Home | Best Arts Conference

Judy Ross, M.A.

Description: STEM +The Arts = STEAM! We’ll journey full STEAM ahead into engaging activities based on traditional stories, songs, chants, and poems. Activities are designed to help children build 21st century skills (e.g., creativity, innovation, and collaboration), as well as strengthen skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and the Arts (e.g., visual arts, creative movement and music, and dramatic play). Stories and related activities include Jack and the Beanstalk (creating a beanstalk that supports a castle and features a zipline escape route); Baa Baa Black Sheep (“wool” creations, and cotton estimations); There Was a Crooked Man (bendable creations that balance); The Itsy Bitsy Spider (creating a strong web to support a wet spider and its lunch); and more!

Bio: Judy Ross is an award-winning early childhood educator with 38 years of experience teaching Preschool-2nd grade. She writes and presents webinars and workshops for local, state, and national conferences, including NAEYC and many of its state affiliates; the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI); Head Start; Young Child Learning; ContinuED; and more .In addition to creating and presenting workshops and webinars, Judy currently teaches STEAM classes for homeschool groups, and conducts summer classes (Arts and Crafts Projects You Can Eat! and Journey Into, Through, and Beyond a Story With STEAM Explorations), as part of the summer College for Kids program at Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ.

Sundrina Cottrell

Description: Come join this fun, interactive LIVE STORYTELLING workshop! Become a super storyteller by learning a wide variety of engaging techniques, new songs/rhymes/stories (some in Spanish), story time management tips, expansion activities, puppet handling approaches, and so much more! Discover new ways to make those meaningful connections, encourage participation, streamline the road to literacy, build vocabulary, nurture executive function, and mitigate challenges for our ELL and SpEd population! Identify relevant Core Standards and DRDP Measures as we move seamlessly from Infant development, through Preschool and on to Kindergarten curriculum. This workshop is unique, hands-on and keeps best practices at the core of it all. Take home a 25 page handout filled with over 100 rhymes, stories, songs and teaching guides that you will be able to use the very next day! Get ready to BE INSPIRED and HAVE FUN!

Bio: Sundrina Cottrell has been presenting storytelling workshops for the past 12 years in a variety of settings including conferences, libraries, staff enrichments in private and public schools, online venues, and colleges. After earning her degree in Child Development she gained practical experience in the preschool and home care settings where she honed her skills and gained a deep understanding of children, teachers, families, curriculum and the importance keeping best practices at the core of it all.

She continues her education in the conference settings as well as her own personal reading time as she dives into various topics such as Differentiated Instruction and Positive Discipline, the Montessori Approach, California Common Core Standards, DRDP Measures, Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals, Early Learning Foundations, and STEM.

Sundrina has also been working with felt and making puppets for most of her life, as well as helping others to learn how to create their own storytelling pieces. During the course of developing curriculum to pair with puppets and felt stories, Sundrina has had the honor of collaborating with some top figures in our field such as Dr. Jean Barbre (Baby Steps to STEM), The Reading Machine Staff at Los Angeles Public Library, Vanessa Levin (PreK Pages), Jamie White (Play to Learn Preschool), Dr. Douglas H Clements (learningtrajectories.org), to name a few. This presenter’s mission has always been to inspire and uplift. The interactive presentations she offers are sought after for her enthusiasm, knowledge and hands-on engagement.

Quinn Hunter McGonagle, M.A.

Description: Participants will learn about creating happy preschool classrooms with empathy and prosocial behaviors as a foundation, then create a "peace mural" with collage materials. Documentation of children’s work as well as related books, materials, and work samples will be shared.

Bio: Quinn Hunter McGonagle has been in the early childhood education field since 2001. She holds a Master of Science degree in child development from the Erikson Institute. With her start as a toddler teacher at a day care in Santa Cruz while earning her bachelor’s degree in sociology and art, she went on to become a lead and master teacher, parent education coordinator, children's art teacher (pre-k through 8th grade), educational consultant, as well as an administrator in various schools and organizations across the country. Internationally, Quinn consulted with a preschool in Puttalam, Sri Lanka. She led workshops and professional development opportunities for teachers and helped to open a preschool in downtown Chicago during her time as a graduate student.

Quinn is currently the Associate Director at Pacific Oaks Children’s School, a doctoral student in the Leadership in Early Childhood Education Department at Pacific Oaks College, a "Toddler & Me" teacher at The Family Room on the weekends, and a mom of a pre-teen. She lives with her husband, daughter, and adopted greyhound in Sierra Madre Canyon.

Arleen Lujan, M.A.

Description: Discover how stories inspire experiments, experiments inspire art, and art brings stories to life—creating hands-on, joyful learning that preschoolers love.

Bio: Arleen Lujan is a preschool teacher with over 35 years of experience in early childhood education. She holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, and truly believes that learning should be joyful, hands-on, and full of wonder. Arleen loves creating playful experiences where children explore science, express themselves through art, and bring stories to life.

Juliana Escudero, M.A.

Description: The workshop will provide educators with information on how to create various forms of story stones. Finding another way to tell a story that is both fun and exciting to educators and children. Every participant will design their own stonefish to take home.

Bio: Juliana Escudero’s interest in the field of Early Childhood Education began as a student at Cerritos College where she earned her A.A. in Early Childhood Development. Driven by a commitment of lifelong learning, she continued her education attending the University of La Verne (BS Child Development), and California State University, Long Beach; Early Childhood Development (MA). Currently she is enrolled in Pacific Oaks College to complete her Ed.D. in Early Childhood Education.

The Montessori philosophy has been a great inspiration because of the emphasis on fostering autonomy in children from an early age. She believes that every child is born with the capacity for free choice, and that teachers play a crucial role in guiding children to become self-reliant and reach their fullest potential. As a substitute teacher for Blossom Montessori, Juliana is dedicated to nurture both children and fellow educators as they grow into the next generation of confident leaders.

Michelle Moen, M.A.

Description:This workshop introduces creative movement as a playful and meaningful tool to support young children’s self-expression, imagination, and overall development. Participants will explore simple movement activities that you can use right away in the classroom.

Bio: Michelle received her Masters Degree from CSULB and teaches at El Camino College. She has over 20 years of experience teaching young children in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California. She also keeps busy with her roles as a consultant, guest speaker, artist, and professional storyteller.

Monique Le, M.A.

Description: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” - Peter Drucker.

Join in on an engaging and interactive discussion combining playful stories and purposeful practices. We as educators know that culture influences and shapes identity but let’s take a minute (or 75) to reflect and remember when an early childhood educational environment honors culture, it empowers children with the ability to function confidently and respectfully in a shared world. Leave inspired and ready foster connections through story times rooted in culture.

Bio: Monique Le, Early Childhood Enthusiast, has spent the last two decades in the field of Early Childhood Education/Child Development. She received her B.S. in Child Development from the University of La Verne and soon after her Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Pacific Oaks College. Monique has been recognized throughout her career for her vibrant leadership, her advocacy toward inclusive practices, and dedication to facilitating exceptionally enriched early childhood experiences. At last year’s BEST Arts Conference, she led a workshop titled, “The Sights, the Sounds, the SENSEsational Benefits to Sensory-Rich Story Telling” and this year she is continuing the conversation as a tribute to all the literacy-loving educators she had the incredible honor of meeting.

Norma A. Nakamura, M.A.

Description: This interactive workshop invites elementary teachers to dive into four dynamic STEAM projects that blend hands-on exploration with engaging YouTube shorts, description, and demonstration. Participants will uncover the science, technology, engineering, art, and math woven into each activity, discovering new ways to spark curiosity in their classrooms. By working with everyday materials, teachers will gain fresh insights and confidence to inspire their students through creative, meaningful STEAM learning.

Bio: Norma A. Nakamura is a Master Teacher at Pacific Oaks Children’s School with over 8 years of experience working at Pacific Oaks and 13 years in the Covina Unified School District as a Parent Education teacher. She holds a master's degree in leadership in Education from Pacific Oaks College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources Management/Business Administration from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a Child Development Certificate from the Regional Occupational Center. She has taught children ages 2-5 in both school settings. Her focus is on creating a fun, interactive, and hands-on environment. As a teacher, she enjoys bringing the world to life through music, cooking, gardening, movement, and STEAM activities. Outside of teaching, Norma loves hiking, running, surfing, biking, cooking/baking, and gardening. She is looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Sylvette Frazier, M.A.

Description:Printing with Nature in Early Childhood Education is a hands-on workshop that invites participants to explore the beauty of the natural world through eco-friendly printmaking techniques using leaves, flowers, and other organic materials. Discover how this creative experience inspired by nature can connect multi-disciplinary learning domains.

Bio: Sylvette Frazier is an Arts and Nature Pedagogist specializing in Early Childhood Education, Visual Arts, and nature-based learning. She uses the expressive arts and the natural world as pathways for exploration and discovery. She holds an M.A. in Early Childhood/Primary Education and a B.A. in Child Development and has worked in the field for several decades. In 2015, she founded Connecting Children to Art in Nature, offering art and nature-based experiences for schools and families in both private and public settings. In addition to her teaching and program development, she maintains an art practice that informs her pedagogy. She also presents her work and research at conferences, and workshops sharing her commitment to creative, art and nature-centered learning.