FACULTY DIRECTORY

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS, FRENCH

Jennifer Chambers (she/her) completed her undergraduate degree in Music Education f (she/her)rom DePaul School of Music, DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and her Master’s in Vocal Performance from Hunter College in New York. Jennifer has taught in London, New York City, and most recently has been the Music Coordinator at Hanover High School for 10 years. She currently serves on the NH All State choral committee and is the President elect for the New England Music Festival Association. She holds her CAGS from New England College and is one of the founding members of NESA.

HUMANITIES

Alexis Schleicher (she/her) grew up in Norwich, Vermont, studied abroad in high school, attended college in Los Angeles, and worked in New York City before returning to the Upper Valley to pursue teaching. She has worked in private elementary schools and public high schools, museums, and has taught English, Social Studies, and a Flexible Pathways course at Hartford High School in WRJ, VT. She holds a BA in Art History & English from Occidental College and a M.Ed from New England College. She is a Highly Qualified Teacher in secondary English and Social Studies, and was 2020 VT Teacher of the Year Finalist.

MATH & SCIENCE

Matt Huyck (he/him) holds a BS in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University. His first job was teaching corporate executives new ways to use technology as they navigated a surge of interest in the internet in the 1990s. He has managed and analyzed data for research studies, built computer tools to make sense of diseases and pathogens using AI techniques, and contributed to the scientific literature and open source software community in the process.

Matt has been a Maker since before there was a name for it. He lives in the Upper Valley with his family and his vast collection of math and science books and electronic parts. During the pandemic, he developed a passion for teaching as a substitute at the Lyme School and as a volunteer coach for their FIRST Lego League robotics team.

SPANISH

Natalia X. Monetti is a passionate and dynamic Senior Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dartmouth College, where she’s been inspiring students with her communicative approach to language learning for over a decade. With roots in Argentina and academic training from Washington University in St. Louis, Natalia seamlessly blends real-life materials—think music, visual art, and cinema—into her teaching to create a lively classroom experience that goes beyond textbooks.

Her research spans applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and the vibrant narratives of migration and displacement in 20th and 21st-century literature from Spain and the Southern Cone. Natalia’s innovative spirit has earned her numerous grants, including funding for experiential learning projects that explore topics like language, racism, and sustainability.

Outside of work, she is a mom to two energetic boys, a frequent visitor to the cinema (yes, the actual one!), a soccer fan, and an avid reader who loves nothing more than diving into the pages of a fresh new book.

Gloria Finkelstein grew up in Montreal, lived in Paris, and has frequently traveled to France. She is the creator of “French Club with Madame G,” an innovative learning-by-doing immersive language arts program. Gloria enjoys helping others discover and experience French culture and lifestyle via Upper Valley French-themed workshops, events, and trips via Zoom/in person. Recent Active French Osher classes include: Interactive French Dialogues; La Belle Provence - Que Canada; Fun French Musical Jukebox; Food Glorious Food; and more! Madame G has taught French classes with the Hanover Richmond Middle School, Remote Learning Academy, and Crossroads Academy (Lyme).

DANCE

Jennifer is an experienced dance teacher and dance coach specializing in technical training and performance preparation. She is classically trained in the Vaganova method of ballet, classical modern techniques (Horton & Graham), and jazz (Luigi, Maddox, Hachett). She graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts in 1989, and supplemented her training with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre from 1985-1991 before being signed, working and traveling with the Campbell Agency (Dallas) and Fontaine Agency (Los Angeles). In addition to walking the runways in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, Jennifer worked in print, editorial, catalog, and commercial television advertising. Jennifer is one of the founding members of NESA.

THEATRE

Ashley Barrow hails originally from Hendersonville, NC and received her BA in Theatre Arts and Dance minor from Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC. Her theatre credits include Cape Fear Regional Theatre, South Carolina Children’s Theatre, North Carolina Theatre, Springer Opera House, Hanover High School, City Center Ballet, and Opera North. Ashley’s most recent engagement was as the Theatre Programming Coordinator for Artistree and the Grange Theatre in South Pomfret, VT. She is one of the original founding members of NESA.

STAGE PRODUCTION

Skip Cady, presently teaching for the Upper Valley Circus Collective, has a BFA from MECA in metalsmithing and jewelry. Skip has been performing for 45 years and teaching in the upper valley theater, circus arts, special F/X, set design and stage combat. He has consulted for non profits helping to bring creativity into public school programs in VT and created and acted in exercises for Russel Keat LLC. He specializes in teaching knife making and received an IMDb movie credit for building a costume for the movie "Lost Nation " with Jay Cravin as the director.