Tamara Nolte

Program Director

tamara@bubblesacademy.com

Tamara, originally from Philadelphia, learned about educational philosophy from her grandfather. He founded a Montessori school that gave her the early opportunity to assist in preschool classrooms and help plan annual year-end productions. In college, she had the invaluable experience of developing and coordinating the school's World Adventure 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.

Whitney McBride

Assistant Office Manager, Event Assistant

whitney@bubblesacademy.com

Whitney has served in many different roles at Bubbles Academy. She moved to Chicago from upstate New York to pursue her bachelor of fine arts in costume
design at DePaul University. Whitney has worked with students at the Goodman/Yollocalli Youth Drama Workshop, taught art classes in Cape Coast, Ghana, and loves to make children’s theater. She freelances as a designer and milliner, throws fantastic dinner parties with her best friend and constantly adopts houseplants. Whitney loves spending her days in the energy and excitement of Bubbles Academy!

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.

Martha Smith

Communications Manager

martha@bubblesacademy.com

Extra, extra -- read all about her! Longtime newspaper copy editor and designer Martha Smith joined the Bubbles Academy staff in summer 2008. She credits her early love for education to her mother, who was a principal at an elementary school in Lexington, South Carolina. Martha, who has a bachelor of arts in print journalism from the University of South Carolina,
is so excited to spread the news about the great things going on at Bubbles Academy!

Katie Stevens

Communications Assistant

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

John Anderson

After-school Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

John moved to Chicago from Texas in 2005 to study improv. He loves Bubbles and feels very fortunate to teach and play here! For the past few summers, John has taught improv and served as a counselor at the Summer Arts Camp at Columbia College, and he also enjoys leading the improv class at Francis W. Parker day school. You can find John teaching Bubbles Academy’s Superhero class or assisting in other classes, including our after-school programs. As a big kid himself, John loves to invent games and invite others to play
along.

Mikala Bierma

Teacher, Imagination Coordinator and Camp Coordinator

mikala@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

carly@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

rachael@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!

Sarah Harris

Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Sarah Harris is so happy to be part of the Bubbles team! She received her bachelor of arts in English from Duke University and her master of arts in teaching in elementary education from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. Before she started at Bubbles, Sarah taught kindergarten at Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut, for five years and first grade at the Latin School of Chicago. As a Bubble Bees teacher, Sarah draws upon both her years of classroom experience and her ever-evolving adventure in parenting young children. She has been at home with sons Pierce and Spencer for the past three years and knows through her own Bubble boys what a special place Bubbles Academy is.

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.

Carol Nicolson

Bees and Step Assistant Teacher

bigbubble@bubblesacademy.com

Carol was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she studied primary education, specializing in the early years. Her husband’s job brought them to the United States from 1990-1995 and again in 2001. Carol has lived on both coasts and now loves residing in Chicago. She has volunteered in preschool programs, worked to integrate blind children into mainstream schooling, volunteered with English-as-a-second-language students, and most recently worked for two years in the nursery at the British School of Chicago. Her favorite “job,” though, is being a busy mum to her three children. Carol loves working at Bubbles Academy, meeting the children and families and being part of a fun and creative staff.

Sarah Parker

Teacher and Baby-and-Me Program Coordinator

sarah@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.

BIRTHDAY AND PLAYCENTER STAFF

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.

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.