can be found on the NYSSSA website.
Coming in January 2025: Empire State Arts Scholarships
In addition to the in-residency programs for young artists, NYSSSA will once again offer the Empire State Arts Scholarship program, providing students with scholarships to attend summer arts programs in their own communities. Administered by the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Office of Cultural Education, the funding will support the Empire State Arts Scholarship Program’s goal of promoting access and equity to arts education by providing need-based grants to low-income students who want to pursue artistic growth opportunities.
Student applications must currently be in grades 5-12 and the selected summer arts program must be New York State-based. The scholarship application review process will be evaluated based on financial need. Scholarship applications will open in January 2025, and information can be found on the NYSSSA website.
Inquiries about the NYSSSA In-Residency program and the Empire State Arts Scholarship program can be directed to (518) 474-8773 or nysssa@nysed.gov.
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New Collection Now Available
Public education in New York State holds a longstanding commitment to serving all students through offering opportunities for language proficiency in English and other languages. Voices United highlights records from the State Archives and State Library relating to advancing English Language Learner civil rights and building pathways to multilingualism.
This new collection is now available on Consider the Source: New York, a free online learning community that connects educators across New York with valuable primary sources. Featuring engaging learning activities designed to guide and encourage students to make discoveries using critical thinking skills.
This project is a partnership between the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages and the Office of Cultural Education.
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Save the Date!
The New York History Conference is committed to supporting informal educators, classroom educators, and lifelong learners.
The conference returns for 2025 on Thursday, June 6th and Friday, June 7th at the Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, in Albany, NY. Special sessions will be held for educators and Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) credit will be awarded to conference attendees. More details to follow!
The 2024 workshop 'Connecting Your Collections to the K-12 Curriculum,' presented by NYSED's Office of Cultural Education, is an asynchronous professional development opportunity available online. View this and all videos at the New York History Conference Resources for Educators webpage.
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Showcase Student Work on 'New York Spotlight: Arts Education Personal History Initiative'
New York State is a vibrant home to the arts and a leader in arts education. The New York State Library just launched this New York State Personal History Initiative collection focused on arts education where schools and teachers can highlight student art.
What are your students creating? How are your teachers and schools contributing to our cultural landscape? Share dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts stories to celebrate arts across our great state! Share student work and archive a piece of school history through this collection.
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2025 Teacher Workshops Announced
The New York State Museum is an approved provider of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE). Through these annual NYSM Workshops, participants gain access to real-world applications, authentic research, and thoughtful lessons that accelerate an understanding of the natural sciences. Since 2001, our PhD-level researchers have provided excellent educational opportunities for teachers.
- Evolution and Ecology Teacher Workshop | January 29th
- DH Cadwell Earth Science Teacher Workshop March 1st
- Anthropology Teacher Workshop March 14th
For more information visit: CTLE Professional Development Workshops for Educators | The New York State Museum
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Teacher Workshops Offered Across the State
The New York State Museum is collaborating with the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and partner museums throughout the state to offer teacher workshops in support of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) initiative, Voices and Votes: Democracy in America traveling exhibit.
New York State Museum Educators, along with Educators from the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, will lead teacher training workshops hosted by the twelve museums that will demonstrate how exhibitions, works of art, archives, and objects of material culture can be used as primary resources in the classroom to enhance student learning.
For more information visit: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
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Get Recognition for Project-Based Learning
New York State students in grades 4-12 from public, private, and home schools are invited to submit their historical research projects to the New York State Archives Student Research Awards. Winners receive a cash award. All entries containing an annotated bibliography and use of historical records receive a Certificate of Merit.
The deadline for submission is July 1st. For more information, visit the Student Research Awards webpage.
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Family Literacy Resources
Over the years, the DayByDayNY site has been a helpful online tool for enhancing literacy in early readers. Every day, the Family Literacy Calendar generates new songs, videos, and arts and craft ideas to engage young readers and their families.
The site also provides two high-quality e-books each day from One More Story, an online library of classic and contemporary children’s read aloud picture books. The online library contains popular picture books and features tons of interactive tools that help readers better understand what they’re reading to help them become strong independent readers.
One More Story also provides inclusive tools like Echo Reading and immersive music and narration for those with print disabilities and English language barriers. Early readers can also improve reading fluency by using different vocabulary lists and learning the new ‘word of the day.’
One More Story’s online library is provided by the New York State Library as a resource that is freely available to all libraries and schools in New York and can be accessed from almost any device.
To take advantage of the Family Literacy Calendar resources and One More Story to promote early literacy to young readers, please visit DayByDayNY.org.
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Summer Reading 2025
To help with planning for Summer Reading 2025 and the arts theme, the Collaborative Summer Library Program/CSLP recently hosted a presentation entitled “Artful Connections: Stephanie Haines’ Vision for Inclusive and Inspiring Communities.”
This webinar recording is part of the resources that can be found on the CSLP inclusion resources page of their site. Haines is the Arts Education & Accessibility Program Manager at the Indiana Arts Commission and has more than 15 years of experience working with arts integration programming.
The slogan for next summer is “Color Our World” and public libraries have already begun working on ideas and events to engage students of all ages with the art and creativity theme.
We encourage schools and public libraries to start collaborating on Summer Reading in the spring to make students and families aware of how to sign up and participate at their local library.
Sign up for the Summer Reading News blog!
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NOVELny News
Six new databases were recently added to NOVELny:
- Gale Legal Forms (NYS)
- Gale Presents: Peterson’s Test and Career Prep
- Gale Business: Entrepreneurship
- Gale Books and Authors
- Gale Health and Wellness
- Gale OneFile: High School Edition
Other databases that may be of interest to Youth Services librarians are:
- Britannica School
- Britannica Escolar
- Gale In Context: Elementary
- Gale In Context: Middle School
- Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints
Libraries can retrieve their geolinks for all of the NOVELny databases from Gale’s support page. Libraries that are not registered can register via the Help Desk page.
Marketing materials, including a full list of the databases (factsheet), are available in the NOVELny toolkit. Questions about NOVELny should be directed to Amy Heebner, program manager.
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New Magazine Issues and Classroom Sets Available
The New York State Archives has released the Fall 2024 Issue of New York Archives JR!, with a companion video for educators and students, Treason of the Blackest Dye. Thank you to all who have requested previous issues. To date, we have mailed out over 100,000 free copies of Archives JR! to teachers across New York State!
New York Archives Jr! is a companion publication to New York Archives magazine for grades 4-8. Each issue features one article from New York Archives magazine rewritten at an upper elementary level, community connections, related facts, and learning activities focused on primary source analysis.
Free classroom sets of the Fall 2024 issue and past issues of New York Archives Jr! are available to all teachers throughout NYS by completing this form.
For more information visit the Consider the Source webpage. You can also contact the NYS Archives at 518-473-7091 or via email at archedu@nysed.gov if you have any questions.
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Just for Young Learners
Science Everywhere is an early learning initiative, that emphasizes the importance of Inquiry-Based Learning. Spearheaded by the New York State Education Department's Office of Early Learning and Office of Cultural Education, the initiative seeks to foster a love for science and nature in young children through hands-on learning experiences.
Science Everywhere offers cost-free prekindergarten explorations based on inquiry, which can be implemented in any local community, providing students with a wider understanding of natural science and the world. The initiative aligns with the New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards.
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Partner with TBBL!
The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) partners with schools and other institutions across the state! If your organization assists individuals who have difficulty reading standard print, your organization is eligible to apply for library service. Institution partners may include, but are not limited to:
- Public, school, and academic libraries
- Public and private K-12 schools
- Colleges and universities
- BOCES
- Health facilities such as nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and senior community centers
Institution members play a crucial role in connecting eligible individuals to free accessible books, magazines, and news sources. Please contact our library if your organization is interested in partnering with TBBL.
Application Update:
Parental Signatures Required for Individuals Under the Age of 18
Effective October 1, 2024, the Library of Congress has implemented a new policy that applies to both new individual applicants for NLS services and existing patrons under the age of 18.
Following is a summary of the changes:
- To receive TBBL service, all new applicants will be required to provide their date of birth.
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To be considered valid, new applications for individuals under the age of 18 must include a Parental Acknowledgment for NLS Services and Devices, signed by the applicant’s parent or legal guardian.
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Patrons enrolled prior to October 1, 2024, who are under the age of 18 and wish to continue to receive TBBL service beyond January 1, 2025, will be required to provide a signed supplemental Parental Acknowledgment form.
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Both forms are now available online.
Schools and other institutions that serve individuals under the age of 18 will also be required to complete an Institutional Acknowledgement in order to continue service. The Institutional Acknowledgement is also available online.
Questions? Please feel free to contact us at tbbl@nysed.gov or 518-474-5935 or 1-800-342-3688.
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Primary Resources in Support of Black Culture and History
The Office of Cultural Education is proud to connect educators with vast collections of primary sources to support learning.
Why primary sources? Primary sources make lessons and presentations come alive for students or participants. Materials shared provide inquiry and context clues to increase awareness and tell a story. Historical context within a narrative of primary source items prepares students to make connections for deeper understanding.
Celebrate and study black culture and history with items from the New York State Archives, New York State Library, New York State Museum, and New York State Public Broadcasting! Visit this carefully curated Black History Month webpage for resources.
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Free K-5 Platform for Educators & Learners
The Skills Enrichment website is a fun, personalized learning experience with trusted resources from PBS. The games and videos included are packaged into a single, easy-to-use platform to support teacher instruction and allow students to close learning gaps.
This free website emphasizes Math, English, and Social and Emotional Well-Being lessons for K-5 that align with New York State learning standards.
Skills Enrichment was developed in partnership by PBS stations WCNY and WPBS to present existing learning resources in an easy-to-use platform for educators.
Available at: skillsenrichment.org or pbsskills.org
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