2012-2013 Teacher Exchange

Helen Barry, General Education Teacher

Helen is in her ninth year of teaching elementary school at a public school in Brooklyn. After working for both public and private organizations as an architectural historian and preservationist for many years, she became a teacher to see if she could share her love of art, architecture, and New York City with her students. Helen also participated in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program where she spent an academic year in the United Kingdom.

Valerie Bove, Global History, Art History and French Teacher, and Library Media Specialist

An independent school teacher and librarian, Valerie received her Master of Library Science degree from St. John’s University, New York, and Master of Arts degree from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education. She spent a year teaching in the Republic of Moldova and has participated in travel fellowships offered by various cultural institutions in New York City such as China Institute and East-West Center.

Catherine Campanale, Special Education Teacher

Catherine teaches at a public elementary school in Jamaica, New York. She is a fifth-grade special education teacher in an integrated co-teaching class. Catherine uses the visual arts to motivate students to think deeper and encourage them build on each other’s ideas in open-ended discussions. Catherine believes that exposing students to art that they may never have experienced before is a profound experience for both teacher and students alike.

Stephanie Caruso, English, History, and English as a Second Language Teacher

Stephanie teaches seventh grade at a public middle school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In a collaborative planning structure, Stephanie team-teaches English, American History with a colleague. She also team-teaches Arts Lab where students have opportunities to explore art museums and seek out  art installations throughout New York City. She believes a connection to the arts incites awareness, curiosity, and most importantly, community.

Tammy Dunn, General Education Teacher and Afterschool Specialist

Ali Economou, Social Studies Teacher

For the past three years, Ali has been a Social Studies teacher at a small, progressive, arts-driven public high school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Binghamton University, New York. Last spring, she graduated from Queens College, New York, with a master’s degree in Social Studies Education.

Alison Epstein, Gifted and Talented Education Teacher

Alison has twelve years of experience teaching gifted and talented students in public schools. Currently, she is in her second year of teaching a second grade gifted and talented class in a public school in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. She has a keen interest in learning about and incorporating visual arts into all facets of her curriculum. Alison studied jewelry design at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Pearl Lau, Art and Art History Teacher

Jennifer Miller, English Language Learners Teacher

For the past twelve years, Jennifer has been teaching sixth through twelfth grade English Language Learners in a small, public school in Brooklyn. She strives to engage her students by using a variety of media including paintings, sculptures, film, theater and songs. She greatly enjoys watching her students grow in terms of their language acquisition, and fosters in them an appreciation of their native countries and languages. She has worked in a variety of settings including Guayaquil, Ecuador and Phoenix, Arizona. Jennifer enjoys reading and writing fiction, traveling, gardening and dance.

Joanne Riina, Visual Art Teacher

Joanne has been teaching visual art for the past eight years at a public middle school in Chelsea.  She uses an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the creative process, the opportunity for revision, and imaginative risk taking. She strives to keep her students connected to the art world by providing genuine art viewing experiences, which allow for a transfer of knowledge from the classroom to the art world, and personal internalization.

Cory Schneider, English and History Teacher

Cory teaches seventh grade English and history at an independent school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where he has worked since receiving his Masters in Education from New York University. In the classroom, he uses unconventional texts and projects to help his students explore the material they’re learning. Outside of the classroom, he uses unsavory reality television to balance his appreciation for literature and the fine arts.

Jonathan Wang, English Teacher

Jonathan teaches English at a private school in Lower Manhattan. He hopes to enrich the school’s interdisciplinary approach to learning by taking advantage of the myriad opportunities offered by New York City’s generous and richly diverse arts community.