ART
Karen L. Samuel: art, quilting, sewing, fashion design. Ms. Samuel is a native of St. John. At fourteen, she was awarded a scholarship to Southampton College in New York to study drawing and painting. She attended Corcoran School of Arts and received a BA degree in Secondary Art Education from The George Washington University in 1979. She has taught in the public school system for nine years and has been with SJSA since 1995. As an artist, she works primarily in oils, but also produces work in graphite, conté crayons, watercolors, hard pastels and colored pencils. Her subject matter includes portraiture, landscapes, seascapes, and scenes from contemporary life. Her work may be seen at Bajo el Sol Gallery on St. John.
DANCE/MOVEMENT
Teresa Fraguada: ballroom dance. Ms. Fraguada received her BA at Brown University in Africana Studies. She taught high school English for five years at Gifft Hill School on St. John. Her love of dance began at an early age and included classes in ballet, tap, jazz and flamenco in New York. She has taken ballet classes at SJSA for three years. In 2010, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Public History and Archiving. As a Dancing Classroom instructor trained by internationally renowned Pierre Dulaine, she is an in-school ballroom dance and Mad Hot St. John instructor for SJSA.
Elizabeth Gowan: yoga adventure, blissful baby, joyful child. Ms. Gowan is a certified Yoga Power Flow instructor and Thai Yoga Massage Therapist. As a certified Yoga for Children teacher, she has taught the SJSA in-school Mind Body Connection for Scholastic Improvement program. She is an instructor and therapist for The Self Centre at Caneel and maintains a private practice in yoga and Thai massage.
Shatik Stephens: ballet, dance company, art of modeling. Ms. Stephens is a native St. Johnian and a former Miss St. John. She was selected to be a representative as one of Governor Schneider’s Youth Commissioners, where she worked with different youths of all ages. She attended the Bethune-Cookman College and studied Music Education and Technology. While in school, she performed with the Concert Chorale, Young Artists, Jazz Combo and the Opera Workshop, which led to performances at Walt Disney World, the Citrus Bowl and the Rosen Centre. After returning home, she became the director of the Bethany Moravian Church Youth Choir and performs with “3 Sweet” along with solo engagements. Ms. Stephens is also our choir and voice instructor.
Kim Wild: ballet, tap, creative movement, developing the artistic eye through movement. Ms. Wild also serves as Acting Director at SJSA. She holds a BA degree in dance at Columbia College and a MFA degree in dance at Florida State University. She has over 25 years of teaching experience extending from the young child to the professional student. With a teaching assistantship at FSU, she taught non-major dance classes in ballet and jazz as well as teaching choreography, modern and ballet to students at Tallahassee Community College as adjunct faculty. She served as Dance Director (1990) for the Colquitt County Arts Center, a community arts school in Georgia.
Jude Woodcock: creative movement, modern dance, tumbling. Ms. Woodcock received a BS degree from Southwest Missouri State and toured with Pilobolus Dance Theater from 1984-1994. She helped choreograph over 20 new works for the company and acted as touring and rehearsal director from 1989-1994. She still maintains ties with the company by representing them through teaching at various locales on the main land. Ms. Woodcock has taught at the American Dance Festival working with the young dancers program.
Katie Zaytoun: ballet. (forthcoming) She teaches the ballet program for Alive in Christ Church on St. Thomas.
MUSIC
Edward Bruce: percussion and guitar. Mr. Bruce received his BA degree in Anthropology from Columbia University along with 25 credits in Mandarin and German. In 1982, he received his MA Ed. Degree from University of Phoenix, majoring in Reading Acquisition, problem prescriptions. In 2005, he received his International T.E.F.L. Diploma, Boland School, including China certificate. He came to St. John in 1974 as the director of the Cruz Bay Daycare Center. For many years, he has volunteered his skills to Julius E. Sprauve School as a reading teacher, special and general education teacher. As an accomplished musician, he is serving as SJSA’s ethnic drumming and dance teacher.
Luba Dolgopolsky: piano, Orff, voice, choir. Ms. Dolgopolsky is a Russian trained concert pianist who performed as a soloist with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra at the age of fifteen. In 2004 she received her MA degree in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, NY and holds a BFA in Music Performance from The New School, New York, NY. She is Level 1 & 2 Kodaly and Level 1 Orff certified. She has taught in New York’s public schools as well as private instruction.
Rich Greengold: recorder, flute. Mr. Greengold has been providing musical entertainment in the Virgin Islands for over 25 years. His early training was in the public school concert bands in Annapolis, MD. Since age 14 he's worked professionally in a wide variety of musical groups including performances with Roberta Flack, The Shirelles, Little Anthony, Cab Calloway and presently on St. John with his groups Sambacombo, Slammin' and St. John Flutes.
Drapes Jensen: piano. (Forthcoming)
Shikima Jones: choir, Orff Schulwerk. (Forthcoming)
Thia Muilenburg: music & expressive arts therapist. Ms. Muilenburg received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Arts Management from Long Island University, and a Master of Arts degree in Expressive Therapies from Lesley College Graduate School. She is a board-certified music therapist since 1996. As a clinical and expressive arts therapist specializing in music therapy, she has worked with children with both psychological and developmental needs in hospitals, schools and community based programs. She has also worked with various adult populations, including the elderly, adults with mental illness, victims of domestic violence and adults seeking wellness. She taught Music Therapy to post-graduates at the University of California for five years, and conducted numerous expressive therapy-training seminars for therapists and counselors.
Abigail Rene: violin. Ms. Rene taught violin and music theory in Dominica for grades 1 – 6 from 1989 - 1997 and was head of the science department at a secondary school. She also teaches violin for students at Antilles School on St. Thomas. She is a service representative for a local bank and is working toward a degree in finance.
THEATRE
Alesia Georgiou: theatre. Ms.Georgiou began studying acting at seven years old as well as piano, dance and voice. In 2001, she graduated from the Performing Arts High School and immediately went on to study at the Moscow Art Theatre, an ensemble-based theatre company. After graduating, she and others founded “Studio Six,” the first American studio ensemble based on this sixty-five year technique and school.
Jeuné Provost: acting for radio, TV and film. Ms. Provost received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media Arts at Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Mercer University. She has worked with the local WTJX-TV Channel 12 in completing voice-overs for promo reel, produced and edited PSAs, wrote scripts for local programming and produced, directed and edited “Carnival Parade,” “Reading is Fun” and “Pride and Bloom” promos. She is also an elementary teacher at one of the local public schools.
Staff
Kim Wild: Acting Director
Kazumi Schaub: Office Assistant/Building Manager
Barbara Crites: Bookkeeper
Board of Directors
Ronnie Jones: President
Ronnie Lee: Vice President
Steve Deisher
Faye Fredericks
Carol Furneaux
Jim Furneaux
Donna Joyce
Deborah Marsh
Andrew Penn
Phillip “Grasshopper” Pickering
Mike Ryan
Earl Thomas
Michael Weinman
Glenda Werbel
Harvey Werbel
Advisory Council
Jan Kinder
Corky Siegel
Steven Lipman
Garry Dial
J. Brion Morrisette
Marcia T. Thompson
Lawrence O. Benjamin
