SEEKING FALL CONFERENCE PLANNING AND FACILITATION VOLUNTEERS
Deb Goodenberger, 2016 McCook Fall Conference Chair, is seeking NATA members to help plan and facilitate the conference. A meeting will be scheduled in January. There are many roles one may choose from and volunteering in your teacher's association is another way of achieving professional growth. Please contact Deb right away if you would be interested in volunteering. Here's a few of the responsibilities in planning and facilitating a conference.

• Conference Chair: Oversees and facilitates organization and communications of entire conference planning. Solicits funding through private donation and grant writing.
• Vendor/Supply/Donation Coordinator - contacts, solicits, communicates with Vendors, Local Businesses, and Members to display goods at conference, donate supplies for workshops, donate goods for silent auction, small monetary donations, etc. Computer skills necessary with google drive and email communications.
• Registration Coordinator - Works with webmaster to set up online registration. Monitors registrations and payments. Solicits payments from participants that forget to pay. Monitors workshop registrations, etc. Computer skills necessary with google drive and email communications.
• Member Awards Banquet Coordinator: Sets up location and plans menu. Keep track of registrations and meals. Coordinate with the Caterer.
• Art Educators Exhibition Coordinator: Organizes location and plans exhibit and reception. Collaborate with Advocacy Exhibition Chairs.
• Member Presentation Coordinator: Solicits, coordinates, schedules member presentations. Work with webmaster. Computer skills necessary with google drive and email communications.
• Budget/ Financing Coordinator: Monitor conference expenses and work with conference chair to write grants, solicit monetary contributions generally from local sponsors. Computer skills necessary with google drive and email communications. Work with the treasurer to coordinate security deposits and submit requests for payments.
• Graphic Designer/ Marketing: Create conference program, fliers, thank you notes, news releases, etc. for all conference and committee needs. Computer skills necessary with google drive and email communications.  Coordinate with webmaster news releases and member communications.
• Electronics Coordinator: Organize electronic needs for presentations and workshops.
• Workshop Coordinator: Plan, solicit materials, coordinate with workshop leaders room organization, set up, supplies, etc. Work with registration coordinator to monitor workshop registration and scheduling.
• Student Member Coordinator: Work with NATA Student Representatives to organize activities of interest for PreService teachers. Solicit colleges to bring student groups. Serve as liaison between conference planning and college professors around the state.
• Worker Bees: Assist the conference chair with needs during conference. Coordinate, answer questions, facilitate electronic needs, know what is going on and help take some of the load off.
• Courtesy: Provide water, personal needs to keynote speakers, workshop leaders, assist where needed to serve the personal needs of people in charge of the conference activities.

As you know, in 2014 the State of Nebraska adopted new Educational Standards for the Fine Arts. Now, there is a FREE educational resource available for teachers of the Visual Arts. It’s a website with dozens of short video segments from some of the most accomplished artists living and working in Nebraska — all closely tied to the Standards — with more segments to come. It’s at http://www.nebraskaartists.org 
What you will find at the website is a listing of all 17 Visual Arts Educational Standards, with pop-up definitions of specific terms. Clicking on any of the standards will bring you to a listing of (at this point) at least four Nebraska artists who share their thoughts about each Standard. These are short video segments that are designed to be played in a class period to start discussions with your students. There is also a Graphic Organizer for each Standard that can be downloaded, printed out and given to your students to elicit their responses to the video segments. The segments are designed to be projected during class periods or as source material for independent student projects. 
In the coming months, the number of artists featured on the website will grow to at least 15 artists living and working in Nebraska. 
All of this is being sponsored by a partnership between MONA the Museum of Nebraska Art, NATA the Nebraska Art Teachers Association, the Joslyn Art Museum, the Sheldon Museum of Art, and the Nebraska Department of Education. Funding for the project comes from the Nebraska Arts Council, the Cooper Foundation and the Woods Charitable Fund. 
​So, please, check out this new FREE educational resource. This project is still developing, so let us know what works for you and what parts of the project could work better. For instance, if your school does not have good access to the Internet please let us know, and we’ll get you a DVD or BluRay disc with the video segments.