Top Row: Carrie Lobman, Veronica Savage, Marie Carmel Grube, Gisela Joyce, Allison Addison   

Bottom Row: Nilaja Mussa, Jessica Bowen, Esther Moran, Lauren Jacobs, Faye Cassell

Allison Addison is a third grade teacher at PS 399 in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. She received her B.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. As a product of the NYC school system herself, she is aware of the challenges teachers face in their efforts to provide an equal and sufficient education for all children. She joined the DTFP because she believes strongly in the importance of cultivating the voice of young urban children.

Jessica Tiare Bowen teaches first and second grade at The Damrosch Day Treatment School in the Bronx, New York. She works with children who have been diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders. As part of her efforts to broaden the cultural experiences of her students (many of whom have never left the Bronx) she organizes field trips for young people to explore their city. She was introduced to the Developing Teachers Program through her volunteer work at the All Stars Project, a performance based supplemental education program.

Faye Bankler Casell is a preschool teacher at the Washington Market School. She received her B.A. in theatre from Smith College and worked as an actor in New York for several years. She earned her Master’s degree at Teachers College, where she merged her two passions of performance and early childhood education and studied the value of storytelling and improvisation for the social development of preschoolers.

Lauren Jacobs is a 10th grade English and 12th grade theatre arts teacher at The Heritage School in East Harlem.  She earned a B.A. in English and theatre from Oberlin College. While in college she traveled to London via the Danenberg program to study English theatre and culture, and spent a semester in NYC through the Trinity/Lamama program to study theatre, performance and philosophy.  She received her M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Arts Education Program where her focus was the study of literacy, literature, and psychology in and through the art of performance. 

Gisela Arzuaga Joyce has taught for seventeen years at the Bilingual Bicultural Mini-School/PS 182 in East Harlem, New York. She has taught all grade levels from K-6. Gisela has worked to expand her students’ education by participating in workshops with NASA, The Museum of Natural History, The Bronx Zoo and Lincoln Center. Last year her fifth grade students were the youngest participants in the National Model United Nations.

Esther Moran is a bilingual education teacher at PS 8, The Luis Belliard School in Washington Heights which has a large immigrant population primarily from the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Esther began her career as an educator in the Peace Corps in Guatemala during the late ‘90s. She was recruited to work as a NYC public school teacher in the shortage area of Bilingual Education.

Nilaja Mussa is a first grade teacher at the Nishuane Elementary School, a magnet school in Montclair, New Jersey for the gifted and talented. This term begins her 22nd year as an educator. She earned a B.A. in Early Childhood Education at Kean College and an M.A. in Instruction and Curriculum: English as a Second Language from Kean University. She is a member of the Phi Kappa honor society. She grew up in Jamaica and has traveled often to Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Africa as part of teacher delegations.

Veronica Rivera Savage is a school social worker at City-as-School High School in New York City where she has worked for the past seven years. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a double major in Human and Organizational Development, and earned her M.S.W. from Fordham University. Veronica grew up in New York City where she attended an alternative high school that allowed her to learn “outside the box.” She is committed to helping young people develop the strength and vision that she received from her family and her community.

2006-7 Developing Teachers Fellows

Top Row: Brianna Avenia-Tapper, Marcelline Theodule, Tresa Elguera, Gayle Weintraub,

Maria Soto, Townsend West, Patricia Da Silva    

Bottom Row: Yvette Nesbeth, Heather Barfield, Carrie Lobman, Rachel Farmer, Jill McLaughlin

Brianna Avenia-Tapper is currently teaching third grade ESL at P.S. 1 in Brooklyn. She received her B.A. in Theater Arts from Bard College and Masters in Education from Long Island University. Fluent in Russian, Brianna has worked as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in Russia. She has also been a nursery school teaching assistant, directed children’s theater and acted in over thirty plays. Brianna considers herself a “child-centered educator” and sees teaching as a “dynamic and artistic act.”

Heather Barfield is a teacher at Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School in Brooklyn, involved in the 4R’s (Reading, Writing, Respect, Resolution) program, which teaches students conflict resolution strategies through the use of literature and other creative outlets. Heather received her B.A. in psychology from Hunter College and Masters in Computers in Education from Long Island University. She has written, directed and produced plays for the classroom, coached students of acting, and sees role-play and puppetry as important for learning and for conflict resolution.

Patricia Da Silva is an English teacher at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx. She received her B.A. in English with an English Secondary Teacher Certificate from Stony Brook University and Masters as a Reading Specialist from Columbia University’s Teachers College. Patricia grew up in Portugal. While she has no formal performing experience, she views her teaching as her “greatest performance yet.”

Tresa Elguera teaches ninth grade Spanish and is a Staff Developer at Brooklyn Collaborative High School. She received her B.A. from Hampshire College in Race, Class, and Gender Issues through Literature, History, and Law, and Masters in Bilingual Education from Bank Street College of Education. A dual language teacher with a deep interest in the teaching of language, Tresa’s experience spans the Americas. In addition to teaching, she has been a program director for the Mañana Coalition and a classroom coordinator in Mexico and Central America. Tresa took drama in high school, was a member of a show choir for three years, and is a certified chemical dependency counselor.

Rachel Farmer teaches fourth grade at PS/IS 165 in Brooklyn. She received her B.A. in Elementary Education from Brooklyn College and B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Touro College. She has 12 years of teaching experience in after-school programs, as a volunteer at an experimental school, and as a second, third and fourth grade teacher. Rachel’s performance-influenced work in the classroom played a role in her being acknowledged as a top teacher by her regional superintendent for two years in a row. She has developed an after-school enrichment program for students needing additional assistance and received a Lead Teacher Excellence Award from the Farbound program.

Jill McLaughlin is a first grade teacher at the Nishuane Magnet School in Montclair, NJ. She received her B.A. in Communication Arts from Villanova University and Masters in Arts/Politics and Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She has taught and worked as a curriculum specialist with Teach for America, taught at a bilingual school in Argentina, and worked for the Association for Children of New Jersey. Jill is fluent in Spanish and interested in education policy.

Yvette Nesbeth is a first grade teacher at PS 323 in Brooklyn. She received her B.A. in Education and Art History from Hunter College and Masters in Education from Brooklyn College. A teacher since 1997, she has taught art and writing to first and fifth graders and in kindergarten. While Yvette doesn’t consider herself a performer, “I’ve always been animated and funny.”

Maria Soto is a certified Social Studies teacher at Alfred E. Smith High School in the Bronx where she has been teaching for the past four years. She received her B.A. in Government and Politics from George Mason University, Masters in International Commerce from George Mason University, and Masters in Education from Fordham University.

Marcelline Theodule teaches at PS/IS 165 in Brooklyn. Originally from St. Lucia, Marcelline was an Early Childhood and Childhood Education teacher at the Ministry of Education in St. Lucia where she received the 1995 Student Teacher of the Year Award. She earned a Certification in Public Administration from the University of the West Indies, an Associate in Education from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in the West Indies, and received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Masters in Childhood Mathematics from Brooklyn College.

Gayle Weintraub is an Evaluation Representative and Family Support Group Leader at All About Kids, Inc. in Brooklyn. She received her B.S. in Special Education for Emotionally Impaired from the University of Michigan, Masters in Humanistic Education from Boston University, and Social Therapist Certificate from the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy. Gayle has worked as an Early Intervention Specialist in Special Education, an Early Intervention Official Designate at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, Day Care Director at Open House Nursery School, and adjunct professor at Brooklyn College.

Townsend West currently works at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies as a math teacher. She received her B.A. in English and B.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Virginia and Masters in Teaching from Pace University. Townsend’s prior teaching experiences include math, studio art, English and woodworking to grades 1-8; creative writing, puppetry and performance, electronic art and web design at the Agnes Irwin School; GED classes to adults; and art as a therapeutic activity to homeless adults. Townsend has also worked as an assistant editor on several video projects.