Chuck Galey of Jackson, Mississippi will be presenting a FREE 6 hour Professional Development on Saturday, August 20th from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at O'Bannon High School for educators in Greenville Public and Western Line School District; non-GAP educators can attend the workshop for $60, offline on site payment is available. CEU credits are available for all interested participants.

Author and illustrator Chuck Galey will be teaching a Professional Development session on how to use illustrations to increase literacy, create thematic units, and add excitement to reading. Chuck has illustrated over 50 books for educational publishers around the country. Mr. Galey will demonstrate how to use an illustrated text to increase childhood literacy by using a variety of teaching methods. Participants will learn how to create hand puppets, will explore reader’s theatre and will create thematic unit boards around a given text. His strategies will have a clear connection to ELA Mississippi State Frameworks.

As a teaching artist and award winning author/illustrator of children’s books, Chuck’s goal is to inspire students to become life long readers. He has presented workshops in classrooms and libraries all over the southeast. An enthusiastic advocate of arts in the classroom as a teaching tool across the curriculum, Chuck’s programs keep students of all ages engaged and, although they don’t realize it, learning. By using proven, research-based learning strategies, Chuck’s interactive programs keep students and teachers captivated through his unique qualifications as an author/illustrator of children’s literature.

His approach to writing, reading, and art experiences encourages active student engagement and participation using creative drawing story interpretation exercises that enhance material retention and stimulates creativity.