SCP STAFF
Leadership
KHAHTEE V. TURNER / FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of Studio Creative Play is a community leader, an educational visionary, and a humanitarian and advocate for the propagation of the arts, creative enrichment, and compassionate awareness practices and offerings in early childhood. For the last 22 years at Studio—alongside artists, musicians, and educators—Khahtee has led a unique, comprehensive, and transcendent community experience. Through its mission, Studio holistically nurtures the awakening and blooming of each individual’s voice and expressive capacity in the most sacred and salient time of formative development: early childhood.
Alongside Studio, from 2015 to 2024, Khahtee founded, directed, and co-directed The Roberts Field School, an arts and nature interdisciplinary approach to academic elementary education. Khahtee has also taken her program worldwide to share the foundations of nurturing creative consciousness and interconnectivity with our global neighbors. She has brought educational experiences and resources to remote and underdeveloped areas of Mexico and Nepal and has shared resources and global community workshops during her visits to Icelandic schools.
Khahtee continues to extend Studio’s mission and her work to offer peace, equity, and justice to many more art and learning centers throughout the world. She can also be found adventuring in joy with her beloved sixteen-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter.
JANINE FOELLER / STUDIO MANAGING DIRECTOR is a seasoned leader with over twenty years of experience in the contemporary art world, where she has been at the forefront of fostering creative communities and celebrating artistic voices.
As the founder and co-owner of Wallspace, a contemporary art gallery in NYC, Janine nurtured emerging talent, curated thought-provoking exhibitions, and created spaces that cultivated experimentation, creativity, and community. In addition to her work at Wallspace, Janine has been the director of both nonprofit and commercial arts organizations and looks forward to bringing her extensive management experience and collaborative leadership approach to Studio Creative Play.
Janine has been involved in the Studio Creative Play and Roberts Field communities for over a decade. Throughout her involvement—as a Studio Family/Parent, a member of the Family Advisory Board, Leadership Support to Studio and Roberts Field School, and Program Director for Safety and Operations—Janine has shown a deep commitment to supporting the growth and development of children in an environment that values care, creativity, and the arts. She is dedicated to fostering a nurturing, imaginative learning environment that celebrates each child’s unique gifts.
In her free time, Janine can be found walking her dog, Biscuit, in Fort Greene Park, visiting artists’ studios, or cheering from the bleachers at her son’s basketball games.
CAROLINE GUZMAN (she/her) / LEAD TEACHER STUDIO TERRA FIVES PROGRAM has been with the Studio Creative Play community for thirteen years as of Fall 2024. Over this time, she has taught children from ages two through six, acted as a Staff Supervisor, and helped to launch the Live Earth program—a weekly movement lab designed around the body's physical connection to nature.
Caroline is passionate about sparking a child’s kinesthetic understanding of new ideas and fostering movement as an integrated tool for comprehension. Additionally, Caroline is a firm believer in the power of imagination. In her classroom, play is honored as a medium for rich and authentic creative discovery.
Caroline has led multi-age learning pods through Prospect Park in sun, rain, wind, and snow. Together with her students, she develops field-based experiences that investigate everything from soundscape ecology to aquatic macroinvertebrates! Now more than ever, she sees the need for children to follow their own curiosity and immerse themselves in nature to build their awareness and care for our Earth environment.
Caroline holds a BA in Dance from Connecticut College, where she completed her dual Elementary Teacher/Dance Educator Certification. Outside of school, she's also a recreational costume designer, a papier-mâché sculptor, and a proud mom to her five-year-old daughter and one-year-old son.
ANGUS DAVIDSON (he/him) / STUDIO MUSIC AND ARTS PROGRAM DIRECTOR joined Studio Creative Play in 2015 as a teacher in the Venni Fours program and has been an integral part of the Studio community ever since. Over the years, Angus has co-taught in Threes and Fours classrooms, contributed to the elementary school program as a Music Ambassador, and developed and led an interdisciplinary arts program for elementary students. He also spearheaded the Day in the Field program, Studio’s flagship outdoor education initiative, and co-led the Studio Arboles program in Fall 2020, facilitating in-person learning in Prospect Park.
Angus holds a BA in music from Hampshire College, where he focused on piano performance and conducting. His diverse teaching experience spans ESL kindergarten and elementary school, music lessons, choral direction, outdoor education, and classroom instruction. He is also the co-founder of Spark Arts, a summer and after-school program celebrating nature and cultural traditions through the arts, mindfulness, and outdoor adventure.
When he’s not at Studio, Angus enjoys playing the piano, running, biking, taking photographs, and canoeing. This fall, he will begin his studies at Bank Street Graduate School of Education, pursuing a degree in general education and special education at the elementary school level while continuing another exciting year at Studio Creative Play!
ROBIN PICKERING (she/they) / DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES has been an active leader for Studio Creative Play and The Roberts Field School in various capacities for the past seventeen years. Robin's administrative leadership roles have served a range of diverse needs from editing content for the Studio Creative Play website to helping produce educational videos, supervising staff, and managing daily operations and large developmental projects.
Robin’s current role as Director of Administrative Services continues to incorporate work with Khahtee and the leadership team to help expand the reach of our mission on a more global scale, as well as to manage the more daily administrative tasks.
Robin is a musician, writer, and a devoted student of Sanskrit. She can often be found wandering around Coney Island or in any of Brooklyn’s parks and green spaces.
Studio Teachers
HANNAH THORSON / POLARIS TEACHER (THREES) has three great loves—children, art and nature—and she is thrilled to combine them all as a co-teacher in the Venni Threes program this year. Her teaching experience includes over ten years working with preschool-aged children in classroom settings and two years as a K-8 tutor. She finds deep meaning in providing a stable and encouraging emotional base for children to confidently explore and find their unique creative expression. Few things bring her more joy than the privilege of participating in the world of children’s unfettered imaginations! Especially important to her is nurturing children’s understanding that we are not separate from nature but part of it, and responsible to nature and each other.
Hannah holds a BA in oil painting from George Mason University. In her painting practice she explores the connection of the body to earth, the homing instinct, and the deep-time relationship between water and stone that shapes our planet. When she’s not teaching or painting, she loves reading, yoga, being outdoors exploring ecosystems, cooking, and caring for plants and animals.
CHLOE SIRENE POLARIS / STUDIO THREES (she/her) is delighted to be a part of Studio this year. She began teaching at Studio in 2015 and loves to share imaginative, creatively stimulating time with children. Among her favorite periods of co-teaching with Studio was during the Threes Forest Day program, Arboles, held exclusively in Prospect Park during Spring 2021.
Chloe Sirene holds a Masters in English Literature from Cambridge University, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Acting from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Teaching from the Institute of Education. As an actor and writer, Chloe works mainly in film.
Chloe has taught in England and America, and she co-created and ran a children’s summer program in New York.
KYLE MADER (he/him) / VEGA TEACHER (FOURS) is excited to join Studio Creative Play this year. Growing up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, Kyle developed a deep love for nature and the outdoors that continues to inspire his teaching approach and sense of personal wonder.
Kyle holds a master's degree in elementary teaching with an ESOL certification from Oregon State University. He has taught in various roles, including as a Lead Teacher for 3rd grade, an ESL Instructor for grades K through 2, and in other extracurricular programming like Skateboard Summer Camp for elementary students. Kyle particularly enjoys integrating visual art, music, and hands-on exploration into his teaching practice.
Outside the classroom, Kyle likes to paint, record music, and go camping with his wife and Bernese mountain dog, Francine. Kyle looks forward to bringing his love of nature and creativity to Studio, fostering a joyful and imaginative learning environment for young children.
MAIA LUISA (she/they) / VEGA TEACHER (FOURS) Maia is thrilled to bring their creativity, global experiences, and love for nature to Studio Creative Play. As the child of a Brazilian immigrant and TESOL teacher, Maia developed a passion for travel and teaching, beginning as an au pair in Barcelona and later teaching in Zaragoza, Spain, through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program. A University of Central Florida graduate in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science, they went on to serve for three years as a Lead Teacher and Program Coordinator for Apax English in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where they learned that creativity, play, and exploration are universal foundations for children’s growth.
Currently based in Brooklyn, Maia channels their love for music and prop design through an indie-folk project, believing in the power of storytelling and self-expression to inspire young learners. An outdoor enthusiast, they also have experience as an Adventure Trip Leader at UCF, guiding activities like caving, hiking, and kayaking while teaching essential nature skills.
For the last three years, Maia has worked as a Content & Media Strategist for Friends of Bonobos, a wildlife conservation organization protecting bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These diverse roles have strengthened Maia’s commitment to nurturing children’s appreciation and understanding of the world around them. She looks forward to fostering their curiosity, compassion, and wonder through music, art, and nature at Studio Creative Play, helping them build a foundation of global awareness and environmental care.
LILY SCHWARTZ / VEGA & POLARIS ASSISTANT TEACHER (THREES AND FOURS) is an educator and caregiver who’s been working with children for almost seven years: as an afterschool instructor / program director, nanny, and assistant teacher at a Waldorf school. She is excited for her first year with Studio Creative Play.
Lily believes that children are whole beings in a unique stage of their lives (as we all are), and that they have just as much to teach us as we do them. She loves co-learning with them, writing poetry, singing songs, climbing trees, meeting plants (and bugs and birds and other creatures), finding new ways to ask questions, and telling terrible jokes.
Lily has an associate’s degree from Bard College and is currently taking a break from college to explore other paths of life. When she’s not working she loves to eat, cook, go to the beach, explore Prospect Park, kickbox, write poetry, and visit friends all over.
CHRISTINE JACOBS (she/they) / STUDIO TERRA FIVES ASSISTANT TEACHER is an educator with over twelve years of experience teaching ages two through twenty-two and is excited to begin her first year with Studio Creative Play. Christine strives to incorporate self-reflection, mindfulness, and play into her instruction. Her goal is to make the classroom a thoughtful and inclusive space where students can grow and build community.
Christine has taught a wide variety of subjects, from robotics and chemistry to acting and devising. She loves to find opportunities for cross-curricular experiences and believes that when students are given the opportunity to inquire, imagine, and create, there is no limit to the beautiful new worlds they will build. Christine began teaching in public schools in her home state of Virginia, where she held her pre-K through 6th grade teaching license. She also worked with Educational Theatre Company as a teaching artist and with Imagination Stage as an inclusion facilitator.
Christine holds a BA in Theatre and Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary, as well as an MFA in Drama from the University of Virginia. She is also an actor, singer, voice-over artist, and speech and dialect coach. When not teaching, Christine loves to knit, take dance classes, and go on long walks with her dog.