Once again the Office of Arts and Special Projects is partnering with the Office of Student Enrollment and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum to present the High School Directory Cover 2D Graphic Design competition for high school students. The 12 students whose designs are selected as semi-finalists in late winter will have the opportunity to attend a 4-part weekly after-school workshop held at the Cooper-Hewitt. A leading graphic designer will work with the semi-finalist as they craft their final entries and prepare for final presentations. The winning entry will grace the cover of the High School Directory 2010-2011 and appear on other publications, CD's and T-shirts.

Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition
DEADLINE - March 12, 2010

The Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition for grades 3-12 invites students to create picture books as vehicles for expressing themselves through visual arts and creative writing. Each school may submit one book into the competition. The deadline is March 12, 2010. At an awards ceremony to be held in mid May, each borough-wide elementary, middle and high school winner will be awarded $100 and each city wide winner will be awarded $500. If you have questions that are not answered in the guideline materials above, you may contact Aaron Day at aday3@schools.nyc.gov.

The Fund for Teachers awards fellowships to preK-12 classroom teachers in selected school districts in 39 states and Washington, DC so that they may participate in training and enriching activities that will improve their skills as teachers. Applicants must propose a summer activity and explain how the activity will make the applicant a better teacher; how the applicant will implement his or her new improved skills in the classroom; and how these improved skills will benefit students, curricula, and the school. Teachers must have a minimum of three years experience and be full-time teachers spending at least 50% of their time in the classroom. Eligible teachers may apply as individuals (funding limit of $5,000) or as a team (funding limit of $10,000). The application deadline in most locations is January 29, 2010. Visit the Fund's website above for detailed fellowship guidelines for each location.

KTA PROVIDES: Twenty 49-key MIDI music keyboards with USB connecting cables; KTA interactive self-paced software (95 weeks) for 20 stations; On-site teacher/staff training session; Teacher course curriculum guide; Ongoing tech support. SCHOOL PROVIDES: Commitment to run KTA Program continuously (or equipment is returned); Student access to two 25' sessions per week; Computers with the following minimum system specifications: Mac OS10.1 to 10.4 or Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP; 128 Meg RAM or better; 350 Meg Hard Drive Space; CD-ROM Drive, 800x600, 16K colors video card, sound card; 300MHz CPU or better; Headsets; Class session attendance record and end-of-year student lesson-level attainment data; On-campus computer lab teacher or computer maintenance personnel recommended.

The Memo attached includes dates and registration information pertaining to the New York State School Music Association 2010 Adjudication Festivals. You are strongly encouraged to read this information and consider registering your students for participation in this valuable event. Please direct all questions to the zone representative, or, to the designated coordinator at your chosen Festival site.