Art
Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène has many diverse artistic gifts and academic accomplishments – in modern dance, opera, languages, painting and, most recently, as a published children’s book author and illustrator – and all support and energize the innovative arts-based pedagogy of her inventive art program called Hi Art! The curriculum of Hi Art! combines music, movement and art. Cyndie was appointed director of Windham College’s dance department when she was 18. After dancing professionally in New York and Paris, she went on to combine musical studies with doctoral studies in Slavics at the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia University. During the course of her studies, she received numerous awards and fellowships in Slavics, while also teaching Russian language and literature, and she was the recipient of several research grants in the former Soviet Union. Cyndie also holds a Diplôme de langue from the Alliance française-Paris, and her series of children’s books on making art for Scholastic was published in 2005-2006.
Nitza Danieli Horner utilizes looking at art, making art, and engaging in multi-sensory art projects as the primary tools to facilitate learning and communication among her students. In settings as diverse as museums, hospitals, wellness centers, mental health institutions, public spaces, and natural settings, Nitza’s teaching includes a special emphasis on creativity, empathy, and understanding of the unique contributions of individual communication styles. She is ans artist-in-residence at Columbia University Medical Center, leading art workshops for patients and families. She also teaches at several schools and leads Start with Art classes for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Nitza’s formal training as an art teacher was gained in Israel, at the Art Teacher’s College, Ramat Hasharon. She is a working sculptor who has shown her work at a wide range of galleries and museums.
Chess
Sunil Weeramantry is the Executive Director of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. He oversees all NSCF programs and conducts ongoing staff training and development for all NSCF instructors. A nationally acclaimed chess instructor, Sunil served as Chairman of the USCF Committee on Chess in Education from 1990 to 2000. He has also been a member of the USCF Scholastic Committee from 1986 to the present, and served as co-chairman of the USCF Scholastic Council from August 2002 to July 2004. For his work in scholastic chess, Sunil earned the 2004 Meritorious Service Award from the United States Chess Federation. In 2005, Sunil was named "Chess Educator of the Year," a prestigious National recognition by the University of Texas at Dallas. In January 2007, Sunil gained international recognition by earning the title of FIDE Trainer. A FIDE Master (FM) and a former two-time New York State champion, Sunil is one of the most successful chess coaches in the country. He has coached over 80 individual and team champions in national scholastic tournaments organized by the USCF. Sunil is a pioneer in the field of curricular chess instruction. Starting in 1979, he developed a comprehensive chess program at Hunter College Campus Schools in Manhattan. This program has evolved to the point where chess is now a required subject for all students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Fencing
Yury Gelman is the three-time Olympic Coach for the United States (Sydney, Athens and Beijing), National Men’s Sabre Coach, and Head Fencing Coach for NCAA Champion St. John’s University (‘01). In addition, Yury is an honorary coach of Ukraine. He received a Masters degree in both Physical Education and fencing from Kiev Institute of Physical Education. His students have won gold, silver and bronze at Cadet and Junior World Championships and many medals in junior and senior World Cups including winning in individual and team Grand Prize. He prepared members of Cadet, Junior and Senior National teams every year since 1995. Yury’s students were the first to bring a gold medal to the United States in Junior World Championships in mens sabre in 2001. Over the past fifteen years, Yury has prepared twenty one students for United States National Teams.
Optimal Health
Stacey Antine, MS, RD is the founder and CEO of HealthBarn® USA, Inc., the leader in proven hands-on healthy-lifestyle education for children and their families. She is a registered dietitian with a Master’s of Science in Food, Nutrition and Dietetics from New York University. During her dietetic training at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City she became familiarized with the types of traditional programs available for overweight and at-risk youth. She combines her passion for nutrition and health with her public relations experience of creating educational campaigns for children and adults on behalf of big name food companies to make HealthBarn USA a distinctive model of behavioral change for families’ long-term health. She is appointed to the advisory board of the master’s degree program in nutrition communication at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and recently presided on the board of trustees for the Academy of Holy Angels, Demarest, NJ for eight years. She is a member of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Nutrition Entrepreneurs, Diabetes Care Educators and the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE). Stacey wrote the nutrition commentary for celebrity chef Curtis Aikens’ book, Cooking is a Family Affair, published in 2004. In addition, she holds a certification in childhood and adolescent weight management from the American Dietetic Association.
