Fiona's Fidget An Invention Adventure

William Shakin is an author and entrepreneur who aims to embrace the world through greater communication and service to those near and far. With the completion of the his first children's book, he has taken the first step on a path he hopes to follow for years to come.
 
After graduating from North Shore Hebrew Academy in June 2018, he has taken time off where he plans to develop and utilize a strong skill set. In his free time, he works as a freelance DJ and plays NCAA Division III club baseball.

Peter Suchmann's passion for Science, Nature, Magic and Illusion began over 50 years ago with his parents. His Dad was a mechanical engineer by profession, who enjoyed tinkering and fixing things. His Mom was a nature lover and a very organized homemaker, who planned amazing adventures for his family. When ever he travelled, he always spent time amongst trees and enjoyed the scenery all around himself. At some point in his childhood, his Dad started teaching him some card tricks and his life long passions were now fully imbedded.

He worked in retail- primarily with toys and games-as he went through high school and college. He began college as a Psychology Major but switched over to K-8 Education, which he studied at Queens College. A summer job as a counsellor at a camp in Connecticut finalized his career track and he began his student teaching and subbing career in Great Neck Schools. He was quickly excessed as schools began to close in the mid 80's and he found himself a K-8 science teacher at the North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck. He worked there joyfully for 5 years and then he moved over to the Great Neck Public Schools as a tenure track Middle School Science Teacher and then eventually he became the Science Department Chair. His Masters from Queens College was in Environmental Science and his teaching schedule was filled with teaching Earth Science and running a department of 10 talented teachers. He took many creative summer P.D. courses over the years involving Earth Watch, the Sierra Club, Disney World and many others. His Administrative Degree was from M.C.L.A.- which focused heavily on S.T.E.A.M. education- with the Arts at the Center. He retired in 2010 after 30 wonderful years as a K-8 science teacher. After retiring, he tried his hand at a few start ups and eventually found myself back in the classroom—doing what he does best—trying to make science exciting and fun.

He currently work at the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School as a part time Science Research mentor / teacher and Maker Space developer. Previously, he offered Magic and Science classes and Martian Science classes at the Center for Gifted Youth at the L.I.U. - C. W. Post Campus. In 2014, he travelled to South Africa to meet V.P. Al Gore and to participate in his Climate Science Leadership Training Program. He works locally with Operation Splash, a Long Island award-winning environmental group in Freeport and help them with their Educational Outreach Program.

When he looks back upon my teaching career, he smiles. It was lots of fun, amidst endless hours of schoolwork and homework. For almost 40 years, he has developed lesson plans for Magic, Math and Science and offered them to teachers through a company he started called Magic Moments with Class. His passion for teaching teachers how to weave magic and illusion into their classrooms, has been a very satisfying element of his teaching career

In conclusion, retirement is busier than ever and he wouldn't want it any other way. He is dismayed by the current lack of creative enjoyment that he perceives to be a major dilemma in classrooms today. Teaching for tests is very stressful and not what teachers entered the profession to do. As they say in the world of education, the pendulum will swing back and creativity and joy will hopefully soon return to the classroom for all teachers and their students.

This book project happened because an administrator with vision, runs a school where creativity is encouraged and given time to flourish. In this environment, real learning takes place, assessments are authentic and creativity is rewarded.
 
Elizabeth Sargeant is an illustrator, based in New York. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She currently works as a freelance illustrator specializing mostly in children's book illustration and cover illustrations.

She's had a lifelong passion for children's book illustration. Using traditional watercolor techniques with a large focus on painterly and distorted figures and environments she brings a heavier focus on style and storytelling. She gathers inspiration from traveling the streets of New York City often life drawing and continued studies in anatomy and painting techniques as well as a love for animals, museums and cinema.
 
Joe Herman is an animator, post-production artist, motion designer and filmmaker. Joe went to The School of Visual Arts. Upon graduation, he started his career working in visual communications. After a series of positions he eventually became an animator, compositor, designer and director working in both 3D and 2D. He has worked for production companies, advertising agencies as well as broadcast networks on a wide range of projects including commercials, television programs and independent productions. He also spent years teaching motion design at The School of Visual Arts. Joe is proficient in such software as CINEMA 4D, After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, Pro Tools, Resolve, Studio One and more.
 
In addition to his creative animation and design work, Joe writes articles about post-production and technology.