Notes in the Margin

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Meet Cora

Cora Bresciano
Co-Founder
Executive Director
E-mail Cora HERE


Cora wrote her first book when she was five years old; it was written on notebook paper, illustrated in crayon, and told the poignant story of a little chicken who ran away from home. It ended badly. But she succeeded in selling it. For five cents. To her mother.

Today, Cora writes fiction and non-fiction that has been featured in various publications, and several of her children's musicals have been awarded production grants from the Broward Cultural Division and have been produced at theatres in Florida and New York.  Her short story "The Mermaid" won Florida Atlantic University’s 2008 Brogan Award in Fiction, while her “American Cheese Under the Stars” was a finalist for that award in the non-fiction category in 2005.  Her educational and institutional writing encompasses creative writing  curriculum, educational materials, marketing and development pieces, advocacy appeals, and grant proposals. Her blog, Risking Delight, may be found at www.riskingdelight.blogspot.com.

As a teacher, Cora has worked with students from elementary school through the university level, teaching creative writing, English composition, creative dramatics, and music. Before co-founding Blue Planet, she also spent four years as the Resident Musical Director of The Theatre Company of Plantation, thirteen years as the Director of Foundation and Government Relations for Florida Stage, and a year as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Florida Atlantic University. She now teaches writing workshops for students and professional development workshops for teachers here at home and internationally, most recently in Mexico and England.

Having grown up in a family of immigrants from two different countries, in a house where three languages were spoken, Cora has a special interest in creating programs that use writing to bridge cultures while increasing student engagement and achievement. She presents on her work at conferences including the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Florida Atlantic University’s Global Education Symposium, and 3-Way Split’s International Forum in Great Britain.

Cora holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in English/Creative Writing from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Hofstra University in New York.

 


 





 

Meet Susan

Susan Gay Hyatt
Co-Founder
Lead Consultant
E-mail Susan HERE.


Susan has worked with young people as an arts educator for the past twelve years. She holds a BFA in Theatre from Youngstown State University, an MFA in Acting from Florida Atlantic University, and expects to graduate with a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction (focus on arts education) from FAU in 2013.

She spent two years as a counselor for youth-in-crisis at Covenant House Florida, six years as an artist-in-residence with the Center for Creative Education, and six years as the Director of Education for Florida Stage, a professional regional theatre company.

In 2008, Susan received the Muse Award for Arts Educator of the Year from the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. She is a founding member of the Council’s Cultural Education Committee and served on the Palm Beach County School District’s Arts Education Task Force Professional Development Committee. Under the auspices of Florida Stage, Susan created drama and dramatic writing programs in partnership with the Children’s Services Council’s Transitions Home for Teen Mothers, the Lord’s Place homeless shelter, the GEAR-UP program for underprivileged teens in Pahokee, Florida, and the Lake Worth Planned Parenthood’Teen Time Center.

Susan taught as an adjuct faculty member at both Lynn University and Florida Atlantic University, and was Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, a service organization that promotes international collaboration and professional theatre for children and young people. Through her positions at Florida Stage and TYA/USA, Susan created and implemented “Children of Conflict,” an international, web-based collaboration among young people in West Palm Beach, Florida and their peers in Pristina, Kosovo, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Kigali, Rwanda. The project culminated in the creation and staging of two multimedia performance pieces in April 2008 and 2009.

As an arts education program evaluator, Susan has worked with Florida Atlantic University's Museum Education Program, Arts For Learning/Miami, the Crossroads Institute in New Orleans, and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council's Building Learning Communities through Arts and Culture grant program.