Dana Floyd, Ballet & Modern Dance Instructor

Ms. Floyd attended Atlanta Ballet School at four years of age. She was accepted in the Joffrey School of Dance Scholarship program in New York City at the age of twelve. She performed professionally with the Atlanta Ballet Company in Atlanta Georgia and was accepted as one of 12 professional dance instructors to attend The Paris Opera Ballet workshop for dance instructors at New York University in the summer of 1997. She has taught ballet and modern dance at the ESO since 1989. She choreographs and is Dance Director for two ESO student productions per year. She is the Dance Director of the ESO Repertory Dance Company.

Amy Betit, Piano and Violin Instructor

Ms. Betit received a B.A. in Music from Bennington College and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. She has additional training in voice, piano, violin, percussion and conducting. Ms. Betit was previously on the staff at Bennington College as a piano instructor and conductor. She had an active career as a concert composer and conductor, and her compositions were performed both in the United States and abroad. She also appeared as guest conductor with numerous symphonies and ensembles, performing 20th century works of her own and other composers. In 1980, she received an NEA grant to compose an orchestral work with baritone solo. She is currently a faculty member of Atlantic University in Virginia Beach, and teaches piano and violin lessons privately.

Thelma Jarvis Peterson, Watercolor Instructor

Ms. Peterson has been painting professionally for over thirteen years. Her work is found in galleries nationwide, as well as in private and corporate collections. Paintings have been selected and reproduced as limited edition prints by such environmental and conservation groups as The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund and Ducks Unlimited. She has earned the prestigious Palette and Chisel award and was chosen as Artist of the Year by the Eastern Shore Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. She is currently Artist in Residence at the Eastern Shore Community College.

David Poyer, Creative Writing Instructor

Mr. Poyer grew up in Pennsylvania and attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He has written numerous books which include The Dead of Winter, Winter in the Heart, As the Wolf Loves Winter and Thunder on the Mountain, literary novels set in Pennsylvania; The Med, The Gulf, the Circle, The Passage, and many others of the modern Navy and Marine Corps; White Continent Star Seed, The Shiloh Project, Stepfather Bank, science fiction; and historical novels about the Civil War. Mr. Poyer has taught and lectured at the University of Pittsburgh, Cape May Institute, ODU, Joint Forces Staff College, UNF, and other institutions. He now resides on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with his family and is a creative writing instructor at ESO.

Anna Sterrett, Voice and Youth Chorale Instructor

Ms. Sterrett has a BA in Music and a year of post-graduate study in Opera. She has over 15 years of stage experience and has been teaching voice lessons since 2009.

Carole Boggemann Peirson, Artist, Oil Painting Instructor

Originally, Dutch artist Carole Peirson viewed art as essentially a
commercial occupation. Her degree in Design & Communication in 1996 at
the Ichthus Polytechnic in Rotterdam, started her off as a graphic
artist. However, her greatest pleasure and fulfillment came from
creating impressions of things that fascinated and inspired her
personally, non-commercial artworks that captivate the viewer.

Art had at first been primarily the nuts and bolts of a fast-paced job
at an advertising agency in her native Holland. Then, in the summer of
2000, she moved to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The initial
culture-shock of moving from the crowded Dutch city to rural America
changed not only her life, but her view of life itself. When she saw
the beauty of nature around her, she knew she could never go back.

You can see examples of Carole's work by visiting her website at
www.artworkbycarole.com

Lenore Hart, Creative Writing Instructor

Ms. Hart is the author of Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher; Waterwoman, a Barnes & Noble Discover Award novel; Ordinary Springs; Black River; and in Norway, Of Svart Frikt (A Dark Wood). Her other book-length works are T. Rex at Swan Lake, a picture book, The Treasure of Savage Island, a historical novel for young adults, and The Raven's Bride. She wrote the lyrics for an oratorio, Nativity in Black and White, in which Stefan Dulcie composed the music. Ms. Hart has received grants, awards, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and The Florida Fine Arts Council. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Old Dominion University in 2006.

Elizabeth Hunt, Pottery Instructor

Ms. Hunt has taught since 2000 at ESO, including Summer Camp. She has her own Pottery Studio at the Historic Onancock School Community & Cultural Center. She studied Art at Georgia State University.

Anne Warren Holland, Painting & Figure Drawing Instructor

Ms. Holland received her Associate in Arts Degree in 1965 from Bennett College in Millbrook, New York and in 1987 from Tidewater Community College, Norfolk, Virginia. She received her B.A. Art Education in 1989 from Virginia Wesleyan College and continued her education from 1997-1998 with Graduate Courses in Painting at the Virginia Commonwealth University. During her tenure as an Art Teacher at Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Virginia from 1990 to 1999, Ms. Holland received numerous Awards and Honors to include Best in Show, Eastern Shore Art League Member Show, 2001; Central Virginia Watercolor Guild - Juried Show, 2000,2004,2005, 2006; Mid-Atlantic Art Exhibition Juried Show, d'Art Center, 2006; and Montpelier Center for Arts & Education Juried Show, 2006.

Robert Buckner, Karate Instructor and Drums Instructor

Mr. Buckner is a black belt Karate Instructor and holds a 3rd degree Black Belt in Okinawin Shorin-Ryu. He is also an Instructor on the Drums and has been playing drums since 1973, currently with local favorite band "Mr. B and the Boys".

Robert Arthur, Creative Writing and Poetry, Fiction & Songwriting Instructor

Mr. Arthur has been teaching college-level Creative Writing since 1975 and previously taught at the University of Richmond and Tidewater Community College. He has a BA and MA from the University of Richmond and an MFA from the University of Arkansas. He is an award-winning poet, playwright, and fiction writer.

Charlene Huh, Children's Art Instructor

Ms. Huh has an extensive background in early childhood development. She operated a childcare center for fifteen years in Connecticut which concentrated on children with ADD and ADHD. She continued to take courses at Bridgeport University and later moved to Tennessee where she continued her coursework at Chattanooga State College. She worked as a teacher at the Child Development Center in Tennessee and is now an Art Instructor with ESO teaching the Abrakadoodle Program.

Lynn Williams, Banjo and Fiddle Instructor

Mr. Williams is from Upstate New York and a former President of the Champlain Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association in the Outer Adirondacks area. He played bugle as a child and later progressed to string instruments. Mr. Williams now plays the guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. He has accompanied local groups such as the Turkey Pen Pickers and the duo of Thelma and Erika Peterson.

Lisa Brasch, Tap Instructor

Mrs. Brasch teaches all levels of tap dance and is qualified to teach Beginner Jazz. She has taught since 2003. She performed off-Broadway in Herndon, Va. Mrs. Brasch studied at the Broadway Dance Center in New York, in Fredericksburg and in Stafford, Va

Barbara Hall, Fitness Instructor

Mrs. Hall has been teaching group fitness for nearly three decades, including at health clubs, colleges, corporate fitness centers, parks & rec departments, and senior retirement communities. Since moving here in 2002, she continues to bring her passion for teaching fitness classes to the Eastern Shore. She is certified by ACE (Group Fitness), PiYo, STOTT Pilates (Mat) and YogaFit. She also holds a Drums Alive Specialty certification and is CPR/AED certified through the American Heart Association. She currently teaches Dance Fit, PiYo, Sculpt & Tone, Stretch & Flow, and Yoga here at ESO. Other classes she has taught over the years include: Abs, Cardio Circuit, Drums Alive, Hi/Lo Aerobics, Kickboxing, Senior Fitness, Step Aerobics, STOTT Pilates Mat, Water Aerobics, Zumba and Zumba Gold.

Mary Onley ("Mama Girl"),
Papier Mache Sculpture

Mama Girl has obtained national recognition for her unique folk art creations, and is a self-taught artist. She has held exhibitions regionally including ODU in Norfolk.

Mark Jensen - Musical Instruments Instructor

Mark offers instruction in guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, brass, woodwinds, percussion and keyboard. Mark has a B.A. in Musical Performance - Trumpet and took Applied Studies of orchestral instruments at the college level. He has taught at ESO, Arts Enter, and privately since 1990. He has many years of musical performance in various ensembles.

Vesna Zidovec, Conversational Spanish Instructor

Ms. Zidovec taught Spanish 101 and 102 at the Eastern Shore Community College from 1988 to 2008. She attended college in Argentina. Vesna is also an gifted potter, well-known for her beautiful mirrors and wall hangings which often feature dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, and jellyfish.

Ally Tarwater, Woodwinds & Brass Instructor

Ally offers instruction in flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, trombone, tuba, and other "low brass" instruments. She has a Bachelor of Music and Masters in Music Education (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has taught privately in middle and high schools and was chosen the Outstanding Graduate Student in Music Education at U.T. Knoxville in 2010. She is a member of the Orchestra of the Eastern Shore.

Diana M. Davis, Watercolor Instructor

An award-winning artist, Diana grew up on the Eastern Shore, and began painting watercolors at age 18. Diana's originals can be found in businesses and private collections throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. She has participated in one man and juried shows around Virginia, and is former president of the Eastern Shore Art League. Diana has taught in many localities on the Eastern Shore and in the Tidewater Virginia area. Diana finds inspiration in color and light, and showcases the beauty of nature that God has blessed us with - lovely flowers, butterflies, fresh vegetables, old machinery, landscapes, and antique tractors.

Chris Glennon, Photography Instructor

Mr. Glennon has over 25 years of photography experience and has been self employed in the photography field for 20 plus years as of 2012. He holds a college degree in visual communications technology and an advanced certification in Photoshop. Recent publications include New York Post, W magazine & Hampton Roads Magazine. Mr. Glennon has photographed many of the events in and around Cape Charles & Northampton County.

Stevon Sample, Sketching/Cartooning Instructor

Mr. Sample attended Eastern Shore Community College, and currently works in mosaics at New Ravenna in Exmore, Va. He owns his own graphics business, Dominion Multimedia, specializing in graphic art and printed media. Mr. Sample participates in art shows and draws caricatures in restaurants and at festivals.