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Angelina Dickinson graduated from Spring Arbor University in 2013 with a Bachelors of Science in Fine Art and a Minor in Visual Art. Angelina started dancing at age 2, she found a love for Irish Step Dance in middle school and has continued to study ballet, ballroom, folk dance and Irish around the globe for many years. She started teaching at JSA in 2013. In 2018, she traveled to Dublin, Ireland and received a teaching certificate in Progressing Ballet Technique from renowned teacher Marie Walter-Mahon. Angelina has participated in various dramatic performing groups from a very young age, debuting in a university play at the age of 12. She has performed and provided costumes for numerous plays at Spring Arbor University, where she is currently employed as costumer. Her studies in theatre included directing, theatre history, stage-combat, costuming, script-writing, lighting and sound design, stage craft, as well as stage hair/make-up & effects (such as prosthetic creation and application.) Angelina began teaching theatre in 2012 and has since branched out to direct her own performing group, Schemata Theatre, as well as consult, direct and perform at several community theatres in the Spring Arbor area. She enjoys guest teaching theatre classes for Ballet 5:8 in Chicago; including cooperative efforts with Pilar Garcia of Gelsey Kirkland Academy. Angelina loves the creative processes wherever it can be found, and continually strives to better herself as both an artist and a teacher.
Carmen Thompson was born and raised in Jackson, MI and discovered her passion for dance at the age of 8. She studied Jazz Technique for 3 years at Jackson College performing in several dance concerts during that time. Carmen has always been fascinated with using dance movement to worship and express the love of God. She has taught praise dance at her church VBS every summer and was inspired to create the “Glory be to God” praise dance ministry and has coordinated praise dance performances as well as performed at local churches in the Jackson area. Being very versatile, she also has love for New Style Hip hop. She attended teacher classes at the Jump Convention held in Detroit. She was a student at Jackson School of the Arts, moved on to assisting before becoming an instructor.
Heather Mehl was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan where she started her dance training at the age of two at Center Stage Dance Studio under the direction of Lisa DuBois. Ms. Heather was trained in all styles of dance such as ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, acro, hip hop and musical theatre. While at Center Stage Dance Studio she started competing at the age of 6 and had the opportunity to travel all over the United States as well as parts of Europe. While competing at Center Stage, Ms. Heather had the opportunity to be on competitive teams that won national titles at many competitions such as Showbiz Dance competition, Star Powers and many others. Ms. Heather started her teaching career at Center Stage Dance Studio at the age of 16 as an assistant and by her senior year of high school was teaching classes of her own.
After graduating high school Ms. Heather followed her dream to dance as she was accepted to the University of Nevada Las Vegas on a Dance Scholarship. While there she was part of the UNLV all girl Cheer Team as well as part of the UNLV Dance Department Company. While at UNLV she had the opportunity to take class from many wonderful dancers and choreographers known to Las Vegas and worldwide. As a company member, she was able to travel abroad to Germany to perform in a performing arts festival. Read More
Natalee Sabo has been dancing with Jackson School of the Arts for 10 years, assistant teaching for 4 years and substitute teaching for the last two years. She has competed in three Encore Competitions as part of the JSA Jazz Competition Team, performed at Jackson College in the production of “White Christmas” and has done many community outreach events promoting the Jackson School of the Arts dance program. She has participated in many genres of dance: tap, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, jazz and improv but her main interest is in ballet and pointe.
Natalee is very excited to have her own class of “littles” that she can share and instill her love of dance. Starting at a young age herself, she knows how important it is to make each class entertaining while teaching the basic positions and terminology to her students. Natalee is committed to helping Jackson School of the Arts build their dance program and hopes that she can inspire some “littles” to follow in her own footsteps and become assistants and teachers themselves in the years to come.
Nadyia Smith Norman for several years has taken advanced dance classes because she likes to be challenged and learn at a higher level. She likes to be pushed to be a better learner and at the same time build her confidence and help children do the same; to teach children to reach their best potential with expressing themselves through dance. She has been dancing since she was 4 years old at the Jackson School of the Arts and has danced in multiple genres such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, acro and contortion. In the last year while attending JSA, she has been an assistant teacher in ballet, tap, and acro. She is also a gymnastics teacher assistant for the Boos Center in Jackson for the last 4 years.
With JSA she has also had the opportunity to volunteer her time throughout the community. She really enjoys teaching the children of Jackson not just for the joy it brings her but for bringing the joy of dance to children. She loves seeing their faces when they learn something new or just for the sheer fun of it. This gives her a sense of accomplishment as a teacher.
Jason is a ground acrobat and aerialist that was a formally trained gymnast and professional coach in artistic gymnastics. With a background of over 20 years in gymnastics Jason began a self taught discipline of Hoop dance and prop manipulation and has been developing his art now for over 5 years. He has refined his gymnastics training to professionally perform Hoop dance and Hand balance for the Detroit circus for the last year, in addition to teaching both disciplines at the Detroit Flyhouse Circus School.
Ashley has danced for over 18 years. She started taking ballet in 2001, at the age of four-years-old at Academy of the Arts, in Jackson, Michigan, under the direction of Lori Ladwig, and Linnea Strauss. At seven-years-old, Ashley in addition to ballet, started taking Tap and Irish. Ashley took Irish and Irishhard shoe under the direction of Jesyka Beers-Vetter. In 2012, Ashley started taking Ballet at Grace School of Dance under the direction of Linnea Strauss. In 2013, Ashley started assistant teaching at Grace School of Dance. Ashley assisted with mommy-and-me, pre-ballet, ballet I, and ballet IV. In 2017 Ashley started assistant teaching at Heaven’s Least Ballet in Albion, Michigan, with Faith Dever and Angelina Dickinson.
In 2018 Ashley started teaching Pre-ballet, Pre- hip-hop, and Ballet/Tap at Jackson School of the
Arts. Ashley has taken several master classes with Ballet 5:8, a masterclass with ABT, and a master class at the National Ballet of Canada.
Isabella fell in love with ballet at the young age of four right here at the Jackson School of the Arts. During Isabella’s years studying ballet at JSA she has enjoyed master classes, private lessons and improving her talent of dancing en pointe. Isabella has also had the wonderful opportunities of performing with People Dancing Dance Company along with many community performances.
In addition to continuing her education in ballet, Isabella spends time assisting ballet teachers introducing the beautiful art of ballet to tiny little dancing feet. Isabella adores teaching the younger students all about ballet sharing their joy and excitement of being in the dance studio with their ballet shoes and tutus.
Jayda is a current Dance Major at Wayne State University in Detroit. She is a full time Student and Maggie Allesee Dance Scholarship recipient. Jayda was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan. When Jayda was three her mother enrolled her in Pre- Ballet, she hasn’t stopped dancing since then. At the age of twelve, Jayda was an assistant dance teacher and at the age of fifteen she started teaching classes independently. Jayda has experience with an array of dance genres, intensives, masterclasses, instructors, and performance opportunities in state and out of state. One of her favorite experiences was attending The American College of Dance Association with Wayne State in Brockport, New York. Some of Jayda’s favorite dance genres are Ballet and Jazz.
Chris is born and raised in Jackson, MI. He took his first clogging class while in 3rd grade and has been hooked ever since. Chris grew up performing with a local clogging group at different events in and around Jackson county. He’s traveled all around the States and Canada teaching and participating in workshops. Currently, Chris leads a group of amazing dancers that love to show perform and dance together.
Jode Piotrowski, Art Program Coordinator has a business degree in Graphic Communications from Baker College. She also has a Child Development Associate from Jackson Community College. She owned and operated her own preschool, Happy Hearts Children’s Center for six years where she worked as the director and lead teacher in the classroom and she has worked at Northwest Preschool and in visual merchandising at Elder Beerman Stores. She has taught various art classes for Jackson School of the Arts, including on-site classes, summer art camps, as well as the After School Art Programs and is also the Director of Kids Create, an immersive preschool experience in the arts.
Carey studied Art and K-8 Education at Adrian College. As a Jackson native, she has spent the last eight years in Jackson teaching Art to Kindergarten through eighth graders. She enjoys implementing her art experiences and art history background in all of her lessons and classes. She strives to create a supportive classroom nature, teaching young artist that there are NO mistakes in art. Everyone in her classroom can create an original masterpiece that they can be proud of! In a variety of capacities, she has helped organize innovative art programs for young artists. Programs including Mural Clubs, Saturday Art Camps, Community service Art, and an Annual Chalk Mural Competition. When time is available, Carey is a painter who enjoys creating mixed media portraits.
Jessicah has been around art her entire life, from making and painting ceramics since before she could remember to decorating cakes and sculpting fondant shapes and everything in between. She grew up in the Jackson area most of her life while also spending a lot of time in St. Louis, Missouri where the rest of her family lives. She attended Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois and graduated with an Associate Degree in Art with a heavy background of art history from Jackson College in 2017. She is currently taking classes at Eastern Michigan University to earn a Bachelor Degree in Visual Fine Arts K-12. She currently works with foster children with mental and cognitive impairments and loves every minute of it! Working with these children has solidified her love for teaching children and strives to encourage them that everyone is different and has their own qualities. Jessicah encourages everyone to use art as a voice to express themselves and their feelings. She is excited to be a part of the Jackson Arts family and is fortunate to be able to mold children into little artists!
Rene enjoys working in a variety of mediums and believes there is a creative spirit in everyone. She studied Art History, drawing and pottery at Cedarville College, as she pursued her Bachelors of Arts in English. Just as she believes everyone has a hidden creative spirit, Rene likes to find creative uses for ordinary things. Her art, under the name Attic Rescue League, has been featured at a few local galleries. She likes to help her students tap into their artistic side and hopes to inspire everyone to give “junk” a second chance through reuse.
Alyssa Anderson is a recent graduate from Western Michigan University with a Bachelors of Art Degree. She was recognized for her outstanding work in Art Education with the prestigious Harry S. Hefner Excellence in Art Scholarship and the WMU Art Star Award. She also earned an Associates Degree of Science and Art from Northwestern Michigan College where she studied culinary arts and graphic design. Alyssa has had many unique and rewarding teaching opportunities. She was employed as a summer V.I.S.T.A (Volunteering In Service To America), where she worked with children and young adults to develop leadership and creative problem solving skills. She was also a student ambassador for the U.S.-Brazil Connect program, incorporating the arts within her lesson plans to enhance the English learning experience. Her most recent experience was developing and implementing lesson plans for Western Michigan University’s SMArt (Saturday Morning Art) program. The lessons introduced students to a wide variety to mediums, techniques, artists, and critical thinking skills. Alyssa is looking forward to teaching and applying her rich experiences to the Jackson School of the Arts!
As a young child Sara overcame many obstacles with the help of art therapy. This encouraged her to pursue her artistic abilities. After receiving Citizen of the year in Jackson county, Sara volunteered her time helping others in many charities with a large influence in the Arts. In such local events including The Tony Open, The Lumen Christi Silent Auction, Relay for Life, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and many more.
Attending Central Michigan University and Jackson College with backgrounds in Graphic design, Art history, and children’s illustration was just the start of Sara’s creative soul.
As a teacher for over 6 years Sara strives in getting to know the best qualities in her students.
She will help bring your child’s creative abilities to their full potential.
Erin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Drama and a minor in Communications from Spring Arbor University. But Theatre has been a part of her life since she was in elementary school. While in college, she took part in every aspect of the Theatre she could. Her studies included classes in acting, stage management, directing, script writing and stage craft. In 2017 and 2018, Erin interned at an international boarding school and assisted in the theater productions at the school, as an actor coach, costumer, set building aid and assistant light designer.
Erin fell in love with the power and beauty of Theatre and what can be learned and cultivated through this art form. She wants to provide kids with a safe and fun space to explore creativity, expand their imagination and grow — both in confidence and in their gifts and talents. She wants to give them the ability to express themselves and connect with one another through Theatre.
She is so excited to share her passion with kids and strives to inspire a spirit of fun and play into all aspects of her teaching.
Jode Piotrowski, Art Program Coordinator has a business degree in Graphic Communications from Baker College. She also has a Child Development Associate from Jackson Community College. She owned and operated her own preschool, Happy Hearts Children’s Center for six years where she worked as the director and lead teacher in the classroom and she has worked at Northwest Preschool and in visual merchandising at Elder Beerman Stores. She has taught various art classes for Jackson School of the Arts, including on-site classes, summer art camps, as well as the After School Art Programs and is also the Director of Kids Create, an immersive preschool experience in the arts.
Alyssa Anderson is a recent graduate from Western Michigan University with a Bachelors of Art Degree. She was recognized for her outstanding work in Art Education with the prestigious Harry S. Hefner Excellence in Art Scholarship and the WMU Art Star Award. She also earned an Associates Degree of Science and Art from Northwestern Michigan College where she studied culinary arts and graphic design. Alyssa has had many unique and rewarding teaching opportunities. She was employed as a summer V.I.S.T.A (Volunteering In Service To America), where she worked with children and young adults to develop leadership and creative problem solving skills. She was also a student ambassador for the U.S.-Brazil Connect program, incorporating the arts within her lesson plans to enhance the English learning experience. Her most recent experience was developing and implementing lesson plans for Western Michigan University’s SMArt (Saturday Morning Art) program. The lessons introduced students to a wide variety to mediums, techniques, artists, and critical thinking skills. Alyssa is looking forward to teaching and applying her rich experiences to the Jackson School of the Arts!
