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Our Team
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Executive Director
Roxy Arrojo
For more than 25 years, Roxy has been an integral part of the Educational Arts Team, where she utilizes her expertise in dance and movement to enhance our program. She helps develop kinesthetic activities for mind-body awareness, as well as activities using visual symbolism and physical representation.
Roxy is an actor, singer, and storyteller. She has successfully produced and performed in various shows, including "How Can I Keep from Singing - a Tribute to Eva Cassidy" at The Laurie Beechman Theater, as well as her own cabaret titled "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered" at venues such as Don't Tell Mamas and The Duplex. In addition to her performance career, Roxy has also taken on roles as a production manager and adjunct in Theater at NJCU. In her spare time, she indulges in her passion for composing and arranging music.
Her personal interest in Young Adult Literature has given her a special insight into character motivations and relationships, important elements of our Bringing Literature to Life series. Roxy’s love for reading and literature inspires her to incorporate drama-based techniques that not only enhance reading comprehension but also promote self-expression.
She’s contributed to the publications of Educational Arts Teams’ handbooks, The Magic Circle of Drama, The Artful Learner & Bringing Literature to Life led by Carmine Tabone.
She is committed to carrying forward the legacy of providing children with joyful and enriching creative experiences, while also instilling a lifelong love for learning.
Director of Art Based Community Programs
Dom Buccafusco
Dom has worked with the team, since 1980 as a drama workshop leader. He received an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, and a BA in English/Theatre from Jersey City State College. He also attended the New School for Social Research where he studied Television Production and Acting for the stage and screen. For twenty-five years Dom worked as an adjunct instructor in theater at New Jersey City University for the Department of Music, Dance & Theater. His directorial work includes a wide range of theatrical genres including plays, musicals, and opera.
Program Manager
Joey Rosario
Joey Rosario is a theatre educator, director, choreographer, and musical theater performer. He first joined the Educational Arts Team as a teaching artist at Camp Liberty, teaching acting and improvisation classes as well as choreographing for the shows.
Originally from Paterson, NJ, Joey attended Montclair State University as a Theatre Studies Major/Dance minor and, most recently, obtained his Masters in Educational Theatre from The City College of New York. As a performer, he has had the opportunity to perform nationally and internationally in shows like “A Chorus Line”, “Guys and Dolls”, and “West Side Story”.
As a choreographer, he has had his work featured at the Jazz Choreography Enterprises’ Jazz Dance Project. He served as associate choreographer for a production of “In The Heights” at Park Playhouse and most recently, he directed and choreographed an original interactive musical adaptation of the award winning children’s book “What Do You Do With An Idea?”.
Joey’s teaching philosophy revolves around meeting people where they are, empowering them to explore, and discover what could be. He is proud to be a part of this team, all the incredible work they have done, and continue to do.
Operations & Administrative Manager
Samantha Zegarra
Samantha is a Licensed Social Worker and youth development professional making change through non profit leadership. Samantha’s journey with the Educational Arts Team began at the age of six when she was a camper at Camp Liberty. She went from camper to counselor and is currently the organization's Operations and Administrative Manager.
An alumna of Rutgers University, Samantha graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Deciding to continue her studies Samantha later went on to earn her Masters of Social Work with a focus on childhood development and clinical mental health.
Samantha brings a social work perspective to the organization by advocating for change on a macro level to build a stronger community. Samantha's core belief is enacting change through innovative programming and opportunities for youth in our community.
Finance Consultant
Addison Muniz
Addison Muniz rejoins our Team as our Finance Consultant after a long 15 year history with EdArts. Addison began his journey with EdArts as a Teen Mentor at Camp Liberty. In 2012 Addison began working with us year round as the Financial Coordinator until 2017. During his time away, he gained experience as an Accounting Manager, Senior Accountant, and Bookkeeper at companies such as Nuts.com and Just Salad. Currently Muniz is employed at Modern Meadow as an Accounting Manager, and as of 2023, they have been promoted to the position of Senior FP&A Manager.
Addison Muniz began their education at Hudson County Community College in 2014, where they pursued an Associate of Science (A.S.) degree in Accounting. After completing their studies at Hudson County Community College in 2015, Muniz transferred to Rutgers Business School. They studied there from 2015 to 2017 and earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Accounting with a concentration in Management Information Systems.
Social Media Consultant
MJ Sansait
MJ is a Jersey City born and raised creative entrepreneur and mom of two. Growing up in a single mother household along with her love for music, inspired MJ to pursue a professional journey that would combine community upliftment and the arts. Mary worked with a local 501c3 Jersey City non-profit that assists entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is an accomplished singer and recording artist, who continues to use her talents to engage fellow creatives in the community. She has produced showcases and performed as M. Josephine alongside various underground heavy weights such as M1 of Dead Prez, Silent Knight, Rugged N Raw, John Robinson and The Band Called FUSE. She is the founder & president of Inspired Artist Movement, a platform for affirming the artist and creative power to heal, empower and inspire. She is also the founder of Goddess Ntwrk, a space and resource for womxn to heal their trauma and celebrate their inner goddess.
Administrative Assistant
Louise Frazier
Louise joins the Educational Arts Team with over 30 years of experience working with families in her community.
Prior to joining the Educational Arts Team, Louise founded The LightHouse Academy, a child care center caring for children as young as 6 weeks to 12 years old. She ran The LightHouse Academy with the basis that every child has a unique voice and deserves to be heard. Here, she found that providing parents with support and a village to support their children made a difference in the lives of the families she served. During this time, Louise also fostered at-risk youth for over 10 years with the goal of reunifying youth with their families. She loved seeing her youth achieve new milestones and the excitement they experienced when going back home to implement the new things they learned with their family.
She continues to follow her passion of working with youth and their families through work at Camp Liberty and Educational Arts Team. She believes it takes a village to raise healthy, wholesome children and is excited to continue in this tradition.
Administrative Assistant & Camp Registrar
Harleigh Johnson
Harleigh Johnson joins the Educational Arts Team as Camp Liberty’s Registrar and Administrative Assistant after starting off as a camper at the age of six. Throughout her years at Camp Liberty, Harleigh was always involved in the Camp plays and danced wherever she had the opportunity, played sports such as softball and handball, climbed trees and enjoyed the pool. From a young age she also loved being able to see all the nature and wildlife at camp, something you don’t often find in Jersey City. Now working at Educational Arts Team, though introverted, Harleigh hopes to engage deeply with our community, learn new things and expand her love for arts education and working with campers and their families.
In her spare time Harleigh enjoys listening to music, crocheting, watching her favorite shows,
photography, and going to the park. With a degree in Health Science, she hopes in the future to work in the medical field.
Teaching Artist
Danny Bacher
Danny Bacher graduated from NJCU in 2001 with a BA in theater arts and music. He began his work as a professional teaching artist shortly after finishing college when he started working for the award-winning theater troupe, The Irondale Ensemble project. He worked for several years throughout the NYC school system teaching arts integration and theater in all five boroughs. While writing and acting and touring throughout the country, Danny continued his love for working with children after being hired, along with his brother Josh, by the Educational Arts Team in 2008 to write and perform the acclaimed after-school puppet show series, called the Backyard players. Once established at the Educational Arts Team, Danny began to work as a counselor at Camp Liberty and eventually began to work as a year -round staff member and teaching artist with the team. In addition to a solid career in jazz, cabaret and pop with a penchant for rare gems, and classic standards from the Great American Songbook, Bacher has also worked as an actor, comedian and writer, touring internationally with his original works. Along with a busy touring schedule and working at venues such as the Blue Note, Birdland, Feinstein’s 54 Below, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Town Hall, he has performed several times at Carnegie Hall and most recently alongside the legendary Michael Feinstein. Bacher has released two studio albums as a leader, “Swing That Music!” and “Still Happy” on the Whaling City Sound label.
Teaching Artist
Heather Danchise
Heather joins the Educational Arts Team as a ceramics and three-dimensional arts instructor. Upon graduating from New Jersey City University in 2018 with a BA in Art Therapy, she opened a creative space to share her love of ceramics with people of all ages and capabilities.
Heather's studio, Keezee Ceramics, has facilitated the making of local artists and people of her community. She hopes that participants in her classes experience the excitement and reward that comes from working in a creative setting.
Heather enjoys the time she spends with the team, and looks forward to helping others explore their journeys as artists.
Teaching Artist
Lionel Emabat
Lionel Emabat is an Artist and Designer with over 10 years of experience. Lionel holds a BA in Digital Design & Illustration/ Computer Science. Born in West Africa, he has always enjoyed mimicking what was in front of him on a piece of paper long before he could write. In the seventh grade, his art teacher advised him to join the art program of his school. His artistic experiences combined with cultural adaptation inspired his drawings. Over the years the things he has seen and experienced sparked his creativity & helped inspire his drawings. As he moved forward every day, he chose to live his life by sketching his way there one drawing at a time.
Teaching Artist
Dani Kopoulos
Dani joined the Educational Arts Team in 2010. She received an MA in Creative Writing from New School University in New York, and a BA in multi-media performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her hometown.
Dani is an award-winning solo performance artist and published writer of poetry and creative non-fiction. She has also been a teaching artist for over 15 years, leading drama, writing, and movement workshops in schools and community centers in Chicago, New York and New Jersey.
Teaching Artist
Sam Llanes
Sam received her BFA from NY's School of Visual Arts studying 2D Animation. With her expertise in interweaving stories through her draftwork, she uses the same techniques to communicate different ideas & skills through art for young people. Sam started as a Junior Counselor at Camp Liberty, eventually moving on to become the Set Designer for 10+ years, producing full stage scenery with the kids.
Her background in animation brings a sense of visual storytelling to the Educational Arts Team. Sam is currently the Art Director for Camp Liberty and is now one of the Educational Arts Team's teaching artists in New Jersey.
Outside of the organization, Sam works as an Illustrator under Sammakesamess with clients such as Mask Up NJ, Baonanas, Matcha Love, & more. She's dabbled in graphic design, concept art, product development, and creates personal digital paintings for her clients.
Teaching Artist
Sylvia Riley
Sylvia Riley is an African-American illustrator, animator, and creative writer based in Jersey City, NJ. After acquiring her BA in History from Caldwell University in 2017, Sylvia decided to follow her other passion, the arts. Her formal artistic studies have taken her around the world, from Paris to California, through various Continued Education courses with the School of Visual Arts and the New York Film Academy. She is a dedicated teaching artist, focused on teaching BIPOC youth through crafting, visual art, and storytelling.
Founder
Carmine Tabone
Founder of the Educational Arts Team, Carmine has been leading theater and education projects with young people since 1970 and holds an Ed. S. from Seton Hall University in Educational Leadership and a M. A. from New York University in Educational Theater. He has been an adjunct faculty member at NYU in the graduate theater education program and has conducted in-service training workshops at regional, national and international conferences.
In 2010 Carmine and three researchers from Seton Hall University received the American Alliance for Theater and Education Research Award for their work on a series of United States Department of Education Arts in Education projects. Carmine has also co-authored a book on drama education activities, as well as three handbooks with EdArts teaching artists. Carmine and Bob Albrecht completed a book, The Arts and Play as Educational Media in the Digital Age (Peter Lang, 2020).
Artist
Mary Graham Aiken
Also known as Miss Mary, is one of the original members of Educational Arts Team which was founded in 1974. She graduated from Ferris High School in Jersey City and took drama classes at Jersey City State College. She was also the recipient of a scholarship with the Negro Ensemble Acting School in New York City.
Miss Mary's career has taken given her opportunities in a variety of fields. Mary formed two organizations, called Dambella Models and one called Arts Drama Club. She was a style columnist for a Jersey City magazine called From Dusk Til Dawn, contributing to a column called "Beauty Tips". She has also taught modeling and grooming at the Jersey City YWCA.
Miss Mary has been working with children for over 50 years, giving workshops in schools, day cares, libraries, churches, and many other organizations. She teaches music, art and crafts, storytelling, sign language, and performs in puppet shows. Miss Mary is a Jersey City favorite and beloved member of the team.
Artist
Robert Albrecht
Bob received his masters from the University of Wisconsin and his doctorate from New York University and he has published numerous articles relating to the role of music and the arts in education and culture.
As a musician, Bob has written hundreds of songs and has performed with diverse groups, all the way from street corner doo-wop to Camp songs with children in Jersey City to Brazilian jazz. As a teacher, Bob was an early member of the Educational Arts Team and has worked at Camp Liberty since 1982 where he coordinates the music and recreation program. Bob is also a tenured professor of media arts at New Jersey City University where he teaches classes in the history and social impact of media.
In 2014, he produced a CD of children’s songs entitled Sing Along with Camp Liberty. Recently, Bob represented the Educational Arts Team at an international conference in Italy where he presented a paper outlining the importance of educational arts in the age of digital technology.
Teaching Artist
Dina Bruno-Cibrowski
Dina has been a teaching artist for over 18 years in both New York and New Jersey, 10 of those years with Educational Arts Team. She also works as an actress in the theatre with an emphasis on Improvisational Performance.Dina’s acting credits include off off-Broadway, cabaret theatre, and a number of independent films. She has also toured with theatre companies performing in NYC, Toronto, and Massachusetts. Her facility with role-play and improv was instrumental in the creation of our Hand Puppet program, which helps 2nd and 3rd graders develop characters and improvise problem-solution plot lines.
Carmine Bio
Heather Bio
Lionel Bio
Sam Z Bio
Dom bio
Danny B Bio
Joey Bio
Roxy Bio
Dani Bio
Sam L Bio
Sylvia bio
Dina Bio
MJ Bio
Louise Bio
Mary Bio
Bob Bio
Addison Bio
Harleigh Bio
Our Founding Members
In Loving Memory
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