The following teachers bring a joy and enthusiasm to each and every class and student providing the basis for each student to develop a basic skill level and a life-long appreciation for the arts and music.

Ellen Sell  ACAM Director,  Theatre and Chorus

Ellen holds a M.A. in Theatre Arts from CSULA and has studied  at USC, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and the British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford.  She has performed with the Florentine Opera Company of  Milwaukee, LA Camarata Chamber Chorus, Cambridge Singers-LA and the William Hall Chorale.  Her awards include the Multicultural Award, Outstanding Theatre Educator Award and the Medallion Theatre Educator Award from the California Educational Theatre Association.  She served many years as coordinator for the Performing Arts Academy as well as instructor at Garfield High School in LA in Theatre and Choral Arts. 

Shaun Klaseus  Elementary Theatre and Teen/Adult Dance

Shaun Klaseus holds a BA in Theatre from CSU-Long Beach.  He teaches theatre with the LAUSD arts program for elementary schools, was theatre teacher/choreographer at Garfield High School, teaches at Camp Bravo – Theatre and at area theatre festivals.

Mercedes Ulloa Marin  Piano

Mercedes, Chilean born, studied piano from age five.  She received her BA in Music Education/Piano from the Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Chile.  Mercedes studied  and taught in the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in Santiago and also taught in Tocopilla, Chile with additional piano instruction and performance in Paraguay.  She  presently teaches piano at Angelica Church in Los Angeles.

With over a decade of experience in both gymnastics and vocal music, Stacy began formal ballet training as an adult.  Based on the interest sparked during her dance instruction in gymnastic and her husband's work as an occupational therapist, Stacy has explored extensively the impact of dance on joints, and how to dance without causing the body injury. Her focus is on teaching how our bodies work, how to "hear" music for dance, and how to use dance to express ourselves

Gerson Reyes  Drum Circle

Gerson, drum instructor, for thirty years has extensive experience performing live and in studio. He  has taught percussion at East Los Angeles College, at Belmont, Roosevelt, Covina, and Lincoln High Schools and the LAUSD All-City Honor Band-LA. Additionally he has produced nine instructional DVD’s and studied at Los Angeles City College.  He plays various drums, keyboard, string bass and trumpet and has performed with Placido Domingo, Bobby Rodriguez, Trio Hermanos Campos among others.

 Paula Sirola  Recorder 

Paula is a recorder enthusiast who loves teaching recorder to beginning players and introducing them to the recorder as a serious musical instrument.  She has taught recorder to children and youth in public schools in Los Angeles and in Ecuador.  As an amateur musician, Paula has performed in several recorder ensembles including the Arroyo Recorder Collective, the Los Angeles Recorder Orchestra, and Sempre Dolce. She is an active member of the Southern California Recorder Society where she created the SCRS library of over 3,000 pieces of music.

Sergio Hernandez Guitar

Currently a student at Harvest Bible School, Sergio also teaches guitar at First Lutheran Church in Inglewood.