Akina Adderley, choral instructor, is thrilled to join the TNS Academy family. Recently relocated from Los Angeles, Akina is a dedicated vocalist, song-writer and instructor, and is excited about bringing her love of music to your children. As a graduate of Yale University, as well as New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts (“the Fame school”) and the Manhattan School of Music Prep Division, Akina possesses an avid passion for knowledge of the arts. She passed on that passion to her musical theater and voice students during her 2 year tenure at The Adderley School for the Performing Arts in Pacific Palisades, CA. During this time, Akina was fortunate enough to conduct a small children’s ensemble (comprised of Adderley School students) backing Josh Groban at the Carousel of Hope benefit in LA. She also performed and recorded, as well as being a member and assistant rehearsal conductor for the Namasté Women’s Choir. Akina is especially excited about teaching choir at TNS. She has extensive choral experience, including at the prestigious Los Angeles Children’s Choir as a youth, the Manhattan School of Music Prep Division Concert Choir as a teen, and Yale’s the New Blue (first as member, then conductor for 2 years). Look out for Akina’s rich, expressive voice in Austin’s music scene. She has just begun singing jazz around town, and her band, Akina Adderley & the Vintage Playboys, is working on new material and gearing up to bring some organic blues~funk to Austin audiences. In addition to performing and leading your children in choir, Akina offers private vocal coaching. Feel free to contact her at akina.adderley@gmail.com.
Megan Prescott ,art instructor, is a graduate from the University of Vermont with a degree in Studio Art. She has been teaching art techniques to students of all age ranges, working as a contracted artist/instructor in various public, private, and art institutions for over eighteen years. She has taught drawing, pastels, and painting to hundreds of students in Vermont, Connecticut, New Mexico and Texas and started children's art programs at the American Red Cross and the Austin Children's Shelter. Megan has worked with the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque, and has decided to finally put down roots here in Austin where she is an instructor at the Art School at Laguna Gloria. She is very excited to be a part of the TNS Academy team and looks forward to the new school year!
Krista Phillips, our yoga instructor, is an Early Childhood Educator with 7 years of experience teaching in the Montessori and Reggio Emilia traditions. After years of incorporating yoga, breath awareness and relaxation techniques in her classroom, Krista became a Certified YogaKids Facilitator. She now happily teaches yoga to more than 200 children each week. Krista's classes are designed to benefit the whole child. Each class includes yoga poses, imaginative play, breath work, relaxation and creative expression.
Birgit Schwickert, our American Sign Language instructor, was born in Germany and is a mother of 3 little children and a husband who is German as well, raises her children trilingual: English, German, and American Sign Language (ASL). She has been living in Austin, Texas since 2006. Birgit has a Ph. D. in Physics from Ohio University, was a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley and then worked for IBM in San Jose, California. When her first son was born 6 years ago, Birgit decided to change her life. She quit work, enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, and started the journey of learning ASL with her hearing son. Having seen first hand how powerful and enlightening it is to have a signing baby, Birgit decided to become fluent in ASL and to learn about the Deaf community. She became a presenter with Sign2me and formed her own company, SeeMeTalking, offering ASL classes to hearing children. American Sign Language, widely accepted now as a powerful communication tool for babies, empowers older children to expand their literacy skills. Birgit loves working with Preschoolers and Elementary school children, seeing their tremendous progress in fine motor development skills and expanding their vocabulary through ASL.