Teresa Sedano is a resident of Santa Rosa, California and has been a certified ASL interpreter for over 20 years in a variety of settings, most specifically for the California State Department of Rehabilitation and post-secondary settings.  Teresa was founder and executive director of Stagesigns, Inc., which provided theatrical interpreting within the Sacramento community to Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences.  Stagesigns was one of the first West Coast organizations to utilize Deaf Interpreters as part of their many interpreted productions, most particularly, the Children’s Fairytale Theatre at Sacramento Community College. She is a retired adjunct faculty at American River College, instructing sign language interpreting students in the area of Ethics and Professional Standards as well as Service Learning. 

She holds a Master’s degree in Contemplative Education, and has trained specifically in contemplative art, which includes concepts such as mindfulness, presence, and breath work in order for each individual to explore the joy of self-expression during the creative process.

Teresa has a passion for art and its’ healing and de-stressing properties, and is a member of the Northern California Art Therapy Association. She holds a certificate in “Expressive Art Therapy”, and has taught art to young pre-school children at “Young Rembrandts”, an after-school art program.

Teresa has enjoyed a long collaboration with the Crocker Art Museum, including coordinating a mentorship program for interpreting students from American River College; pairing them with docents for tours which allowed access to the local Deaf community. She is the owner of Awakened Heart Designs, providing group workshops and 1-1 instruction in contemplative art concepts and basic meditation instruction.

Parker Clark is an alumnus of Salisbury University. He has a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics with practicums in both basic and upper level mathematics.  Mr. Clark has experience in tutoring at a college level as well as making individualized lesson plans. He has the tools to get the job of teaching your students done. As a student who himself had to take a combination of online and in person classes during a pandemic, he is aware of some of the challenges your students may face during schooling in these stressful times and is equipped with the aptitude  and technology to maximize your students’ learning efforts. As a life long learner with a passion for math, he is excited about teaching math to your students.

Daniel Wheeler is a Securities Analyst at Wells Fargo, part time tutor at Sylvan of Catonsville, and an experienced Dungeon Master for D&D. A long-time fascination with both mathematics and history/fantasy worlds led to a Bachelors of Arts degree in Ancient Studies and a Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Early on at UMBC, Dan played his first game of D&D, fourth edition, with some friends from High School after having interest in it for some time. Daniel fell in love with the game immediately. He eventually found himself leading games as the Dungeon Master, or DM, at various points during college, and several more times since then. Running both premade modules and homebrew campaigns, he has experience with all types of situations that may arise, and a solid understanding of the rules, and worlds in which the game happens. His degree in math and experience tutoring gives him the background to teach the math skills that are required to play the game to students who need extra practice or who struggle with math. Daniel also has experience with rockets, and other sorts of scientific fields from his time in college and doing independent experiments with friends.

My name is Tanya Harris. I have been a Japanese Teacher at Waipahu High since October of 2002. And I have been a proud Marauder for 18 years. I have a bachelor of Science in Languages and Linguistics Degree from Georgetown as well as a Master’s Degree of Comparative Culture and Language Research from Kurume University. And I have a Master’s degree in Education from Chaminade University. 

I grew up here in the islands on the best side of the island, the windward side. I actually came to Hawaii when I was 1 years old and celebrated my 2nd birthday in Waikiki. My father was a scientist and was quite renown in his field.  His name was Dr. Ernest James Harris. My mother was an activist and is also quite well known. Her name is Bettye Jo Harris. I have two brothers older and younger, which puts me right in the middle.  We as a family constantly traveled around the world, because of my father’s position as an entomologist with the Department of Agriculture.  I was exposed to other cultures at a very young age. I learned French and then later on in my life I learned Japanese.  I am happily tri-lingual. I have learned the importance of speaking another language as well as the importance of social justice via the opportunities I have had to travel the globe. It is important to treat each other fairly no matter where they come from, what their beliefs are, or what color they are.  I look forward to teaching this class and learning about all of you.

Edward Brennan is a 21 year old college student at the University of Maryland, double-majoring in Secondary Education and English with a minor in Creative Writing. The son of a teacher, Edward’s desire to teach was instilled in him at a young age. Seeing his father come home every day with stories about how he taught and the love that he had for it, as well as Edward’s own propensity for helping others, quickly lit a fire in him that he hopes to cultivate further here at Art Play Learn. A lover of creative writing and all things fantasy, Edward spends his time playing Dungeons and Dragons, writing, and working on his copious amounts of schoolwork.  

Gabrielle (Gabby) completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Performance Theatre at Francis Marion University in South Carolina. She received an alternative teaching certificate in the state of Texas and taught middle school theatre, debate, and video production for two years. She also has experience working in a preschool along with elementary ages in an after school drama program. Gabby recently graduated with an Associates degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. In her free time, Gabby enjoyes roller blading, hiking, baking and spending time with family and friends. 

Tessa Schwartz is a senior at the University of Maryland, majoring Animal Science Care and Management. She was raised on a horse farm learning how to care, feed, and handle a variety breeds of horses.  During many summers, she served as a horse camp counselor to teach safety, horseback riding, and various equine information. In addition to science, she is versed in different mediums of art from working with clay, cardboard, wood, playing cards, and typical mediums such as paper and canvas. She likes to get involved with creative activities, which brought her into the world of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Although she got a late start learning about D&D, picking up the game in college, she has excelled in learning and quickly becoming a game master for over the last year.  She loves to share the intricacies of the game as well as the potential benefits it can bring to everyone involved. 

Leah Dawsey was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana.She received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Then she moved to Washington, D.C. to receive her first Master’s degree in Deaf Studies. After graduating from Gallaudet University, she stayed in town to receive her Museum Studies Certification from George Washington University. Moving back home to Louisiana, she began to work for the local public library for almost five years. During her time working for the library, Leah realized she wanted her second Master’s degree in Library Science which took her several years because I attended part time. She moved away again to California when she stopped working at the public library because of her husband’s job. She had her daughter in 2016 and moved back to Louisiana to be near family. Currently, she is a part time adjunct professor for University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Leah teaches ASL to the students  and in her local community. She is excited to join the organization, Art Play Learn, to teach about history, specifically Deaf history and World War II.  When she is not teaching, she loves to go for a run or a walk with her Weimaraner, Blue. You also could find her sitting somewhere reading a book or playing with her daughter.

Val is an Austin based creative originally from Pittsburgh, PA. For over 15 years, Val has worked as a teaching artist, director, and choreographer with numerous arts education organizations across the nation including work with Tex-Arts (Austin, TX), HITS Theatre (Houston, TX), Inside Broadway (NY, NY), The New York Kids Club (NY, NY) and serving as Director of The Henry Mancini Arts Academy, Midland, PA .  Val is also a skilled preschool teacher currently working with NYC based "Village Community", founded by Nicole Ivey (MBA, Harvard Class of 2020) 

As a professional performer, Val has been seen off Broadway, regionally, and internationally. Some of her favorite performances include: 

Finian's Rainbow In Concert (Irish Repertory Theater, NYC), A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Cratchit, Town Hall, NYC), & The Light Princess, (The Queen - an original work of sensory friendly theater for early childhood, Jumping Jack Theater Co. Pittsburgh, PA). Val has also performed as a featured vocalist with The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Val is the founder and producing director of Vintage Entertainment Company: Vintageous Productions whose work has been seen at events in TX and PA. 

Her original CD for children, Songs for Young Whippersnappers, and first children’s book Dilber the Cranky Banana are now available online!

Val holds a BFA from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in musical theater and continuing education credits from The City College of New York in early childhood education. She is also a Masters of Education Candidate at American University.