Our Team

Cynthia Renta

A native of Jersey City, Cynthia Renta joins Educational Arts Team from the Center for Supportive Schools where she has worked for the past six years, most recently as senior community school director. In this role, she directed the community school strategy across five schools in Jersey City. Prior to that, Cynthia also directed the Newark YMCA (Jersey City based satellite office), implementing 21st Century Learning Centers' after-school and summer camp programming that served children and families across Jersey City. She possesses over twenty-years of experience creating, producing and directing community-participatory art programming as an artist, teaching artist and non-profit leader in Jersey City, the California Bay Area, and New York City. She has primarily focused on social equity, creative placemaking, youth development, restorative practices, and parent and community engagement. 

Roxy Arrojo

Roxy has worked with Educational Arts Team for over fifteen years.  She graduated from New Jersey City University with a BA in Musical Theatre.  Roxy brings a specialty in dance and movement to our program, helping develop kinesthetic activities for mind-body awareness,

as well as activities using visual symbolism and physical representation.  

Her personal interest in Young Adult Literature has given her a special insight into character motivations and relationships, important elements of our Bringing Literature to Life series as well as our Drug Prevention program in the 6th and 7th grades.

Dina Ciborowski 

Dina has been a teaching artist for over 18 years in both New York and New Jersey, 10 of those years with Educational Arts Team. She also works as an actress in the theatre with an emphasis on Improvisational Performance.

Dina’s acting credits include off off-Broadway, cabaret theatre, and a number of independent films. She has also toured with theatre companies performing in NYC, Toronto, and Massachusetts. 

Her facility with role-play and improv was instrumental in the creation of our Hand Puppet program, which helps 2nd and 3rd graders develop characters and improvise problem-solution plot lines.

Danny Bacher

Danny graduated in 2001 from New Jersey City University with degrees in Theater/English and Music. After graduation, he was hired by the award-winning theater troupe, The Irondale Ensemble Project based in NYC. After his tenure with the theater troupe, he went on to write, produce and star in original works Off-Broadway, and toured internationally. Danny is also a world-class touring jazz singer and saxophonist, and has recorded two studio albums as a leader and has played many renowned venues including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Danny, along with his brother Josh, was asked to join the Educational Arts Team in 2007 as writers and performers of an after-school puppet program for CASPER. Together they created an acclaimed series of after-school shows called, “The Backyard Players”.Around this time, Danny also began working as a full-time staff member at Camp Liberty, lending his expertise in drama, comedy, improv, magic and puppetry to the youth of Jersey City each summer.

In addition to this, he has been a teaching artist with the Team for over ten years, working with grades 2-5 throughout the Jersey City public school system and beyond.

Danny has thoroughly enjoyed his experience working and growing with the Team, and looks forward to seeing and taking part in what the future holds.

Mary Graham Aiken

Also known as Miss Mary, is one of the original members of Educational Arts Team which was founded in 1974. She graduated from Ferris High School in Jersey City and took drama classes at Jersey City State College. She was also the recipient of a scholarship with the Negro Ensemble Acting School in New York City.

Miss Mary's career has taken given her opportunities in a variety of fields. Mary formed two organizations, called Dambella Models and one called Arts Drama Club. She was a style columnist for a Jersey City magazine called From Dusk Til Dawn, contributing to a column called "Beauty Tips". She has also taught modeling and grooming at the Jersey City YWCA.

Miss Mary has been working with children for over 50 years, giving workshops in schools, day cares, libraries, churches, and many other organizations. She teaches music, art and crafts, storytelling, sign language, and performs in puppet shows. Miss Mary is a Jersey City favorite and beloved member of the team.

Dom Buccafusco

Dom has worked with the team, since 1980 as a drama workshop leader.  He received an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, and a BA in English/Theatre from Jersey City State College.  He also attended the New School for Social Research where he studied Television Production and Acting for the stage and screen. 

For twenty-five years Dom worked as an adjunct instructor in theater at New Jersey City University for the Department of Music, Dance & Theater. His directorial work includes a wide range of theatrical genres including plays, musicals, and opera.

Robert "Bob" Albrecht

Bob received his masters from the University of Wisconsin and his doctorate from New York University and he has published numerous articles relating to the role of music and the arts in education and culture.

As a musician, Bob has written hundreds of songs and has performed with diverse groups, all the way from street corner doo-wop to Camp songs with children in Jersey City to Brazilian jazz.  As a teacher, Bob was an early member of the Educational Arts Team and has worked at Camp Liberty since 1982 where he coordinates the music and recreation program. Bob is also a tenured professor of media arts at New Jersey City University where he teaches classes in the history and social impact of media. 

In 2014, he produced a CD of children’s songs entitled Sing Along with Camp Liberty.  Recently, Bob represented the Educational Arts Team at an international conference in Italy where he presented a paper outlining the importance of educational arts in the age of digital technology.

Dani Kopoulos

Dani joined the Educational Arts Team in 2010.  She received an MA in Creative Writing from New School University in New York, and a BA in multi-media performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her hometown. 

Dani is an award-winning solo performance artist and published writer of poetry and creative non-fiction.  She has also been a teaching artist for over 15 years, leading drama, writing, and movement workshops in schools and community centers in Chicago, New York and New Jersey.

Samantha Zegarra

Samantha’s journey with the Educational Arts Team began at the age of six when she was a camper at Camp Liberty. She went from camper to counselor and is currently the organization's Program and Grants Administrator and Registrar for Camp Liberty. 

An alumna of Rutgers University, Samantha graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Deciding to continue her studies Samantha later went on to earn her Masters of Social Work with a focus on childhood development and clinical mental health. 

Samantha brings a social work perspective to the organization by advocating for change on a macro level to build a stronger community. Samantha's core belief is enacting change through innovative programming and opportunities for youth in our community; An increase of access to quality programs to underserved communities will inspire the next generation of leaders.

Carmine Tabone

Executive Director of the Team, Carmine has been leading theater and education projects with young people since 1970 and holds an Ed. S. from Seton Hall University in Educational Leadership and a M. A. from New York University in Educational Theater.  He has been an adjunct faculty member at NYU in the graduate theater education program and has conducted in-service training workshops at regional, national and international conferences. He currently teaches a course in the Saint Peters University MPA program on Conflict in the Workplace.

In 2010 Carmine and three researchers from Seton Hall University received the American Alliance for Theater and Education Research Award for their work on a series of United States Department of Education Arts in Education projects. Carmine has also co-authored a book on drama education activities, as well as three handbooks with EAT teaching artists. Carmine and Bob Albrecht have recently completed a book, The Arts and Play as Educational Media in the Digital Age (Peter Lang, 2020).