Enrichment Activities

shailini sisodia

Shailini Sisodia was born in Kathmandu, Nepal, and with her father being a well-known UN diplomat, the family lived all over the world. Massachusetts, however, has now been her home for the past few decades. A life long educator, Shailini taught at both Boston University and Northeastern University earlier in her career, and while she enjoyed that a great deal, she is currently living her true passion by teaching people how to cook food that is both delicious and nutritious. Toward that end, she teaches many different types of cuisines in her Boston area cooking classes, including at the well- known Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Kitchen and Boston Public Market. Shailini also volunteers with food related causes, and is a head chef for “Lexeatogether” right here in town. Most importantly, Shailini, or “Ms. S”, as her students call her, truly loves her cooking classes at Hayden Rec. Center!

Paris Stone

Paris joined the Enrichment instructor team at Hayden in the fall of 2021. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art education and is currently working towards her master’s degree at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. While she pursues her own education, she is committed to sharing her passion and knowledge for art with the students in her classes. She enjoys seeing them explore different materials, techniques, and styles of creation in her many classes. Outside of the classroom, Paris enjoys baking, going for walks in the woods, and doing portrait drawing!

Nancy Chando

BFA in Art and Psychology

Artist /Design Specialist

With several years of teaching art to students of all ages, pottery and slab building with clay is one of Nancy's favorite things to do!  She strives to encourage "all " to find their creative side while learning techniques and sharing ideas!

Nancy has hosted various types of art classes out of her home, as well as taught in homeschool co-ops, summer enhancement programs for children, and for Adults.  Additionally, she worked in advertising, logo design, and assisted contractors on custom jobs planning renovation designs, painting wall murals, and tile murals. Nancy also enjoys  gardening as a creative outlet, along with painting, and repurposing old furniture. Working for Pottery Barn Kids as a Design Specialist since 2010, Nancy continues to gain much experience and opportunity there to use art in many forms.  Nancy recognizes how art expands in many directions as a vital component of life, business, and our culture. One of her goals is to encourage others to cultivate their own creative potential and discover how that can flow into their personal interests too!

Bri Jewett

Whilst studying psychology and philosophy at the University of New England, Bri began ceramics in 2019 when she enrolled in her university’s introduction to ceramics course. Since then, she has become enthralled by the apparent connection between the brain and the hands, and, has been self-learning through exploration and trial and error. Bri loves sharing and gaining experience surrounding the wonders of clay. She enjoys all aspects of ceramics and pottery, but sculpting and throwing on the wheel are her favorites. Her love for psychology and art has led her to work towards becoming a sensorimotor art therapist. She is currently obtaining her master’s degree in art therapy at Lesley University. Ultimately, she hopes to become a licensed therapist who specializes in sensorimotor art therapies.

nan cormier

Nan Cormier loves to share the power of creativity with people of all ages. An ardent lover of fiber arts, she enjoys experimenting with new media, such as book and print making and mixed media. A lifelong education advocate, she fell in love with art history at Smith College, studied education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has exhibited works at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA.

Lila Ablimit

Before Lila was one of the many faces children recognize from summer camp, after school, the front desk, the gym, the dance room, or their art classes, she too was once a child enrolled in Hayden’s colorful programs. She is proud to have been a member of the Hayden community for over a decade and to expand her involvement by joining the enrichment team as the STEM instructor.

As the STEM instructor, Lila is excited to take on the challenge of designing diverse activities that make all of her young scientists and engineers feel included, inspired, and accomplished.

Besides working in Hayden’s various departments as a substitute enrichment instructor or camp counselor, she has also worked in the art dealing industry and educational technology. In her free time, she enjoys visiting art museums, listening to music, and exploring local bakeries.

Dance

Samantha Aucello

Samantha Aucello has been dancing for as long as she can remember.  She began her training at Lisa Liston School of Dance and received her degree in Dance from Salem State University in May of 2018.  While studying at Salem State, Samantha studied with Meghan McLyman, Betsy Miller, James Morrow, as well as performed in pieces choreographed by William (Bill) Evans and Nateli Ruiz.  Samantha was a choreographer for Salem State University’s Repertory Dance Theatre as well as Salem Dance Ensemble.  She created numerous tap, contemporary and jazz pieces.  She was a two-time Presidential Arts Scholarship winner as well as the recipient of the Meaghan Noel Scholarship for Dance.  Over the years, she has danced in many recitals, competed in numerous competitions, and performed in full length shows such as The Nutcracker. As a competitive dancer, she has won many high score and special awards. 

 Samantha has taught lyrical, ballet, tap, jazz, Acro, and hip hop classes to students of all ages at many different levels.  She graduated from the Dance Teacher’s Club of Boston and the American Society’s Dance Education Training Course as the valedictorian of the class, receiving the Lila Frances Viles Award. Her passion for dance really shows whether she is on stage performing or teaching in a classroom.  She wants to be able to share her passion with others and can’t wait to show her love of dance to the world.

Andrea Brooks

Andrea has been dancing and performing for 14 years. She began her training in ballet, tap, and jazz at the Dance Center of Waltham. Over the years she has expanded her training and education in lyrical, modern, contemporary, Pointe, hip hop, musical theatre, choreography, and dance pedagogy. Andrea has performed in musical theater productions at both high school and college level. She graduated from Springfield College in 2019 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Dance. While at Springfield College, Andrea was a member of the Best of Broadway Club, Dance Repertory Company, and the Dance Club where she performed in numerous events and shows. She has also performed with the Center Stage Dance team at various locations including Boston Celtics games, Step Up 2 dance competitions, Canobie Lake Park, and Universal Studios! Andrea enjoys sharing her knowledge and passion for performance with the young students that she teaches!

Lindsey Cannon

Lindsey started dancing as a toddler and hasn’t stopped since. She danced for six years with Funkmode, a Bay Area-based hip hop group, before moving on to Dance Connection Performing Arts Centre to learn new styles and join their competition team. During her time with Dance Connection, she competed in multiple regional competitions and national championships, performed in Super Bowl 50, and won numerous awards as both a soloist and group performer – it was also with Dance Connection that she first had the chance to teach newcomers about the sport she loved so much. She continued to develop her teaching and choreography skills as the captain of her high-school dance team. For her work there, she twice received the “Outstanding Dedication” and “Outstanding Choreography” awards. Her favorite styles include hip hop, contemporary, and jazz, but she is also experienced in ballet, tap, and acro. Lindsey is deeply honored to serve as an instructor for J.W. Hayden, and she is grateful everyday for the opportunity to make dance a central part of her life.

Willow Gertz

Willow has been dancing for over 20 years. She began her dance training at age nine at 5678 Dance Studio in Dracut, MA. In addition to training at a studio, Willow danced and performed in musicals with her middle school and high school theater company. During her years in theater, her theter company competed in and won several national Theater Competitions including Junior Theater Festival/itheatrics in Atlanta, GA and the National Performing Arts Festival in New York City and Orlando, FL. In college, Willow was a member of her college dance team and served as captain of the dance team during her senior year. As a member of the dance team, she performed at sporting events, campus events, and NDA Nationals in Daytona Beach. After graduating from college, Willow became a member of OnStage Dance Company and has been with OnStage for the past 6 years. In addition to dance, Willow has a passion for education. She earned her Master’s in Teaching and has been a science teacher for the last 6 years. Willow is excited to combine her passion for dance and teaching as a dance instructor for Hayden Recreation Centre.

Jillian Murray

Jillian grew up in Burlington, MA and began her training at the age of three at Suzanne’s Dance Connection where she danced competitively. She recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst with a Dual Degree, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. In additon to being a member of the UMass Dance Company, she performed in multiple works in UMass Dance Senior Thesis Concerts, Faculty Concerts, as well as one of her most recent performances in the Dance Film with the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with Dr. Aston McCullough and Five College Dance Faculty, Convergence. Jillian is thrilled to be dancing for the WNBA - Connecticut Sun Dance Team this season. She enjoys exploring her creativity by combining her passions in the styles of ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary and is so excited to share her love for dance with her students!