Dr. Mary Palmer -
In General Sessions, Mary will share the “why” and “how” of integrating the arts throughout your school programs. You’ll see images that emphasize the importance of arts integration for teachers and students both. You’ll experience classroom-tested successful strategies and materials for making excellence a reality in your school.

In Friday’s Planning Session, led by Mary, you will develop a concrete arts integration plan to create an exciting and dynamic environment for learning in your schools and/or community organization. You will leave the Institute with your success plan for 2009-2010 in hand!

Dr. Mary Palmer

Mary's specialty is arts education for children and youth in both school and community settings. She has served as Professor of Music Education, Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music Education, and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Florida. Since 1985, she has served as senior author of multiple Pre-Kindergarten through grade 8 music textbook series published by Silver Burdett/Scott Foresman; these books are used by teachers and students worldwide. She is the Founder and first Director of Florida’s Arts for a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education; this program has been instrumental in developing programs and policies affecting arts education in Florida. She has taught in colleges, universities and PK – 12 schools throughout the United States as well as in England, Italy, Germany, Panama, South Africa, Japan, and Peru. Her extensive travels and teaching experiences are evident in her global perspective. Her many awards include recognition from Florida’s Governor, Legislature, and Department of State for her leadership in Arts Education; ACE of Hearts; Pi Delta Kappa Educator of the Year; Florida Music Educators Hall of Fame; UCF Quill Award. She was named a Fulbright Scholar to research in South America. Mary holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois.

Susan Rosoff

Susan has developed numerous interdisciplinary curriculum materials to support Museum collections and exhibitions in her former role as Curator of Education at Orlando Museum of Art. She was the Project Director of “Learning Florida History Through the Murals of Christopher Still,” and “Exploring Uncle Monday and Other Florida Tales” projects coordinated through Florida Department of Education and ACE/FAAE. She is a frequent presenter for both teachers and museum educators. She has received the Briarcliff College Alumnae Award as well as awards from United Arts of Central Florida, the Florida Art Education Association, and the Florida Alliance for Arts Education (ACE/FAAE.)

Kelli Cummins-Branson

Kelli holds a BFA in Dance and her
Master’s in Interdisciplinary Arts. In 2005, she was appointed by the Florida Secretary of State to serve on the Arts and Education Grant Panel Review Board. Kelli has written numerous educational programs for Voci and was awarded a grant from Arts for a Complete Education for her project integrating language arts, visual arts and dance. She is currently on staff at the Dellecave Institute of NY where she teaches K-5 educators how to incorporate movement into their
classrooms. Kelli also serves as the marketing manager for IBEX Puppetry.

Debbie Fahmie

Debbie has taught elementary music for 19 years. She has served as President of the Osceola Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the Osceola Arts for a Complete Education Coalition and the Osceola Center for the Arts. Currently, Debbie serves as Past President of the Florida Elementary Music Educators Association and President of Central Florida Orff Chapter. She is a member of the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) Mentor Program, the FMEA Assessment Task Force and Writing Team, the Grade Level Expectations Writing Team and Project Manager for Start With the Arts Curriculum Writing Team. Debbie served with the Florida Department of Education as an evaluator for the Florida Music Demonstration Schools. She is a trainer for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She has taught through Stetson’s Community Outreach Program and is the contemporary choir director at Holy Redeemer Church in Kissimmee..

She has been the recipient of various awards, including:

2001 United Arts Educator of the Year

2003 Arts for a Complete Education (ACE) Educator of the Year

2005/2006 Osceola County Arts Teacher of the Year

2008 FMEA State Music Educator of the Year

2008 Osceola County Teacher of the Year

2008 State Finalist for Florida Teacher of the Year.

Debbie has presented workshops throughout Florida, as well as at ASCD, AOSA, TMEA and SWMENC. In 2008, under Debbie’s arts education leadership, Cypress Elementary School (Osceola County) was named a National School of Distinction in Arts Education (one of six in the nation) by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. To receive the award, Debbie and 27 of her students performed on the Millenium Stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Dr. Linda Lovins

Dr. Lovins is an experienced choral and general music educator with degrees from the Crane School of Music, State University College at Potsdam, New York (B.M., M.M.) and The Florida State University School of Music (Ph.D.). She taught public school music from 1980 to 1998 and held a number of district-, county-, and state-level leadership positions. Dr. Lovins developed the music education curriculum for Buffalo State College in New York State. She is Director of Music at Lafayette Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, Florida and has served as Program Director for Arts for a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education (ACE/FAAE).

Scott Evans

Scott received his Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Central Florida and is a recipient of the National Board Teacher Certification. He taught music at the elementary, middle and high school levels and has served as a guest clinician and conductor of honor choruses throughout Florida.

Director of OCAEC since its beginning in 2007, Scott is thrilled to be leading the Center in building connectivity, collaboration, and support among Orange County’s leaders, citizens, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and businesses. The major goal of the Center is to make high-quality arts education accessible and a source of pride to all.

Susan Burke

Susan Burke brings a wide range of experience to her role of Executive Director at the Florida Alliance for Arts Education.  She was Director of Education at the Sarasota County Arts Council from 2002 - 2005 where she coordinated the Artists in Schools program which brought professional artists into Sarasota Public Schools classrooms to teach reading, math, science, and social studies curriculum. Since 2002, she has served on the Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts, an Advisory Committee to the District Superintendent and on the Arts Education Task Force, a community coalition that supports arts education in Sarasota County. Susan played a pivotal role last year in developing and advancing a strategy to integrate Career, Technical Education and Arts courses in high school Small Learning Communities in the Sarasota Schools so that graduating seniors have been taught to the professional standards required in a number of careers in the arts.  Since 1996, she has administered Encore! Ensemble Theatre Workshop, a summer program that brings together teens from around the world to study and create theatre.

In addition to her work in arts education, Burke, who has an MBA in Integrative Management from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Toledo, has extensive experience in the private sector in project management, information management, new media and marketing, and nuclear power plant licensing.

Jude Goodier-Mojher

The Orlando Museum of Art Education Department provides experiences in the visual arts to more than 20,000 students each year. Jude Goodier-Mojher, Associate Curator of Youth and Family Programs, has been a member of the department for over ten years. She holds a BFA from Indiana University and a Graduate Certificate in Maya Studies from the University of Central Florida. Previous to her career in museum education, Jude worked as a graphic designer, served as a coordinator for Arty-Facts (an ADDitions program for Orange County Schools); she received an Outstanding ADDitions Volunteer of the Year award. She previously served as co-coordinator for a parent education program for Valencia Community College. Her interest in the visual arts is inspired by the spontaneous connection that children make to all sorts of artistic expression. Jude uses her energies daily to provide children’s programming that enriches their lives while developing vital learning skills.

Bob Dolan

Bob Dolan recently joined the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre as Director of Education. He served in a similar capacity for 8 years at Foothills Theatre in Worcester, MA, where he founded the Foothills Theatre School, the Children’s Theatre Company and expanded their Education Department to serve over 9000 school children per year. Prior to Foothills he was the Director of the Conservatory acting program for the Actors Workshop of Boston, and worked with Musical Theatreworks of NYC in the new musical development series. A professional actor for 40 years, his credits range from On and Off-Broadway and National Tours to most of the major Regional Theatres in New England. He is a graduate of Boston College and has trained at Circle-in-the-Square and HB Studios in NYC and as a member of Shakespeare and Company of Lenox, MA.