Nurturing curiosity and joy from the start!

Wolf Trap teaching artists will share engaging activities designed for parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators to use the arts at home, daycare, and school to set our youngest learners on a path toward kindergarten readiness.

October 7: Spice

Spice has conducted Arts Integration Education Residencies in Baltimore, Takoma Park, and Silver Spring, Maryland for over ten years. While working with the children on Pre-School curriculum, Spice mentors teachers to help them feel more comfortable utilizing the Arts to teach their lessons in the classroom. She primarily teaches music and drama and am also the Music teacher at Downtown Baltimore Childcare Center where she has worked for more than 10 years.  Spice trained through Teaching Artist Institute in Baltimore, Md in Arts Integration Education for elementary through high school grades.

October 14: Jamaal Collier

Jamaal Collier—or “Mr. Root”—is a dedicated and versatile professional Hip Hop artist with more than a decade of experience facilitating workshops and live performances in the Mid-Atlantic region. By incorporating rapping, vocal percussion, and dynamic stage presence, Jamaal articulates his passionate appreciation for his artistry every time he teaches and performs. Jamaal was named the Mic-ology Spoken Word Slam Champion in 2007.

October 21: Tiffanie Horner

Tiffanie Horner received her BFA in Dance from the State University of New York College at Brockport. She studied on full scholarship at The Draper Center for Dance Education, STEPS on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center.  Ms Horner has also attended summer intensive training programs with the Joffrey Ballet, Rochester City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She completed a Pilates Apprenticeship program with Mirea Pineda in Tucson, AZ and is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique developed by Marie Walton-Mahon.  Additionally, Ms Horner has taught classical ballet, pointe, variations, modern dance, creative movement, and stretch classes at dance schools throughout the US for more than fifteen years.  Her privately coached students have participated in YAGP finals in NYC and have been accepted to noted college dance programs and dance teams. Ms Horner is currently a Teaching Artist for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and The Washington Ballet DanceDC program.  Ms Horner's performance credits include Rochester City Ballet, Ballet for Young Audiences (New York City), Eglevsky Ballet, Upside Down Dance (Honolulu), Minou Lallemand's Onium Ballet Project (Honolulu), Honolulu Dance Theatre and Ballet Tucson. Tiffanie performs and teaches in the Baltimore/DC area and currently resides in Kensington, MD with her husband and two children. 

October 28: Maria Tripodi

Maria Tripodi has been a Teaching Artist with Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts since 2004. She is a graduate from Young Audiences’ Teaching Artist Institute, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in performance and language arts and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Bennington College. Having grown up both in Washington, DC and Argentina, Maria conducts classes in both English and Spanish. Because she began dancing as an adult, Maria pays close attention to creating an enriching movement experience for both the experienced and novice dancer.