Editors & Producers

Kennedy Center Teaching Artists

Melanie Rick Layne is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. As a National Board Certified Teacher, certified Reading Specialist, and arts integration consultant, she designs and leads workshops, courses, and summer institutes focused on arts integration and integrating reading/analyzing visual art and writing of poetry throughout the K-8 curriculum. She has worked in art museums, schools, and arts centers across the country and frequently collaborates with the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Ms. Layne is a course leader and program consultant for the Kennedy Center’s CETA program in Washington DC. As the CETA program consultant, she works with teaching artists to develop and evaluate workshops presented at the Kennedy Center. melanielayne.com

Sean Layne is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist and founder of a national arts education consulting company, Focus 5 Inc. which focuses on arts integration across the curriculum, Pre K-12. Mr. Layne presents professional development workshops for teachers and designs training seminars for teaching artists for the Kennedy Center. He is also an Arts Coach for the Kennedy Center’s CETA program. For over a decade, Mr. Layne acted, directed and designed sets for the InterAct Story Theatre, a professional theatre company for young audiences. He also worked as a Master Artist with the Wolf Trap Institute Early Learning Through the Arts. seanlayne.com

Reggie Harris is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. He is a performer, musician, and composer who resides in New York. Together with his wife, Kim Harris, they tour schools, universities, and performing venues throughout the world, averaging more than 300 performances a year. Their recordings, Steal Away—Songs of the Underground Railroad and its 2nd volume Get On Board (Appleseed Recordings) are included in many museum and library collections. The Harrises have been featured performers in several Silver Burdett/Ginn music series and have collaborated on an Underground Railroad video and game for use by teachers and families. They perform at venues such as The Smithsonian Institution, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Wang Center. kimandreggie.com

Judy Thibault Klevins is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. She is a drama educator who has directed hundreds of plays and projects with people who range in age from seven to ninety-two. A theater and language arts teacher in Arlington, Virginia, Ms. Klevins’ high school booster club named her “Coach of the Year,” and she continues to serve as a coach/mentor to teachers as they introduce drama strategies in their classroom. Ms. Klevins also served as Arlington’s Arts Education Specialist. A presenter at international and national conventions, she has created, directed, and performed readings at the U.S. Senate Office Building, the National Institutes of Health, and other venues, and created Swapping Stories©, a unique intergenerational/intercultural drama project. exchangingstories.org