Christine Superville has been working with Project PRIZE for about 10 years and has loved
every moment of it. Christine studied dance at Q.C.C. and then went on to Hunter College to
receive her bachelor's in dance with a minor in music history and literature. With a love of all
things artistic, she has managed to channel her eclectic nature into a diverse and dynamic
teaching style that both educates and engages her students. Christine has worked, in many
different capacities, at different sites in Queens. She's worked as a choreographer, sound
technician and assistant stage manager at Black Spectrum Theater in Jamaica, Queens and as an
activity specialist at an afterschool program in Far Rockaway, Queens. This year she plans to
challenge her dance class with modern and African dance styles while challenging her step class
with more intricate and detailed routines.
Tammi Cubilette is a native New Yorker who has worked as an actress, performer and teaching
artist for the past 20 years. She has appeared on numerous television shows such as Mad TV and
Brothers And Sisters. She also enjoyed a featured role in The Italian Job starring Charlize
Theron. She was a series regular of the short lived, critically acclaimed and ahead of its time,
Latino-themed sketch comedy show House of Buggin’, working side by side with John
Leguizamo and Luis Guzman. Tammi is a recent graduate from The City College of New York
where she earned a master’s degree in Educational Theatre. As a teaching artist she finds the
work she does with young people challenging and rewarding. She enjoys introducing them to
the world of theatre and improvisation. Her ultimate goal is not to churn out “good little actors”
but to give young people a creative outlet with which to express themselves. Currently she is
teaching a theater workshop in an after school program with Good Shepherd Services.
Zeki Sekban taught math in turkey for over 10 years before he came to the United States in the
early 2000’s. Upon his arrival, he joined Jean Nuzzi IS 109 as a math teacher. Later on, the
Project PRIZE program coordinator made him an offer to work as a math teacher with the after
school group. Besides the math class, he also coordinated a course to expose Project PRIZE
students to the major aspects of the Turkish culture. Zeki was invited to work with the summer
and Saturday component of the Project PRIZE program in 2006 and since then he has taught the
Turkish culture workshop, has coached soccer, football, and has advised a chess team, at the
same time he has taught math for junior and high school students. Currently, Zeki is a math
teacher at the Pan American International HS in Queens.
Karen Dagis has taught English and Special Education (grades 7- 12) at Kingston H. S. and Law
and Government H.S. since Sept. 1998. She has also taught English at the Windsor School since
June 2007. Her philosophy of education is manifold—she aims to teach, train, and develop. She
has traveled extensively throughout the world in order to increase her understanding of world
culture and enhance her teaching skills. Her goal as an educator is to learn from her students so
that she can impart this knowledge to future students. She believes that literature is life!
Lavoisier Cornerstone - Hip-hop artist, Entrepreneur and Computer Programmer, Youth
activist and recording artist for more than 10 years. He makes records, he performs music across
the country, he writes computer programs, and gives talks on Hip-hop History and Culture,
Computer Science, and the Bible. His music videos are featured on Worldstarhiphop.com,
ThisIs50.com & AllHipHop.com. Recently back from a 30-day, 9 city, and 5 country music tour
in Africa. A while back he did a middle-school classroom video that went viral and now has
over 600,000 views: If you Google "fake rappers", it is the first video that comes up...don't
believe him? Try it.
Rosa Belmonte Is a full time science teacher at P.S/M.S 138Q in Queens. She teaches 7th grade
general science and 8th grade Living Environment. She graduated from Cornell University with
a Bachelor of Science in 2008 and received a Master’s of Art in Adolescent Science Education
from Adelphi University in 2011. A graduate of Project Prize she has been able to utilize the
activities and skills she learned from his program throughout her academic and collegiate career.
She looks forward to the opportunity to give back to her community, and work with all of the
creative minds involved with Project Prize.
Crystal Craigen is a Liberty Project Prize Alumna. After graduating from the High School of
Law and Enforcement and Public Safety, Crystal continued to work with a youth development
agency, The Child Center of New York where she is an Activity Specialist who teaches dance,
art, and step. Besides teaching, she is an acting counselor that helps students with various
personal issues. Outside of work, Crystal has performed on numerous NYC stages. She has
danced with the urban crew, FLO Dance Team, a belly dance theater collective, The Kandake,
she's done back up with the afro-electric-funk underground artist David, and the gemstone dance
company, The United African Dance Troupe. Crystal continues to work, dance, and move and
grows with youth and adults in her community and is continuing her journey as an upcoming
artist.
Vince Hubbard (Kekoa) majored in Design and Visualization and graduated from Silicon
Valley College in California. He has been with Project Prize since 2007 and has taught Graphic
Design, Self-Defense, Creative Production, Soccer, Football, Storyboarding, and Chess in the
Saturday and Summer components of the program. He has been in the graphic design field for
over 16 years and started a small graphic design company in 2006. Kekoa has studied various
forms of martial arts but he is mainly disciplined in the art of Kajukenbo. He has been teaching
this discipline for 6 years. It's one of the first mixed martial arts developed in 1945-1947 on the
island of Oahu. It consists of Tang Soo Do, Judo, Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu, Kenpo Karate, Chinese
Boxing, Eskrima, and Muay Thai. It was created as a street fighting martial arts to help the locals
of Hawaii defend themselves against the sailors that would bully them.
Matthew Atias is a Queensborough Community College graduate and currently studies
Mathematics at Adelphi University. He has a full knowledge of the connectivity between
calculus, algebra, and number theory with the outside world, and does his best to implement
those when he teaches, tutors, or even talks to somebody about math. To him, knowing how to
do something is not enough. Rather, to him, it is important to know WHY that is being
done. He believes that with math, most students don't understand it because they don't know
why they have to do it. That is what he focuses on, and that makes him a better teacher.
Daniel McKleinfield has worked as a professional director, shooter, and editor for over a
decade. In that time, he’s created interview videos for Sony Music, television commercials, for
Harper Collins books, online videos for numerous charitable organizations, and many more. He
currently teaches video production and digital photography in the 21st Century Learning
Communities, and manages the Multimedia Lab for Queensborough Community College.
Joe Peluso is teaching the Kick Start Your Career: Go for the Gold workshop. He is a Bronx
native and a proud product of the NYC public school system. Joe is a certified NYS School
District Business Leader, has an MBA from NYU, a BA from CUNY and extensive business
experience with Citigroup and the Ford Motor Company. He understands the importance of a
quality education and has taught, mentored and coached others throughout his career. Joe is an
avid sports fan and started coaching youth athletics as a freshman in college. He has taught
workshops at an alternative high school in Queens, and through Operation Hope, Junior
Achievement and the Read Aloud programs.