Tamara Nolte

Director

tamara@bubblesacademy.com

Tamara, originally from Philadelphia, learned about educational philosophy from her grandfather. He founded a Montessori school that gave her early opportunities in a preschool classrooms. In college, she had the invaluable experience of developing and coordinating the school's Summer Camp. Tamara graduated from Boston College with a degree in philosophy and a minor in early childhood education and theater. She started at Bubbles Academy in 2003 and was promoted to program director in 2005. Tamara has drawn from her background in early childhood education, theater and music to help create Bubbles Academy’s unique programming and birthday parties. Using her expertise in video editing and Apple computers, she has also created most of the multimedia content that Bubbles Academy features in its classes and events. Tamara is proud to lead a team of inspired artists and educators! When she's not at Bubbles Academy, Tamara is an ensemble member at ComedySportz Chicago and an adjunct faculty member in the Musical Improv Conservatory at The Second City.

Andrea Leigh Savelli

Office Manager

andrea@bubblesacademy.com

Andrea Leigh Savelli moved to Chicago in 2006 to pursue her dreams of dance and working with children. She earned her bachelor of arts from Pennsylvania’s Slippery Rock University in 2004, after which she danced professionally in the Pittsburgh area. She was in the top 25 girls during the first season of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Andrea worked with the tap company Chicago Human Rhythm Project and is an interactive entertainer for special events. Andrea loves children and all their energy! One day, she hopes to establish a children’s art foundation to promote the
positive influences of artistic expression.

Kayla Gale

Office Assistant/Triple B Coordinator

kayla@bubblesacademy.com

Kayla Gale is so happy to be part of the Bubbles team! She comes to us from Minnesota with extreme enthusiasm and a high SQ (Silly Quotient). Kayla spent five summers during college and high school at the Herzl Camp for Jewish youth as director of its art program. She earned her bachelor of fine arts in design and art history from the University of Kansas and moved to Chicago in 2008 to pursue her dreams of working with children in a creative environment. She loves to fish, paint, spend time with her family and make goofy faces!

Jessica Treinish

Teacher, Art Program Coordinator, Special Events Manager

jessica@bubblesacademy.com

Jessica Treinish has been involved in education and the fine arts for almost a decade. In five summers during high school and college, she served at the Herzl Camp for Jewish youth as co-director of the art program. Jessica completed her art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with both a bachelor of fine arts and a teaching certificate in art education for K-12. Jessica has worked in the Chicago Public Schools and taught art for Francis W. Parker School’s summer program. Her love for children and art extends beyond the classroom, as Jessica continues to evolve in her own work as a painter.

Kim Schiefelbein

Music Program Coordinator and Parent Relations Coordinator

kim@bubblesacademy.com

Kim has been with Bubbles Academy since 2005 and has enjoyed every moment! She has a bachelor of music in voice performance from Miami University and is the music coordinator at Bubbles Academy, where she helps create curriculum and train teachers. Kim has also taught Chicago-area fitness programs since 1992 and leads the Buggy Bubbles class at the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Body Bubbles class in the winter. Kim has been certified by the American Council on Exercise and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. She also stays busy as Bubbles Academy’s speaker series coordinator, the organizer of the Triple B Moms Group and the Navigating the School Search classes, and a mom to her beautiful daughter, Laken.

Katie Powell

Communications Manager

katie@bubblesacademy.com

Katie is so happy to be part of the Bubbles Academy family! Originally from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Katie moved to Chicago for a taste of the big city life and to pursue her career. In 2008, Katie received her bachelor of arts from Shippensburg University in communications/journalism with a minor in art and graphic design certification. Katie also worked as an on-air DJ, local music director and event coordinator for her college radio station. She completed a design and writing internship and worked as office manager at a local dance studio for several years. She enjoys reading, playing board games and singing in the car. “Hi Mom!”

BUBBLES ACADEMY TEACHERS

Beth Allin

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Beth Allin is tickled pink to join the Bubbles team! A native of Kansas, Beth graduated from the University of Kansas in 2003. She worked in the Kansas City area as an advertising account executive for three years until moving to Chicago to pursue a life in the performing arts. Beth has worked with Theatre Building Chicago, the North Lakeside Players, Bare Boned Theatre and Brain Surgeon Theater. She is thrilled to be able to use her high SQ (Silly Quotient) with everyone at Bubbles Academy!

John Anderson

After-school Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

John grew up in Texas and graduated from TCU with a degree in film. He moved to Chicago in 2005 to study improv comedy and make people laugh. John fell in love with teaching his first year in Chicago and now teaches after school classes for Bubbles Academy across the city. His favorite class subjects include Superhero Training, Movie Making and Improv. John loves Bubbles Academy and feels very fortunate to teach and play here.

Mikala Bierma

Teacher, Imagination Coordinator and Camp Coordinator

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Mikala loves to use her imagination at Bubbles Academy! She received her bachelor of fine arts in theater performance with a concentration in acting and a minor in Asian studies from the University of Michigan. Mikala taught high school students in Sikkim, India, and enjoys working with students of all ages. She is currently performing improv comedy at ImprovOlympic and The Second City. Mikala is also a company member with Barrel of Monkeys, where she serves as an artist in residence in Chicago Public Schools. She loves her home town of Minneapolis, her mom and dad, cats, playing pretend, laughing, lotus flowers, manatees, Tibet, yoga and being silly every day!

Carly Ciarrocchi

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Carly is absolutely thrilled to be on the Bubbles Academy teaching team! She is a graduate of Northwestern University and spent her time in Evanston as an actor, an improviser, a mime, a clown and a teaching artist. Carly is originally from Wilmington, Delaware, but has fallen in love with the Chicago winter, so she doesn't plan on going back east any time soon. In addition to her teaching positions in Bubble Prep, Bouncin' Bubbles and After-school Yoga, Carly can be seen on the weekends as a pirate, princess, superhero and much more at Bubbles birthday parties! Carly is studying improvisation at ImprovOlympic and is learning to play her little blue guitar at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Rachael Crim

Teacher and Pre-Preschool Program Coordinator

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Rachael loves singing, working with children and finding opportunities to combine the two! Rachael received her bachelor of music with teacher certification from the University of Michigan, and she earned her master of music from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Rachael moved to Chicago to perform the role of Gretel in Opera for the Young’s adaptation of “Hansel and Gretel.” Other Chicago endeavors include her role of Catherine in “Pippin” with Elgin Community Theatre, as well as her spot in the Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus. Through her teaching at Bubbles Academy, Rachael has begun to play the ukulele!

Lauren Hubert

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Lauren is so excited to have found Bubbles Academy, where she uses her love of music, yoga and teaching to help kids be creative and, of course, silly! She is a native of Chicago, but received her vocal music education degree at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Since graduation, Lauren has worked with children as an elementary school music teacher in Kansas and as a peace educator at the Children’s Peace Pavilion in Missouri. Lauren sings and plays guitar, ukulele and piano in a band that performs all over Chicago. She takes guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music and donates her time and talents to Practice With a Purpose, a program that brings live music to schools, hospitals and churches.

Lauren Maul

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com  

Lauren has a lot in common with the children she teaches at Bubbles -- she loves to sing silly songs, finger-paint and play with Play-Doh! Lauren can be found playing her pink guitar all over Chicago and entertaining audiences with balloon animals and other silly things. Lauren received her bachelor in theatre arts from the University of San Diego. She is an active writer and performer in the improv and comedy community in Chicago, co-hosts a variety show called Bingo Bango Chicago, and is in Recess, a children’s outreach improv team.

Sarah Parker

Teacher, Baby Bubbles and Independence Program Coordinator

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Sarah has been an actress as long as she can remember, acting academically and professionally since age 12. Sarah learned to play the guitar when she was 18 and working in Branson, Missouri, and she earned her bachelor of fine arts in theater from Southwest Missouri State University. After moving to Chicago with her theater company in 2002, Sarah worked in both Chicago and New York, but her favorite “gig” is being a mom to her amazing daughter, Lyric. Sarah is happy to have found a special place at Bubbles where fun and frolicking are abundant, and where singing about any silly thing you want is the best way to brighten your day.

Shannon Conlin

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com  

Shannon is a Texas native who moved to Chicago in 2002 with her husband. She graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education and earned a master's degree in the same field from the Erikson Institute. Her passions are running, teaching and music. Shannon taught kindergarten, second grade and sixth grade at Ogden School for seven years until she and her husband welcomed Cassidy into their family in April 2009. She is thrilled to join the Bubbles team!

BIRTHDAY AND PLAYCENTER STAFF

Christina Boucher

Sibling Care, Office Assistant

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Ashley Nye

Office Assistant, Event Assistant

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Ashley is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but now resides in Chicago as she completes her degree in art history and fine arts at DePaul University. In addition to her years at Bubbles Academy, Ashley has been a nanny for numerous families in Michigan and Chicago. Her main goal in life is to become a great mother like the one she has been blessed with. Ashley loves dogs, kids, books, cooking, running, Pilates and, of course, art!

Jessica Ramos

Office Assistant, Event Assistant

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com  

Jessica has been working with children since she was 13. Before moving to Chicago to earn her bachelor of fine arts in fashion design, Jes was very active in her hometown church’s children’s ministry and nursery, as well as its youth group, where she led teens and young adults in the dance ministry. Jes joined the Bubbles Academy family in November 2007 and has loved every imagination-filled second of it. She believes there’s nothing better than cupcakes, bubbles, the sound of children’s laughter or a baby falling asleep in your arms.

Kyle

Sibling Care

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Kyle is delighted to spend her days the Bubbles Academy way! She moved to Chicago to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, and graduated in 2006 with a degree in fine art. Since graduation she has been busy creating art, working with children and settling in at Bubbles Academy.

GUEST LECTURERS

Susan and Rick Rizzo

Baby Sign Workshop Instructors

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com  

Susan and Rick Rizzo, Brainy Bubbles baby sign language teachers since 2005, are so happy to offer Sign With Your Baby (SWYB) instruction at Bubbles Academy. Susan, a certified member of the SWYB Presenters Network since 2004, has a master's degree in deaf education from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and teacher certifications in New York and Illinois. Rick, who learned to sign at NTID in his native Rochester, New York, now works at the Art Institute of Chicago. Their son, Toby, born in September 2007, is one of the Rizzos’ favorite guest lecturers!

Cathy Karnuth

Blossom Bubbles Yoga Workshop Instructor

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Cathy, who completed her yoga training at the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago, has been a yoga instructor at Bubbles Academy since 2004. She educates students about prenatal and family yoga, teaches adult and senior yoga, leads fitness classes for seniors and is a certified personal trainer.

Greta Huizenga

Baby Massage Workshop Instructor

 bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com  

Greta Huizenga completed the Infant Massage USA training program after discovering its therapeutic benefits in countless peer-reviewed journals. She seeks to share this empowering information on nurturing touch and communication with parents and caregivers. Currently enrolled in the masters program of pre- and perinatal psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, Greta also has advanced degrees in secondary education, elementary education, and English as a second language. She is the mother of two.