Instructors
Art Instructors
Jenn Scott
Jenn Scott – Art Department Lead
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2021
Jennifer Scott has been working in K-12 art classrooms for 13 years in California, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Prior to working as an art educator, she lived in New York City working as a design assistant at a fashion company called Marchesa. She works in many different mediums, but with a focus mainly on fiber arts and sculpture. She is an adventurer, always looking for new experiences near and far. Jenn shares her life with her husband, two young children, and the best dog in the world.
Joe Thomas
Joe Thomas – Art Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2015
Joe Thomas is a big city teacher who moved to Paso Robles and became a farmer. The farm he shares with his wife, Leslie, is home to a vineyard, fruit and nut trees and an extensive family of rescued animals. Leslie’s passion is horses while Joe’s is Siberian Huskies. The name of his farm is Fat Goat Farm and the name of their non-profit is From the Heart Rescue. Whether it is Tintoretto the Alpaca or Grahammy the Goat, they provide him constant inspiration for his paintings and drawings. Joe continues to teach drawing, graphic design, and painting to children at Paso Robles Youth Arts Center.
Tiffany Lang
Tiffany Lang- Art and Creative Enrichment Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Tiffany has taught throughout the county teaching in a variety of philosophies, to include Reggio Amelia inspired, Montessori and classical to name a few, and has since worked with students from the age of 6 months through high school! She comes to Youth Arts with a continued passion to teach the young people of our community. Here she feels she can help students discover and explore some of their own passions in a safe and nurturing environment that also supports her creative spirit.
More
Tiffany was born and raised in Northern California. She started her life here on the central coast in 2002 when she transferred to Cuesta College waiting for her acceptance to Cal Poly in 2003. While at Cuesta College, she realized that she wanted to be a teacher. Lucky for her Cal Poly has a school for that! Her studies at Cal Poly were supposed to lead her to become a high school agriculture teacher but plans changed in her senior year. After graduating in 2006 Tiffany returned to Cuesta College to continue her education in Early Childhood Education. This, she discovered, was where her passion to teach was.
Lisa Falk
Lisa Falk – Art Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Lisa Renée Falk attended San José State University where she pursued her passion for glassblowing. She earned her degree in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude with an emphasis in Glass and Textiles. In 2001, while a student at SJSU, Lisa Renée created a wearable dress to be worn at the Glass Fashion Show during the Glass Art Society conference at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY.
More
Lisa Renée relocated to the Central Coast to be closer to family. She has brought with her many years of experience in art and design, and working with various materials. She opened glasshead studio in Atascadero June 2019 where she teaches classes in fused glass, stained glass and mosaics. www.glassheadstudio.com
Dance Instructors
Amanda Gonzalez
Amanda Gonzalez – Dance Department Lead
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2001
In 2002, Amanda moved to New York City and enrolled in the Joffrey Ballet School, while also dancing in other studios in New York, including Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Academy East, and Steps on Broadway. Amanda has taught ballet and jazz classes since the Youth Arts opened and hopes to teach as long as possible.
She says that children are her favorite part of the Youth Arts program because of the joy they bring to the arts, with their creativity and passion for what they do.
More
Amanda started dancing in 1986 at the age of three at Petaluma School of Ballet, strengthening her knowledge and abilities in ballet and jazz. At age 14, she and her family moved to San Miguel. Amanda started dancing at Class Act in Paso Robles, where she continued to study both ballet and jazz. In high school, she was a part of the advanced dance class. Thereafter, she joined the Civic Ballet in San Luis Obispo.
Kunchang Lee
Kunchang Lee – Music Department Lead and Dance Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2007
Kunchang Lee has been a musician since 1997. He has studied Jazz, Classical, Spanish, and Contemporary styles of music. As a multi-instrumentalist he has played a variety of instruments for bands, churches, and as a solo artist. He has over two decade’s worth of teaching experience working with students from all ages. Partnering with music foundations, nonprofits, and after school music programs, Kunchang’s passion is helping his students learn and grow as musicians.
More
Kunchang has been a dancer and choreographer since 1994. He loves drawing out the unique creativity of each student and making each dance piece a collaborative project. He uses encouragement and affirmation in his teaching style because he believes that celebrating his students frees them to be their true selves, which always produces the best kind of art.
Vivian Higuera
Vivian Higuera – Dance Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2012
Vivian started dancing at Paso Robles High School with Jazz n’ Company while additionally taking classes at Class Act Studio. Later she went on to UC Santa Cruz and Cuesta continuing her dance skills with taking classes at both campuses. Vivian has been at the Paso Robles Youth Arts Center teaching Hip Hop Performance and beginning classes for over 10 years and in addition has taught Hip Hop and pre ballet and tap classes on the side at Class Act Studio here in Paso Robles.Hip Hop has always been her strength and loves teaching and encouraging her students to be the best they could be.
Mariah Higuera
Mariah Higuera – Dance Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2013
I have been a Youth Arts teacher for over 10 years now, and I’ve been part of the Youth Arts family for over 20 years. I first came as a student and have been raised by some of the teachers who are still working there. I’m currently a full time teacher at a St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, but I have been granted the opportunity and privilege to remain as a dance instructor at the Youth Arts, fulfilling a deep desire in my heart that could only be satisfied by giving back to the Youth Arts what it gave me, a love for the arts and a greater love for life.
Music Instructors
Kunchang Lee
Kunchang Lee – Music Department Lead and Dance Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2007
Kunchang Lee has been a musician since 1997. He has studied Jazz, Classical, Spanish, and Contemporary styles of music. As a multi-instrumentalist he has played a variety of instruments for bands, churches, and as a solo artist. He has over two decade’s worth of teaching experience working with students from all ages. Partnering with music foundations, nonprofits, and after school music programs, Kunchang’s passion is helping his students learn and grow as musicians.
More
Kunchang has been a dancer and choreographer since 1994. He loves drawing out the unique creativity of each student and making each dance piece a collaborative project. He uses encouragement and affirmation in his teaching style because he believes that celebrating his students frees them to be their true selves, which always produces the best kind of art.
Kathryn Teale
Kathryn Teale – Piano Department Lead
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2013
Kathryn Teale comes to Paso Robles Youth Arts Center with something pretty simple – a deep love of music and a passion for sharing it with others. Her goal is to teach her students a strong foundation of truly understanding music through music theory and reading music, but also to empower them to create their own music and discover their own passion and joy for piano. She believes strongly in developing the artistic spirit when learning music, “It’s never just about the notes on the page, but how we bring them to life and tell a story.” Kathryn has seen first-hand the effect music has in the lives of her students. It is these experiences which motivates her to use creative approaches to teach her students as a class, while also ensuring each student is learning to the best of their ability.
More
She is honored and humbled to be part of such an amazing organization as Paso Robles Youth Arts Center. When she is not teaching, you can find her cooking food with her husband and two daughters, enjoying a podcast or with her nose buried in a good book.
Podge Cross
Podge Cross – Music Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2024
Podge originally hails from the greater Philadelphia area, where he got his start as a professional jazz bass player. He has backed local Philly artists and played for off-Broadway theater productions. Most notably, he accompanied Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur in one of her early performances. He would go on to perform a wide variety of musical styles including classical, rock, country, folk, gospel, Americana, and big band. Podge has also played with several notable artists, including trumpeter Endre Rice of the Count Basie Orchestra, as well as the Carolina bands Silers Bald and Finnigan Bell, and Grammy award nominated producer, composer, and songwriter Aaron Robertson. As a sound engineer, Podge has mixed for artists including Aaron Shust, Randy Stonehill, and Sean Curran. He has engineering and producing credits to his name and has worked promoting shows for artists including THIRD DAY, All Sons & Daughters, and Gungor. He currently plays in the California band PBnJ. pbnjband.com
More
Podge holds a BA in Modern Music and has worked on staff at Toccoa Falls College in North-East Georgia and later with Visible Music College based out of Memphis, TN teaching guitar, music theory, and music production. In late 2015, Podge and his wife April relocated to California’s Central Coast and he currently serves on the leadership team at Maverick Church in Paso Robles. In his free time, Podge enjoys off-roading in his Jeep, playing music, playing Call of Duty with friends, and spending quiet evenings at home with his wife and their labradoodle, Waylon.
Sarah Blick
Sarah Blick – Violin Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2024
Sarah is a classically-trained violinist with a fiddler’s heart with over 15 years of professional experience. After graduating from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, she pursued music full-time as a studio musician, songwriter, and performer in genres ranging from Classical to Blues to Bluegrass to Rock before undertaking a three year national tour with her Americana duo Sugar Still. Once the duo toured through the Central Coast, she was hooked and has been living in Paso since 2021. As a teacher, Sarah believes in a strong technical foundation as well as having fun, as evidenced by her willingness to play just about anything. Her current projects include wedding performances, studio recordings, and rocking out with the local bluegrass/Americana group Bremen Town and “y’allternative” Nashville band The Cancellations.
Cy Wheeler
Cy Wheeler- Music Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Cy Wheeler has been a musician for 8 years. He practiced guitar from an early age and continued to learn other instruments as his love for music grew. As a multi-instrumentalist, he played in bands, churches, and as a solo artist. Cy also has a passion for songwriting and music production. Over the past 5 years, he has learned from talented professionals, online resources, and his own experimentation. He now records and produces his own music and music for all kinds of artists. Cy has been involved with helping students learn and grow for over 2 years. He has volunteered at youth groups and the Paso Robles Youth Arts and now teaches music privately and through the Paso Robles Youth Arts. His goal is to inspire, teach, and enable people to create music, and to love what they create.
Robyn Saxer
Robyn Saxer – Voice Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2022
Robyn teaches primarily Voice and Musical Theater at Youth Arts. She believes we are all musical by nature, and her intention is to support the full potential growth of the “musical seeds” within each of her students. She teaches Piano/Keyboards, Voice, Guitar, Ukulele, and French Horn around San Luis Obispo County and online. She holds a B.A. in Drama from UC Irvine (class of 2006) with Honors in Musical Theatre and Dramatic Criticism, Literature, and Theory. She was raised in a musical family and has a lifetime of performance experience, as well as 25 years of teaching experience in music, theatre, and nature connection education. Robyn is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with two SLOcal bands: Zen Mountain Poets and The Loving Mosh.
Simon Salcedo
Simon Salcedo – Guitar Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Simon has been involved in music his entire life. Starting with playing classical violin in grade school, and eventually with the SLO youth symphony orchestra in 2010. Entering his freshman year of high school at Atascadero High in 2012, Simon took an “Intro to Guitar Class.” From there, inspiration struck. He went from learning basic first position chords, chord progressions, and even reading tablature, most of the time being away from the class itself. By the next year, he became a Teacher’s Aid for the class, assisting fellow students with the curriculum he learned the year prior. He continued a self taught approach from then up to now, and is well versed in musical genres ranging from classical and blues, to hard rock and modern metal.
More
Getting to connect and assist in the discovery of musical expression for students is an honor and a privilege for him. He believes that every student has a voice that can’t always be expressed verbally. Simon strives to help students unlock their hidden potential, giving them the tools and structure that are needed to ignite the creative fire within.
Theatre Instructors
Amanda Thayer
Amanda Thayer- Theatre Department Lead
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2022
Amanda is a long-time local artist. She has been performing on the Central Coast for twenty years. Amanda holds a BA in English and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Studies. In recent years, Amanda has worked as a school librarian, a theatre educator, and a dramaturg for several professional theatres. Amanda’s greatest joy is adapting her favorite stories into quirky plays. She also has three very cool cats.
Claire Edmonds
Claire Edmonds – Theatre Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Claire Edmonds is a freelance theater director whose work has been seen in New York City, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Cincinnati and other cities around the US. Claire recently joined the Paso Robles Youth Arts staff as director for their 2023 production of The Wizard of Oz, and looks forward to directing future productions. Claire holds an MFA in Directing for Theater from the UCLA school of Theater Film and Television, and a BA in theater with Directing Honors from UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. She is an AHS greyhound. claireedmonds.com
Creative Enrichment Instructors
Margie Peau
Margie Peau – Culinary Arts Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2021
Margie is a graduate from the American Culinary Federation accredited culinary arts program inColumbia, California. She relocated to the central coast in 2019 where she currently manages the bakery at the Madonna Inn. Margie joined Paso Youth Arts Center as the culinary instructor in 2021. She enjoys recreating culinary themed sessions, such as Disney’s Culinary Cabaret and Lord of the Rings Seven Hobbit Meals. She enjoys watching the students grow their confidence in their culinary abilities and desire to share their skills with both their families and communities. Margie enjoys spending down time (preferably at the beach) with her three grown children and her dog, Kash.
Tiffany Lang
Tiffany Lang- Art and Creative Enrichment Instructor
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2023
Tiffany has taught throughout the county teaching in a variety of philosophies, to include Reggio Amelia inspired, Montessori and classical to name a few, and has since worked with students from the age of 6 months through high school! She comes to Youth Arts with a continued passion to teach the young people of our community. Here she feels she can help students discover and explore some of their own passions in a safe and nurturing environment that also supports her creative spirit.
More
Tiffany was born and raised in Northern California. She started her life here on the central coast in 2002 when she transferred to Cuesta College waiting for her acceptance to Cal Poly in 2003. While at Cuesta College, she realized that she wanted to be a teacher. Lucky for her Cal Poly has a school for that! Her studies at Cal Poly were supposed to lead her to become a high school agriculture teacher but plans changed in her senior year. After graduating in 2006 Tiffany returned to Cuesta College to continue her education in Early Childhood Education. This, she discovered, was where her passion to teach was.
Boomer Grace
Boomer Grace- Digital Media Department Lead
Started at the Youth Arts in: 2021
Boomer has been a middle and high school multimedia computer and Spanish instructor for 26 years. In addition, he has coached cross country and track. He teaches units on short film production; graphic design; game development; 2D & 3D animation; photography; audio production; lighting for film and photography; programming; and spreadsheets. Presently, Mr. Grace teaches at Lewis Middle School during the day, and at Paso Robles Youth Arts Center, after school hours. Mr. Grace is the director of the Estreno Youth Film Festival, which reviews 90+ submissions each year from 4 schools in Paso Robles.
More
Mr. Grace has been married for 23 years and has two children. He is an avid reader of both Spanish and English. He is a competitive age-group triathlete and plays guitar in his spare time.
