Art Education

During his post-graduate teacher training for his Postgraduate Certificate in Education from University of Leeds, UK, Michael Kemeh, known as Shabaash, taught in British secondary schools and colleges, and has taught at the University of Ghana, where he had coordinated numerous theatre for development outreach projects connected with issues on health, adult literacy, teen pregnancy, and women's socio-economic improvement.

Shabaash loves sharing his expertise in integrating drama into classroom curriculum with educators. He also has great passion for using "theatre for development" for education, mobilization, and improvement of the lives of people in marginalized communities. He successfully adapted this theatre technique to address multicultural and social issues through workshops in elementary, middle, and high schools in the states of Washington, Arizona, and Kansas. 

PhD, Kansas State University

Maureen Creegan-Quinquis is department chair for the STEAM programs in the Graduate School of Education. She is also the director of the Master of Education in Teacher of Visual Arts licensure programs and the arts in education programs. She works in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and digital. Her work appears on the covers of "Sites," a French journal published by Routledge-Taylor & Francis. Maureen exhibits at a variety of galleries. Most recent exhibits include Boston Drawing Collaborative at the Bernard Toale Gallery and Ward Nasse Gallery in New York.

July 2017: Presenter at Creativity at the Core Summer Institute, California County Superintendents Education Services Association. Exploring Text through Visual Arts and Poetry

Maureen weighs in on how to prevent bullying in schools.

Education

PhD, Lesley University
MFA, Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
M.Ed., Endicott College

Berta Rosa Berriz teaches in the Creative Arts programs in the Graduate School of Education. She was born in La Habana, Cuba and entered third grade at a Catholic school in Philadelphia where “becoming an American” meant surrendering ties to family culture – even the correct pronunciation of her name – in the process of imposed assimilation. This childhood upheaval has given Berriz an acute awareness of the significance of family and community, which has figured prominently in her subsequent life choices.

Professionally, this biography has driven Berriz to achieve in many fields related to educational equity: as a bilingual teacher with National Board Certification (2006), a member of the national faculty at Lesley University, a published writer, dancer, and storyteller. She earned her doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education (2005) for her study of the cultural identity of second-generation Puerto Rican and Dominican students, and teachers’ assessments of students’ academic performance. Berriz was also named a Massachusetts Teacher Scholar (1992), researching the folktales and storytelling of the Spanish- and English-speaking Caribbean cultures. In partnership with Beth Handman, Berriz was awarded a Lucretia Crocker Fellowship–TEAMSTREAM (1990)–for integrating students with special needs with advanced work students offering a curriculum that employed team teaching, thematic education, cooperative learning, and integrated cultural arts.

After a long and varied career as classroom teacher, teacher coach, mentor, and lead teacher, Berriz concluded her career in Boston Public Schools as a founding co-lead at the Boston Teachers’ Union School (2008-2013), an innovative, teacher-run, K-8 pilot public school in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain.

Anticipating a time of less work and more play, Berriz is looking forward to her next career moves as a writer, textile and glass artist, part-time teacher and mentor of new teachers, and full-time “Abuelita Tita,” to her granddaughters, Naja Zahara and Adena Caridad.

Read about Berta's Family Story Quilt.

Education

BA Sociology, Boston University
MA Integrated Arts and Elementary Education, Lesley University: Elementary certification program in teaching content through the arts with an emphasis on multicultural arts.
CAGS Special Education, Lesley University
EdD, Harvard Graduate School of Education: research as a doctoral candidate investigated the relationship between the cultural identity of Puerto Rican and Dominican second-generation third-grade students and their teachers’ assessment of their academic performance.
Boston Leadership Academy:  BLA explores the intersection of three different lenses of the artist and the educator and the with an eye towards developing a new approach to preparing school leaders within Boston Public Schools.
Afro-Cuban Dance, Ballet Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba: studied and performed dance and music in the Afro-Cuban tradition.

Priscilla Sanville, advocate of culturally responsive teaching, has more than 30 years experience in schools and community organizations, also acting as a drama supervisor for 15 years in the public schools. Priscilla also earned her PhD from the Union Institute in Multicultural Education with a focus on the interface of culture and learning style theory. Her Master's degree was in the Arts, Creativity, and the Power of the Arts to Heal from Lesley College. Her BA was in Speech and Theatre with a minor in Education from the University of Denver. She has also done training with the dialogue project at MIT with William Isaacs, studied with the National Coalition-Building Institute and The World of Difference in Boston, and taught in Russia, Israel, British Columbia, and Quebec.
 
Prilly loves teaching all ages. She was an elementary school teacher for fifteen years (first, second, and third grade), and a supervisor of a drama/theatre program for another 15 years in K-12 public schools. Her expertise lies in drama, dance, and group facilitation, particularly in dealing with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. She taught extensively in Russia over three summer with the International School for Psychotherapy, Counseling, and Group Leadership. For two summers, she facilitated with a team, and during the third summer went alone and taught An Arts Approach to Differences in Cultural Context to teachers and clinicians from different parts of Russia. She has also given a keynote speech at the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado and was keynote speaker for Acton Public Schools professional development day (topic: diversity and freeze moments in education).
 
Her career has focused on supporting educators and community leaders in their endeavor to offer the highest quality arts education to children and adults. She has worked with educators and community leaders on equity and social justice issues, including cross-cultural work in the US and beyond, creating bicultural teams for teaching. Prilly is presently on the board and program committee, and is the chair of the Personnel Committee, for the Community Arts Center in Cambridge, MA.

Education

BA, University of Denver
MA, Lesley University
PhD, Union Institute