Along with her private practice, Jessica is one of the drama therapists and directors of Witness Theater – an intergenerational program that brings together holocaust survivors and adolescents to create a piece of therapeutic theatre. She has also devoted her time to The Animation Project, which works to provide at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system with the creative tools to work through their traumas, share their stories, and learn new skills that will help them in the workforce. Jessica has spent the summer of 2018 developing and implementing a creative arts therapy program in Parkland Florida for SHINE MSD to help the community process the loss and trauma around gun violence. Jessica received her BFA in acting from University for the Arts in Philadelphia and her Master’s degree from New York University in Drama Therapy.

Alicia is currently with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where she provides art therapy services to children and adolescents, helping children reduce chaos and stress, and also works with individuals of all ages diagnosed with developmental and emotional disorders. Alicia believes that going through the process of art therapy allows the children to tell a story using their own imagination and creativity which allows them to be themselves and heal the pieces that have been broken. After the Parkland shooting on February 14, 2018, she has had a great passion to serve the community that she was a part of as an adolescent. With Shine MSD, Alicia provides art therapy services for their creative arts therapies camp and programs throughout the school year.
Alicia is an advocate for creative art therapy in the community, so that people understand the power of art therapy. The deep levels of connection that gets created between participants and within oneself is an experience that she would like more people to know about and have available to them. She is a chapter member of The Florida Art Therapy Association, professional member of the American Art Therapy Association, and a credentialed member of the Art Therapy Credentials Board. She has taken an active role in educating the community about art therapy through her participation in “The Real Art Therapists of New York,” a coloring book about art therapy and the significance of creativity as a contribution to one’s well-being.

She has co-created the ACT Method to help children on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities and she has won Emmy for her work on the Telling Project, which brought healing combat veterans suffering from PTSD through drama therapy. Lisa is the former artistic director of St. Petersburg’s American Stage and holds a master’s degree in drama therapy from New York University’s Steinhardt School. Lisa has worked as an Associate Professor at University of South Florida, a drama therapist for FOCUS Academy, and a a Production Director for the Florida Humanities Council. Her goal is to engage people in order to improve their lives through self-expression, by listening to them, opening them through the expressive arts, and helping each person find and tell their own stories.
**Lisa is based out of Tampa, but as a freelancer she can dedicate large chunks of time to any project. She can work as a local in Parkland and would be ecstatic to work on long term projects with the community.

She interned and later assistant directed at the ACT Project, a drama therapy group for children and teens on the autism spectrum. Prior to beginning her formal graduate studies, Faith worked as a special education teacher in a charter high school for students with intellectual disabilities. In San Francisco, Faith received pre-practicum experience at the Living Arts Counseling Center with Armand Volkas assisting with Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance. Additionally, she worked closely with Deborah French Frisher at The Neighborly Project facilitating social therapy. Most recently she helped bring trauma-informed drama therapy interventions to students affected by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Faith will soon begin a practicum traineeship at the Youth Services Bureau of Urban Services, YMCA in San Francisco, California.

Based in South Florida, Melek has grown a deep connection to her hometown and the city of Parkland. Melek has worked for ShineMSD since August of 2020 and has been greatly involved in helping the Parkland community. “I am so proud to be a part of an organization that continuously aims to uplift the community. I see the difference we’ve made and it’s truly remarkable.”

He is a Grammy-nominated producer and has orchestrated seven Broadway musicals. As an Associate Artist with the Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. he has music directed, arranged and musical supervised several of their annual Presidential Galas. Based in northwest Connecticut, you can learn much more at KimScharnberg.com.

He recently released a song through Destinuna, a partner digital label of Phuture Collective. You can check out some of his tracks on his Soundcloud under the name Hideout Hill and visit him at instagram.com/hideouthill. Together Kim and Will collaborated on the anthem Shine (Instrument of Hope) with Kim producing and Will added keyboard textures and editing trumpet solos by numerous famous performers. The video for the song, filmed by Academy Award-nominated cinematographer and Emmy-winning director Mikael Salomon, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, and has received well over half a million views. In 2017 they co-produced and arranged a song featuring Lord of the Rings Symphony vocalist Kaitlyn Lusk for the Berklee School of Music Opening Day attended by the entire faculty. They also worked closely on creating custom keyboard sounds and FX for two Ford’s Theatre Galas. Will and Kim recently completed production for the large scale music and video project Eternal Light, for music director Sarah Ioannides and Symphony Tacoma. It featured songs, performances, and artwork from young students in the community as well as musicians from the orchestra.

Fernanda now aspires to leverage her knowledge of videography and editing to positively impact the education industry. You can learn more at https://fernandafilms.com/