Sean is the founder of and Senior Consultant for Focus 5, Inc., and author of the book Acting Right: Building a Cooperative, Collaborative, Creative Classroom Community Through Drama. He holds a BFA degree in Acting and studied acting in London, England. Sean has worked in the field of arts integration for 35 years. He leads residencies for students K-8, presents workshops for teachers, and has designed training seminars for teaching artists nationwide for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is a National Teaching Artist for the Kennedy Center as well as an arts coach for their Changing Education Through the Arts program.

Melanie is a National Board Certified Teacher, certified reading specialist, and co-owner and Senior Consultant for Focus 5, Inc. She designs and leads workshops, in-depth courses, and summer institutes focused on aligning arts integration, best instructional practices, and current research in the fields of arts and education. Melanie is a National Teaching Artist, course leader and instructional arts coach for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art’s Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program. She also served as the CETA program consultant for five years, working with teaching artists to develop and evaluate workshops presented at the Kennedy Center.

Lynne Silverstein has 50 years’ experience in designing and leading programs in arts education, arts integration, and professional learning for educators and teaching artists. In addition, she spent almost a decade teaching visual arts in the public schools. Lynne designed and directed Kennedy Center’s award-winning national program that established partnerships between arts organizations and schools and directed the Kennedy Center’s local Professional Development Program for Teachers.

For over 30 years Amy Duma was the Director of Teacher and School Programs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Duma was responsible for the Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program which provides professional learning for teachers to learn about the arts as well as how to integrate the arts with other subjects. In addition, she oversaw the CETA Partner Schools program which seeks to affect school-wide change through arts integration.

Daniel holds a master’s degree in Education from New York University and has pioneered the use of shadow puppetry in diverse formal and informal educational settings around the world. He leads residencies for students K-8, presents workshops for teachers Pre-K to 12, and as the Director of Firelight Shadow Theater, conducts assembly programs of best-loved folktales from around the world. He has been a National Teaching Artist with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since 2010.

Garrett Brown, a national teaching artist, specializes in cartooning, illustration, and sequential art (comic books). Powered by a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Missouri Kansas City and a Master's in Elementary Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis, he combines over a decade of experience as an Art Specialist with a deep understanding of classroom dynamics. Based in Kansas City with his family, Garrett crafts engaging projects that resonate with both students and educators alike.

Harlan has worked in the field of arts integration for 40 years. He leads residencies for students K-12, presents workshops for teachers, and has led training seminars for teaching artists nationwide. Since 2002, Harlan has been a National Teaching Artist with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Harlan specializes in the integration of STEM curriculum with creative movement and dance. He holds a BFA in dance and a MA in Educational Research and Psychology.

Jamin is an educator, activist, artist, and minister who holds a BFA in sculpture and painting and a MAT in visual art education. As a public school teacher he has worked in several diverse, Title One classrooms ranging from elementary art to high school studio art and AP art history. Jamin is a national Kennedy Center teaching artist and leads visual art and drama-based workshops in schools, museums, and arts centers across the country. As an artist, he participates in exhibitions, facilitates panel discussions, and occasionally curates shows.

Lorena Cervantes has been a Dance Integration teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools for over a decade. She is a national workshop leader for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and a professional dancer.

Lorena was a professor of dance at the National University of Costa Rica, and the director of the National Dance Company. She has a MFA in dance and was a Master Artist for the Wolf Trap Institute Early Learning through the Arts program.

Imani is a professional world/jazz vocalist, National Kennedy Center teaching artist, and children’s author. Her voice is featured on many of the National Geographic Television’s Explorer Series soundtracks. Imani has taught in the DC public school system and in private schools as a traditional world music teacher. She has had the honor of performing, touring, and recording with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for eight consecutive years. She has written two children’s world books entitled, Dhimiki and Iyipo Aye.

Dr. Ryan Hourigan is a professor of music education at Ball State University. Hourigan is the co-author (Alice Hammel) of Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Label-free Approach, as well as the book Teaching Music to Students with Autism. In 2009, Hourigan co-founded the Prism Project (prismprojectbsu.org). This program provides an opportunity for Ball State students to gain skills teaching students with exceptionalities.

Jessica holds a master’s degree in Elementary Education as well as a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Theater Arts from Rutgers University. She has been joyfully integrating the arts and facilitating project-based learning in Pre-K to 12th grade classrooms since 2006, and she’s led professional development workshops for teachers and school leaders since 2013. She is the Arts Integration Specialist for Any Given Child Sarasota, a national consultant, and a coach and mentor to educators, teaching artists and leaders across the nation.

A professional Theatre for Youth director, actor and John F. Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist, Kassie received her MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences from ASU and in 2008, Kassie founded Trike Theatre: Northwest Arkansas’ professional theatre for youth and families. For the past 20 years, she has been implementing arts integration residencies, coaching teachers, and training teaching artists.

MOLODI is a body percussion ensemble that blends stepping, beatbox, dance, and immersive storytelling with robust personalities... smothered in a big dollop of funk. Molodi’s members share a love of rhythm and a passion to explore music and stories created with only their bodies. They have choreographed and performed with productions including Cirque du Soleil, Stomp, Step Afrika, Usher, Stomp The Yard, corporate campaigns, cruise ships, television, film, and theaters across the globe. When home, Molodi teaches through their arts education program, Molodi Unplugged, which reaches over 20,000 students per year.

Jason Nious’ background with high school step teams and NCAA gymnastics set the stage for him to perform extensively with Cirque du Soleil, Usher, Stomp, Step Afrika, and numerous theatre and film productions throughout his career. Currently he is an Artist in Residence with the International Museum of Dance. Jason is the founder and director of Molodi, an award winning body percussion ensemble. Molodi's arts education program, reaches over 20,000 students per year.

Angie Russo holds a master’s degree in Administration and Supervision and bachelor’s degrees in both Art History and Psychology, with teaching credentials in elementary education, special education, and administration. She is currently an Art and Technology Integration Specialist. For over 30 years Angie has taught students of all ages, in both general and special education. She has led technology and art initiatives to create access for all students and collaborates with nationally recognized arts integration leaders, community action teams, local art and cultural centers, colleges, and teacher leaders to affect systemic educational transformation.

Visual artist/ sculptor, Kay Thomas, holds a BFA and MFA in ceramics and is a national teaching artist with Focus 5 and the Kennedy Center. With over 35 years of experience in art integration, Kay is a designer/presenter of integrated arts experiences for students and teachers that guide participants in translating concepts from the curriculum into visual works of art. Teachers learn how they can actively teach objectives by using a student created art product.

For years, Sam Tidwell was a classroom teacher at a Kennedy Center Turnaround Arts school in California. Rooted in his teaching experience, Sam's primary directive as a teaching artist is to help his students grow and learn in an engaging, healing, and rigorous way. Nationally, he trains schools in behavior literacy and the arts through Acting Right and his residency Academic Songwriting. He also founded Avatar Arts and runs art classes in his hometown.

Paige Whelan is a problem solver! She strengthened this muscle during her 20 year career in education, which included creating media arts workshops for the Kennedy Center’s Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program. As a 5th grade teacher at a Title I CETA school in Virginia, she regularly integrated visual, dramatic, and media arts strategies and became a National Board Certified Teacher and Teacher of the Year.

Trained in traditional arts and dance in her native Osaka, Japan, origami artist Kuniko Yamamoto has lived in Florida since 1992.

Kuniko received national exposure performing Japanese Storytelling at the Silk Road International Exposition and on Kansai National TV in 1985. Over the last three decades she has presented her programs throughout the United States. She received the Tempo Award from Origami USA in 2007. As a passionate artist and teacher, Kuniko opened Origami Air Art Studio in 2017.