About the New York State Theatre Education Association

NYSTEA Board Members:

Carolyn Black, a retired teacher from Ossining High School in Ossining, became a Trustee in 2001. She is chair of the Nominating Committee. During her tenure at Ossining High, she was the Teacher of the Year in 1991 for the Ossining Parents, Teachers and Students Organization and the 1996 Teacher of the Year of the Astra Chapter of the National Honor Society, presented the Human Relations Award in 1998 for her work with stereotypes and cultural diversity by the National Conference for Community and Justice, and again in 1999 for her work with the High School Environmental Club in the community of Ossining. She is included in the New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning for her work with stereotypes in her theatre arts classes and her entire lesson is featured in the Theatre Arts Resource Guide. She also contributed to the writing of the Music Resource Guide and is currently (as of January 2002) the High School Chairperson of the Classroom Music Committee of NYSSMA. She was recently appointed Board Member of the Ossining Children's Center, and continues (15 years) as organist and choir director at St. Paul's on- the- Hill Episcopal Church in Ossining, New York.

John Shorter currently serves as the Sergeant of Arms for the New York State Theatre Education Association. He also served two terms as President and two as Vice President. John has worked closely with the New York State Education Department on the creation of the Arts Standards document, the pilot Theatre Assessment (ASSETS) and the Content Area Specialty Test for Certification in Theatre Arts. In addition, he was a contributor to and a reviewer of the NYS Teacher Resource Guide in Theatre Arts. For thirty years, John was the Secondary School Theatre Program Director for the Manhasset Public Schools. Presently, he is the Educational Sales Division Manager for Rubie's Costume Company, Inc.

Holly Adams (www.holly-adams.com) is a long time mask maker, stage combat choreographer, performance historian, and sometime puppeteer. She has also been a professional performer for over 25 years, with a focus on physical theatre styles.   Holly particularly enjoys creating and performing original work: "VOICES/lives" with co-creator and performer Pete Rush, toured to excellent reviews in 2007, and "The Oral Tradition", written with collaborator David A. Miller from Roundabout Theatre, opens at the West End Theatre in February of 2008 alongside another David A.Miller work, "A Lesson in Art".
        Other recent highlights: "Further Adventures of Clown" at the Hangar Theatre, "Gossip" at the /kitchen Theatre, Alanna in the audiobook productions of the Tamora Pierce novels, Richard III in "Kynge's Games", and all of the animal roles in "My Father's Dragon".
        Holly also loves being a teaching artist! Whether she is giving a master class in NYC or at a college, or creating arts-a-the-core inquiry based curricula for elementary and high schools, she is loving every minute of it. Favorite projects have included Chaos Theory with third graders, Travelogues with ninth graders, a comic version of "Titua Andronicus" with juniors and seniors, and workshops for the annual NYSTEA Student Conference.
        Holly holds a Master's Degree in Theatre, Education, and Social Change, and is also a graduate of the Dell 'Arte School of Physical Theatre. She has been a member of NYSTEA since 1998, has served on the NYSTEA Board since 1999, and is a member of the advocacy committee and chair of the gifts and grants committee.

Roger Paolini (President) is a Library Media Specialist and Drama Director, for the Williamsville South H.S. near Buffalo. He is a twenty-Year NYSTEA member. He has served on the NYSTEA Board of Trustees member since 1995, is currently the Adjudication Committee Chair, and formerly the Western Region chair. Roger was Chair of NYSTEA Theatre Education conference in Buffalo 1995 and co-chair of 1999 Theatre Education conference. Roger served as Vice-President, 1998 - 2002, and is currently serving as President since 2002 (now in second term). He has directed professional in the Buffalo area. He serves on Buffalo's Artie Award Committee which recognizes achievement in professional theatre in the Buffalo area.

Judi Paseltiner just retired from Hicksville High School after teaching theatre there for 20 years. In addition to a full theatre schedule during the day, Judi directed, produced, and choreographed 3 major productions a year. As a member of the NYSTEA Board, Judi is co-chair of the Student Conference Committee and of the Play Survey Committee. Judi was part of the NYSTEA task force that worked on the NYS Standards and the preliminary planning of the NYS assessment in Theatre. She wrote and field-tested many of the sample lessons as part of that project. Judi holds a Masters Degree in Educational Theatre and is a member of SAG, AFTRA, and AEA.

Susan Schoonmaker has been working in the performing arts for most of her life. She studied music, drama, and dance at Oberlin College and Conservatory, then went on to receive international certification in Dalcroze Eurythmics at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While working as a jazz singer and performer in the Boston area, she was invited to lead clinics and workshops for young people in the performing arts. Soon, she began working in local schools and performing arts programs, directing shows with young people. Upon moving to central New York, she became the vocal music teacher and artistic director of the theatre program at Hamilton Central School. She also directed the Summer Shakespeare Youth Theatre at Colgate University and the Madison County "Players for Prevention." She has been actively involved with NYSTEA since 1997.

Mark Solkoff is the Assistant Principal of the Academy of American Studies in Long Island City, Queens where he sponsors the Academy Players, International Thespian Society Troupe #5824. Since 1997, Mark has led an Improvisational Theatre Club at the Academy and has participated in several NYSTEA student conferences including hosting the NYC Region's Share Your Drama Power in 2000, 2003 and 2005, and 2006. In celebration of his school's 10th anniversary, last spring Mark wrote and produced a vaudeville show starring the Improv Club which toured every English class-sometimes doing five shows a day! Before teaching social studies and theatre in high school, Mark taught middle school for seven years where he designed and implemented I.S. 77's theatre program. Mark was the 2001 recipient of the Hillcrest High School Theatre Alumni Award and was featured in the 2002 Who's Who Among America's Teachers. Mark is a NYSTEA Board of Trustee member, is on the Student Conference Committee, and is the editor of the NYSTEA Chronicles.

Illese C. Alexander is a theatre educator at Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, NY and has been a member of the NYSTEA since 1996. Before becoming a teacher, Illese had another life. She has over 30 years in all aspects of Production Management and touring experience. She still continues to freelance as a Production Stage Manager and Lighting designer. For the past 10 years, Illese has been teaching all aspects of theatre management and technical theatre on the high school level. Illese is a multi-recipient of Who's Who Among America's Teachers and in 2000 was accepted into the Phi Delta Kappa International for Education. She enjoys passing on her knowledge to her students, watching them 'blossom' into young adults and seeing them choose Theatre Arts as a profession. Many of them have been given the opportunity to intern with Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, JVC and other world renowned festivals. Illese's goal as a teacher has always been to make a difference in a child's life and have them understand that…it's never too late to start a new way of thinking!

Catherine Osinski has been a choral director at Liverpool High School since 1989. She teaches the Chorale, and voice lessons, along with three sections of Performing Arts, an interdisciplinary class combining acting, dancing, voice work and technical theater, that she and two other colleagues created in the early 1990's. She is an avid dancer, assisting with swing dance lessons with the Syracuse Swing Dance Society. She has acted as the Musical Theater Chair for NYSSMA, worked with LeMoyne College on their Cabaret performance, and is active in the OCMEA. (Onondaga County Music Educator's Association). She performs in Syracuse area community theater, sings as cantor at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and is the mother of a daughter, Maggie, who is following in her theater education footsteps. She holds a Bachelor in Music Education degree from SUNY Potsdam and a Masters in Music Education degree from Ithaca College.

Mike Canestraro is currently in his fifth year as a fulltime teacher of theatre and dance at William Floyd High School after two and a half years of independent work with the school district. At Floyd he has directed/choreographed The House of Blue Leaves, No, No Nannette,! The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, On the Town, Noises Off, A Funn Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, You Can't Take It with You, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Hello , Dolly", Anything Goes, Noel Coward's classic comedy: Hay Fever, the recent A Christmas Carol, and last year's triumphant production of 42nd Street. Previously, Mike was an Adjunct Professor of Musical Theatre Performance/Dance at Five Towns College where he staged the world premiere of David Ives' new book , Cole Porter's Out of This World, served as choreographer for The Desert Song, a new ballet Tennis, Anyone? and Dames at Sea. Other staging credits include Zombie Prom for Gateway Playhouse, The New Moon, Kiss Me, Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, and others for the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth on Cape Cod, Harbor Lights Theatre Company and for USDAN. Mike is a member of NYSTEA, Lincoln Center Theaters Directors Lab, Actors' Equity Association, and is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. In 2003 he won the International Thespian Honor Society's Award for Excellence in Theatre Education in New York State. He currently has previous students and former cast members of his productions appearing in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde, Hairspray, New York City Opera's Cossi Fan Tutti, the national tour of The King and I, at Goodspeed Opera House, Wolf Trap Opera, the film version of The Producers, and in many Off-Broadway productions.

NYSTEA Executive Officers:

Roger Paolini - President Kate Olena - Vice President Kathleen Hinds - Secretary Jim Hoare - Treasurer

Sylvia Ramsdell is a recent retiree after thirty-two years of experience with secondary theatre education development and instruction on the local and state levels. She has recently returned to the NYSTEA Board after a two-year hiatus and is once again Vending Chair for the organization. She holds degrees from SUNY Cortland and Colgate University, and has directed over seventy-five shows and musicals through her involvements with high school extracurricular programs, private institutions, and community groups. She is also exceptionally proud of her many years of contribution to the development of local Arts Curriculums, the NYSTEA Theatre Curriculum, and the SED Resource Guide for Theatre. At present, Sylvia is doing private Educational Theatre consultation. Additionally, she is on faculty with The New York Institute of Dance and Education in Auburn working on the development of their private Theatre Education program.

Jim Hoare (Treasurer) is the Director of Amateur Licensing at Theatrical Rights Worldwide, 1359 Broadway, New York, NY. He taught Music and Theatre on Long Island for thirty-one years, working with all grades, Kindergarten through College, where he was an adjunct professor. Twenty-six years were spent at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, where he was the Chairperson of the Department of Performing Arts. Jim has been a member of NYSTEA since 1986. He is a past Chairperson of the Long Island Region, where has hosted and/or organized numerous student and faculty workshops.

Kathleen Hinds has been a member of NYSTEA since 1995 and a Trustee since 1997. She is a valuable member of the Student Conference Committee. Kathleen came to NYSTEA as a Teaching Artist and an accomplished puppeteer who has represented several Arts education programs most notably the Leadership Program. She works at St. Barnabas Hospital as an Activities Therapist using Socio-Drama skills. Kathleen was educated at Hunter College in Theatre Arts and Black and Puerto Rican Studies.

John Fredricksen currently teaches Theatre and is the Dept Head of Performing Arts at Mamaroneck High School where he has taught for 21 years. In 1989 the Disney Corporation profiled him on the Disney Channel and named him one of the top three performing arts teachers during their American Teacher Awards ceremony. John has been active both nationally and statewide on writing theatre curriculum and assessments. He was a major contributor on the theatre section of the National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments. He helped develop the New York State Standards for the ARTS in Theatre, NYS Student assessment exams in Theatre and the NYS Theatre Content Exam for Teacher Certification. He is a proud member of the Board of Trustees for NYSTEA over 18 years and has served as President for four years, Vice President for 4 years, and Secretary for 4 years, and Student Conference Co-Chair for 5 years. John holds a MFA in Educational Theatre from New York University, BFA in Theatre and BA in English Education from the University of Connecticut. His other course work includes Yale, Actors Conservatory Theatre of San Francisco, Ohio University and the Lincoln Center Institute.

Lisa Drance is the Director of English and Theatre at Babylon UFSD. The highlight of her day is working with students to create magic on the stage. Her students and productions have been recognized for excellence by the Township of Babylon's Citizens Council on the Arts. An advocate for theatre in our schools, she is a trustee of the New York State Theatre Education Association since 1997 and a member since 1995. Lisa has also worked with the NYSED department to help write the Content Specialty Test in Theatre for perspective theatre teachers, in addition to the NYSED Resource Guide for theatre educators. She also serves as a member of NYSTEA's adjudication team, the play-survey committee, and the advocacy committee. Lisa received her theatre education at Northwestern University (MA), Guildhall School of Music and Drama London, the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Franklin and Marshall College (BA), and Yale University

Kate Olena became a member of NYSTEA in 1995. She sat on the board of NYSTEA for several years, took a hiatus, and was delighted to be asked to serve again. Kate helped organize three educators' conventions in the Western Region and her region holds a one-day student conference annually for grades 9-12 as well. A drama teacher of 29 years, she has spent the last 27 building the middle school theatre program at Nichols School in Buffalo where every student in grades 5-8 takes drama each year. Kate directs four one-acts and one full-length play each year and teaches courses in Playmaking, Acting with Masks and Puppets, and Asian Theatre Acting Styles, among others. Kate has occasionally performed professionally for Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo -"To keep my hand in and remind myself of what I put my students through!"

Victoria King has been a NYSTEA Board member since 1994. She is currently the State Region Chair. Victoria was a contributor to the NYS Standards for the ARTS in Theatre and the NYS Student assessment exams. She taught HS Acting and Tech Theatre in Oswego for 12 years. She recently taught acting and wrote the curriculum plan for the new program leading to Theatre Certification at SUNY Potsdam. She tutored voice at the Actors Studio Drama School. She runs a private studio, is a freelance director and teaching artist. She has directed and acted in NYC, and regional theatres in the US and England. She is the Production Coordinator for Full Cast Audio and has directed books as well as done numerous voices. She won the AudioFile's 2005 Listen Up Award for her Direction of "Miracles on Maple Hill". Her most recent directing credit is a World Première Opera, "Sundance" for the Society for New Music. She holds BS in Music and Theatre from Loughborough, England and SUNY Brockport, MSED in Theatre Education from SUNY Oswego and an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School where she studied Acting with Elizabeth Kemp and Directing with Arthur Storch.

Maureen Natali has been a member of NYSTEA since 1997 and a Trustee since 1999. She is the Conference Resource Chair. Maureen currently teaches English and Drama at East Syracuse Minoa High School and formally taught both English and Drama at the Pine Grove Middle school in ESM where she built the program.