ACADEMIC DIRECTOR:
Sidnie Myrick is a literacy and curriculum specialist, 1996 finalist for California Teacher of the Year, past president of the Glendale Teachers' Association, and recipient of the California Reading Initiative Leadership grant. As Associate Director of the UCLA Writing Project and instructor with UCLA's Teacher Education Program and USC's Rossier School of Education, she has helped design instructional programs for students from kindergarten through university. She holds a Master's Degree in Education from California State University Los Angeles.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
P.K. Candaux is an Emmy-award winning producer of the television series 'Cagney & Lacey', and a former Director of Current Programs at CBS Television Network where she supervised production of prime-time series. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and has written and produced for stage, film, television, and radio.

LEAD ARTIST-ADVISOR:
Maggie Edmondson is a professional cellist who has performed with the Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, L.A. Chamber Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, L.A. Opera, Southwest Chamber Music, Camarata Pacifica and as a recording artist. She holds a Bachelor's of Music Performance from Cal State LA. and maintains a private cello studio in Pasadena.

HUMANITIES ADVISOR:
Michael Stein-Ross holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California where he co-founded an after-school mentoring program for middle school students. He has a minor in Spanish and spent Fall 2002 studying in Santiago, Chile.

HUMANITIES ADVISOR:
Lauryn Arkin holds a BA in English Literature and Language from USC and is a serious student of drawing and painting. She has traveled to Thailand to work with English language learners, tutored children with special needs, and designed arts projects for an after school program.

LATIN & CLASSICS ADVISOR:
Tom Knight holds a Ph.D. in Classics and an MA in Greek, both from the University of California, Berkeley. He taught for six years at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe, and for three years at Chancellor College of the University of Melane, in Zomba, Malawi. His published papers include comparisons between Greek and African myth.

MATH ADVISOR:
Iftekhar Syed holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from California State University at Northridge and an M.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Phoenix. Currently he is pursuing an M.A. in Educational Administration from CSUN. He has worked in the software industry developing programs for database systems, and most recently taught math and science at New Horizon Middle School in Pasadena. He has been working for Renarts since August 2004. As the Lead Math Advisor, he is in charge of coordinating and directing 'Summer Math Intensive' and 'Saturday Math Intensive' at Renaissance Arts Academy.

MATH ADVISOR:
Edward Estrada holds a Bachelor of Science in General Mathematics with a Specialization in Computing from the University of California Los Angeles and a MAED in Secondary Education from the University of Phoenix.  He is an instructor for the Jaime Escalante Summer Math Program at East Los Angeles College.

SCIENCE ADVISOR:
Dave Nelson holds a Ph.D in Materials Science and Physics and a Masters in Physics, both from Cornell University. His career has spanned 25 years in the Semiconductor Industry and includes research and development for the IBM Watson Research Center, and Rockwell International, and participation in two start-up companies. He has published numerous papers on semiconductor physics, processing, and manufacturing.

SCIENCE ADVISOR:
Allison Syphus holds a B.S. in Zoology: Human Biology from Brigham Young University and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Biology from California State Univ, Los Angeles. She instructed general Inorganic Chemistry at BYU and worked on a team that researched causes and possible prevention of cleft palates for OperationSmile in Kenya and the Philippines.

MUSIC THEORY ADVISOR:
Robert Gross is a doctoral candidate in music composition at USC. He holds a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory, an M.M. from Rice University and an M.A. from the University of Bristol. He was the winner of the Inter-American Composition competition with the winning work published by C.F. Peters. His musical "Yeehad" (co-written with playwright William Whitehurst) was premiered in North Hollywood and was a critical hit at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Additional compositions have been performed by American Composers Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, University of Michigan Contemporary Directions, and the University of Bristol Contemporary Music Ensemble.

VIOLIN ADVISOR:
Marisa McLeod was a long-time member of the Anderson String Quartet, touring the U.S. and Europe, and performing at the 1993 Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. She currently performs with the South Central Chamber Orchestra, the Aurora Quartet, California Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony She holds a Masters of Music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. and teaches violin at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

VIOLA ADVISOR:
Sharon Ray graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with a Performance Diploma in viola after also studying violin, viola and tympani at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She has performed with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Delaware Symphony, and for the past 14 years she has served on the faculty of the National Guitar Workshop. Sharon is the author of two books for Alfred Publishing -- ‘Bass for Beginners’ and ‘Quick Start Rock Bass’. She maintains a private teaching practice for viola and bass guitar in the Eagle Rock and Pasadena area.

VOCAL ADVISOR:
Yorgos Adamis holds an MFA in Composition from the California Institute of the Arts, an MA in Contemporary Performing Arts from the University of Leeds in England, and a BA in Music from the University of York. He explores the use of extended vocal and instrumental techniques in experimental contemporary music and improvisation, Greek folk music, Byzantine Chant and choral performance, and has collaborated with video artists, jugglers, directors, dancers and choreographers. His original compositions have been performed in Greece, England, Ukraine and across the United States.

THEATER ARTS ADVISOR:
Janice Markham holds a BFA in theater from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She is the recipient of the Clifton Webb Scholarship for her graduate studies in theater at UCLA, and is a Master’s Candidate in the professional writing program at USC. Since 1991 Janice has been Artistic Director of the VOX BOX Arts Collective, a non-profit arts organization based in Eagle Rock.

THEATER ARTS ADVISOR:
Peter Hoffman-Kipp holds a BA degree in English from Georgetown University, an MA and PhD in Education from UCLA, as well as a Clear California teaching credential. Currently he is teaching at Cal State LA, UCLA, and Antioch College. He taught and directed high school drama for 6 years in the greater Los Angeles Area.

ART HISTORY ADVISOR:
Kat Ross holds an MFA in Fine Art from Art Center College of Design and received a BA from Occidental College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Recently, Kat has received a fellowship from the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, California and is a practicing artist in Los Angeles exhibiting both nationally and internationally.

OFFICE MANAGER:
Lisa Springer is a highly trained Administrative Office Specialist with over 18 years of office management experience with Fortune 500 companies. She brings exceptional customer service and project management skills, and is fluent in Spanish with excellent oral and written bi-lingual communication.

OFFICE ASSISTANT:
Tony Castillo is a graduate of RenArts and is currently enrolled in the Teacher Preparation Program, a partnership between Pasadena City College and Cal State Los Angeles.