Amy Akroyd joined us the Stars Lead Teacher in January 2012. Amy earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary from NC State University. As an educator, she has always had a strong passion for the incorporation of the arts into all content areas. She feels the arts hold a great power to expand the range of thought in every child in unique and meaningful ways. In her spare time, Amy enjoys arts and crafts, baking and spending time with her yellow lab mix named Oscar. She also works parts time at Light Years Jewelry in Cameron Village and part time with NCSU Elementary Education department conducting research interviews.
Kathryn Auman's love for dance began with a weekly dance class at the age of four taught by Lemma Mackie, Arts Together's founder. By age eight, she was performing with the Rainbow Dance Company. She danced with Rainbow for ten years before attending Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received her BFA in Dance. Kathryn is currently the Rainbow Dance Company Director and the Dance Director at Arts Together. She is also a member and co-founder of Even Exchange Dance Theater. Kathryn loves dancing and teaching, especially in the place where it all started.
Renee Boyette attended East Carolina University and pursued a BFA in Art Education with a concentration in Painting. After college Renee worked at Green Hill Academy Preschool in Chapel Hill. She spent four years as a full-time nanny, caring for two boys ranging from infancy to grade school. This is her fifth year of teaching at Arts Together with this being her third year as Art Director. She believes strongly in the importance of creativity, imagination and the fun of getting messy and feels very blessed to be a part of such a unique program. When Renee is not at Arts Together, she enjoys painting murals and furniture, gardening and more recently has fallen in love with an art form handed down by her grandmother, sewing. Renee enjoys spending time with her husband Charles and their two cats and two dogs.
Nan Boyne began teaching at Arts Together 20 years ago and helped to establish the preschool program. She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and received her BA in English from The College of Charleston in 1975. Nan has been active in the local theatre community, serving on the North Carolina Theatre's Board of Directors and the NCT Curtain Callers, of which she is past-president. She is also active with the Church of the Good Shepherd, having been a vestry member and chairman of various committees, including fellowship, worship, and Christian education. She has taught Sunday school for over 20 years. Nan and her husband, Jack, have three sons, John, Clark, and Philip, and are the proud grandparents of a grandson, Jack, and a granddaughter, Libby.
Johannah Edwards joins us this year with a BFA in Drama from Tisch School of the Arts in 2002. Johannah has extensive experience in theater and is currently a Theater Arts Educator with Raleigh Little Theater developing course curriculum for ages 4 to adults. Previously, she has been a Nanny for a 5 and 7 year old assisting with home-school curriculum and arts activities. A talented costume designer, Johannah, has designed and built costumes for productions at Burning Coal Theater and also in New York at the Forestburgh Playhouse. She also has worked in different school settings as an assistant and lead teacher and has worked with special needs children. Johannah resides in Raleigh with her husband Jon, their three dogs Jake, Sully and Molly .In her spare time she loves cooking, dining out and entertaining family and friends. She also enjoys swimming and crocheting.
Liz Holt is a member of the Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists, having completed her 200-hour yoga training at White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA. She has also attended a 65-hour course in Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors and a 50-hour course in Yoga of Awareness for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers at Duke Integrative Medicine. Liz's education includes a BA and MA from NCSU in Sociology and Liberal Studies (concentration in Music and Performance), respectively, a professional certificate in Documentary Filmmaking from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, and certification to teach Journey DanceTM-- a fun and healing movement combination in dance and yoga. Other areas of her studies include workshops and courses in Taoist Tai Chi, Thai Yoga Massage, Mindfulness Based Stressed Reduction, Meditation, Ayurveda, Pilates, and many varying dance styles.
Brenda Howe obtained a degree in Social Work with a concentration in Family Relations and Child Development from East Carolina University. She then worked for seven years in a family and child development center in Greenville, NC, which emphasized the total family, while incorporating a preschool experience for children ages three-five. After moving to Raleigh, she became a medical social worker prior to having her daughter and son, who are both now grown. While raising her children, she was asked to become a substitute teacher for the Wake County Public School System, eventually becoming a teacher's assistant, and then the Early Arrival Coordinator. For many years, Brenda was the Site Coordinator for Arts Together's SummerQuest Program at the North Hills location. Brenda was most recently serving Arts Together as the Arts Program Director before becoming the Director of the Preschool and Summer Programs. With her passion for art and love of children, Brenda has found a perfect fit at Arts Together.
Jennifer Huggins received her BA in Dance from Meredith College and performed with various modern dance companies across North Carolina before becoming a founding member of Even Exchange Dance Theater. Jennifer has taught in the Wake County Public School System, at Meredith College, and has been on the dance faculty at Arts Together for twelve years.
Ann Huntley has been teaching dance to students of all ages in the Raleigh community for over twenty years. She was a Rainbow dancer for many years and is a founding member of Even Exchange Dance Theater.
Tanja Kwiatkista studied social pedagogy, bodywork, dance, and movement therapy in Germany, where she also taught creative movement, arts classes, and animal-assisted therapy. Her multi-faceted education allows her to utilize various techniques in each lesson, where the joy is about self-awareness and the artistic process. Tanja is currently a Multi-Arts teacher in a holistic preschool and a flamenco dancer.
Renita Luehrman obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Missouri in violin performance. She has taught private violin lessons based on the Suzuki Method emphasizing having fun while playing your best since 2002. Most recently Renita has been working with Pitt County Schools to integrate music and visual art into the 3rd grade curriculum. Taking math, science, social studies and language arts as subjects, the teachers are teaching with principles found in the arts be it a musical instrument or a sculpture. This is exactly what we do in our preschool setting so we are elated to have Renita join us with her skill and experience. When not teaching, she likes to spend time with her husband Stephen who is also a musician. Additional interests include reading, museums, hiking, concerts and playing Settlers of Catan, and playing with her Australian Cattle Dog, Milo.
Rebecca Lumsden has taught Multi-Arts and Drama and worked in the Summer Program for the past twenty years at Arts Together. Originally from South Carolina, Rebecca graduated from Stevens College in Tampa, FL, before moving to New York City for three years to study and perform in plays and musicals around the country. In her spare time, she still performs locally and is a frequent volunteer for Performance Edge, North Carolina Theatre, and the National Charity League. Rebecca and her husband, Hunter, have a family consisting only of girls; however, the Lumsdens are happy to welcome two new sons-in-law to the family this year.
Betsy Ward-Hutchinson is one of the original founding members of the Rainbow Dance Company. She began her career as a dance teacher and apprentice to Lemma Mackie. Betsy has a degree in dance from Meredith College, an MA in Dance Education from UNC-Greensboro, and she is certified by Physical Mind to teach Pilates Mat 1 and 2 and Standing Pilates.
Karen Royce Warr has been teaching Modern and Creative Dance at Arts Together since 2005. Dance has been a part of Karen's life since she was three years old, and she minored in Dance at Randolph Macon Woman's College. Karen is active in Rainbow Dance Company and has performed locally with other choreographers. She loves sharing her interest in ecology through dance; her teaching is inspired by everything from weird animal motions to white blood cells targeting a foreign body.
Azia Whitted is a Meredith College alumna with a BA in Dance and a concentration in Private Studio Teaching. She thoroughly enjoys working with young children and strives to provide a safe environment where her students feel comfortable expressing themselves. Outside of dancing, she enjoys being a mother, writing poetry, and spending time with her family and friends.
Lauren Youngman received her BS in Early Child Development with honors from Meredith College in 2002. She has always had a passion for dance and has taken dance classes since the age of five. After graduating, she was excited to become a part of Arts Together's unique and creative collaboration of the arts in the preschool environment. In 2003, Lauren was the assistant teacher for the first Young Threes' Class offered at Arts Together. In 2004, Lauren became the Suns' teacher and has enjoyed growing with the Young Threes' program ever since. In the summer you can find her participating in Arts Together's summer programs both as an instructor and as the Site Coordinator at the SummerQuest program at the North Hills location. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys taking dance classes at Arts Together and traveling.
