Photograph by Jonathan Root at Roosevelt Middle School, New Bedford, MA.

Shine a light onto mental wellness at your school system with a school visit from author Cara Bean! Her engaging, educational, and empathetic approach makes her an excellent choice for inspiring students and enriching your school community. These visits are designed to inspire creativity, promote mental health awareness, and foster a love for drawing and storytelling among participants of all ages.

What can you expect in an Author Visit with Cara Bean?:

Schools can opt for a presentation, a workshop, or both!

In her presentations, Cara Bean speaks to a classroom or large assembly of students about her life as a cartoonist and her book. Students will experience a live reading and get introduced to basic neuroscience through the power of cartooning. They walk away with an awareness of their brains, coping skills, sleep hygiene, and who students can go to if they need help with social/emotional issues at their school.

In her workshops, Cara Bean actively guides students to focus on their minds while drawing together. She emphasizes the therapeutic benefits of drawing, helping participants to relax, focus, and express themselves through drawing and comics. She provides practical techniques and exercises to develop drawing skills and boost creativity.​ Cara Bean’s purpose is to reduce stress, tap into creativity, and attend to the ideas of all participants.

What curriculum would the author visit with Cara Bean support? 

Health & Wellness / Mental Health Education

The content covers mental-health topics: the brain, emotions, feelings, stigma, anxiety, depression, substance use, how to get help.

The visit is directly relevant to health/PE curriculum, wellness programs, social-emotional learning (SEL) initiatives.

English Language Arts (ELA) / Literacy / Graphic Novels

The book is a graphic-novel style illustrated guide, which supports reading, visual literacy, and nonfiction graphic novels.

Cara explores how illustration + text work together to explain complex ideas. 

Art / Visual Arts

As both author and illustrator, Cara connects with the art department: drawing, comics, visual storytelling, how to express feelings and mental states visually.

Science (Neuroscience / Psychology) / Social Studies

The book covers how the brain works, parts of the brain, what happens during emotions and trauma, etc.

Advisory / Homeroom / Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) / Guidance Counselor Sessions

Visits can be helpful to any schools that have advisory, homeroom, or guidance periods where topics like identity, feelings, mental health are discussed.

It is also an opportunity to shine a light on wellness resources at the school!

SPEAKING FEES: 
(travel costs not included)

Single session: $500  (Either a presentation or a doodle workshop.)

Half Day (2 events): $800 

Full Day (3-4 events): $1,500

2 Day Visit to reach an entire grade: $2,500

This visit begins with a presentation for all students in an auditorium followed by workshops for individual groups of 25-50 students in the library or a large classroom space.

Artist In Residence (a week-long intensive visit): $5,000

This is a tailored experience for your school’s needs. This may include more collaboration with staff, curriculum support, smaller classes with repeat visits with selected students, emphasis on art installation/exhibition, potential after-school programming with clubs, or additional presentations for caretakers/community members.

Funding Assistance:
Schools in Massachusetts can apply for a Creative Experiences Grant from the Mass Cultural Council to cover two full days of events. Grants of $5,000 are available for school-based projects that foster creative learning experiences in the arts, sciences, and humanities for K-12 students. If you are interested in applying for funding for a school-based project in the 2026-2027 school year, that application will open in Spring 2026.

Learn more here: https://massculturalcouncil.org/organizations/creative-experiences/

TESTIMIONIALS:

Author, Cara Bean gave an outstanding presentation to our 6th and 7th grade students on her book, Here I Am, I Am Me: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health. Our students appreciated hearing and learning from Cara as she taught about mental health through illustrative characters. Cara’s discussion on the varied aspects of mental health, enabled students to start considering what is happening with their feelings and emotions daily.  By interacting with Cara, students were able to see that actual people create the books they read, and our staff trusts this connection has made literature more relatable and engaging, encouraging even reluctant readers to explore different genres. What was equally impressive was Cara's transparency in her responses to student inquiries, which clearly impacted some of the students’ aspirations. As one student shared while leaving the presentation, “I feel like my ideas are now worth sharing with my family, classmates and teachers.” 
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André Morgan, Ph.D., Ed.L.D.
Chief Opportunity, Access and Equity Officer
Beverly Public Schools

We had the honor and privilege of collaborating with Cara Bean in several impactful ways, including an artist-in-residence program that emphasized creativity and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in relation to the brain, an after-school workshop for students eager to explore the connection between their creativity and brain function, and as the keynote speaker at our Dendrites Conference, which was attended by all students and staff.

Cara’s presentations are clear, meaningful, and engaging, making complex concepts about the brain and learning both valuable and actionable. Students quickly connected with Cara’s empathetic and approachable nature, feeling comfortable asking questions and actively participating in the learning process.

We’ve added copies of Here I Am, I Am Me to our school library, and they have become popular among students. Many have commented that the book is “just right” for them, appreciating how the images and complex ideas are presented in a way that is easy to understand. Students have noted that this is one of the first books that has helped them gain a better understanding of how their brains work.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with Cara Bean as we strive to support our learners in strengthening their metacognitive skills.
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Tobey Eugenio
Learning Experience Designer & 
Art and  STEAM Educator
Our Sisters’School


It was wonderful to have Cara speak with our students about the importance of seeking support for adolescent mental health. This is a topic that is critical particularly during this time and her book makes these topics accessible for students to learn about. The support team and I enjoyed partnering with Cara on preparing her presentation. She took our feedback and created a developmentally age-appropriate presentation. We enjoyed learning about her creative process and students loved having a chance to speak with her and get an autographed book. Every parent and educator should get the book. It's a must-read! 
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Dr. Rochelle C. Reodica (she/her/siya)
Head of School 
The Independent Day School

Cara Bean will draw cartoon “superheroes” of the a school’s guidance counselors and highlight them as part of her presentation. These counselors are from Roosevelt Middle School and Athen Academy. Who do you want to celebrate?