Instructor Profiles

Marcia Beal, who has taught rug-hooking for 20 years, is a member of the Pearl K. McGown Rug Hooking Guild and a certified McGown teacher. Marcia has taught at National Workshops, Sturbridge Village, the Higgins Armory Museum and the Southbridge Art Center. She also conducts classes in her home.

Nancy Bryant is an artist who has been producing art and exhibiting in local art shows for several years. She earned an associates degree in Graphic Arts from Springfield Technical Community College, graduating with high honors. After working in the printing industry for several years she returned to college to earn a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Westfield State College. After graduation, she worked in the public sector as a social worker and a trainer. Being a proficient artist in several media, Nancy recently began working in digital art. She began to research image permanence, and discovered Giclée printing. As a result of this research Nancy founded Giclée of New England, Inc. and has been providing high quality giclée prints to the local art community since 2002.

Kevin Christo
Kevin Christo is a self-employed instructor and consultant. He is a T.I.P's (Training for Intervention Procedures) Certified Trainer with over 25 years Food & Beverage experience in all facets of the industry. He is also an attorney with an extensive knowledge of the laws and regulations relevant to the sale, serving and consumption of alcohol.

Lara Demoracski - SAT Preparatory Course Lara Demoracski is a tutor with College Counseling Services and Tutoring Services in East Longmeadow, Ma. Lara is a pre-med student who has been tutoring students for eight years total, 5 years for College Counseling Services. College Counseling Services & Tutoring Services has been helping students with college planning and test prep for over 17 years. They have numerous teachers from all subject areas who tutor students from Grades 1-12.

Elizabeth Dougal, Esq. is a 1990 graduate from Boston College Law School and currently has a legal practice based in East Longmeadow. Attorney Dougal is extremely knowledgeable about both the usefulness and limitations of a will. She knows when a Trust is or is not suitable for a client, based on that client's specific needs. She is well-versed in the numerous documents that plan for retirement and disability. Attorney Dougal has also assisted numerous businesses in planning for the next generation, or an outside successor, to assume leadership.

Doreen Doyle
Doreen Doyle Company was started in March of 1993. Offering a wide variety of residential services, Doreen enjoys all manner of tasks, from correspondence to closets, from attics to accounting, from space planning to customer service, and frequently, moving, packing and unpacking her clients and their elderly parents. She plans parties and holiday events. Doreen also offers informative seminars for aspiring organizers, and frequently speaks to corporate and nonprofit audiences.

Doreen's work has been featured on PBS' The Group, on local radio and in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Boston Business Journal, The Patriot Ledger, The Middlesex News, and in numerous issues of Family magazine. She is extremely active within the organizing industry, as New England liaison for the National Association of Professional Organizers, past Secretary for the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization and past Vice-President and founding member of the New England Professional Organizers. For NEPO, she developed the New Organizers Meetings, a forum for aspiring organizers. Doreen is also a founding member of the Boston Consortium of Professional Organizers, a group dedicated to community outreach, and industry awareness. For the Small Business Administration, she was the facilitator of the 2001-2002 Women's Business Roundtable.

"Being organized is the ability to locate an item or perform a task before stress sets in."
— Doreen Doyle, Owner Doreen Doyle Company

Marsha Gaudette, Executive Director of Top Floor Learning's basic reading and writing programs, holds a Masters of Education in Reading degree from the University of Hartford and has extensive elementary school teaching experience in Wilbraham, MA, Enfield, CT and Middletown, CT.

Susan Griswold, owner of Glass Works, co-owner of Griswold Glass, has been creating in stained glass for 9 years and teaching the copper foil method for the last 4 years. Susan repairs leaded glass windows, lampshades, etc. and builds custom stained glass pieces for homeowners and businesses.

Donna Kimball
Instructor Donna Kimball has been sewing, knitting and crocheting since she was eight years old. When mom tried to teach Donna to knit, her knitting was either too tight to move off needles, or too loose! Frustrated, Donna learned to crochet from a neighbor and has had great fun since, making doilies, earning spending money in the 70's making granny square vests and designing and making a crochet christening outfit (dress and coat). While working for ten years at Old Sturbridge Village (where she could not crochet, that did not come to the "New World" until nearly the Civil War)-a fellow textile person figured out what Donna needed to do, to properly knit. At Sturbridge Village, Donna found lace knitting, wool dyeing and spinning! Donna can be found knitting mittens, fingerless mitts and socks in her spare time.

Colleen Lowe
Colleen Lowe has an undergraduate degree in Studio Arts from SUNY Plattsburgh, a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Marylhurst College in Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Goddard College in Vermont. Colleen taught Montessori pre-school for eleven years, in Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, New Zealand, New York, Colorado and Vermont. She has taught writing workshops and classes in Oregon, Washington and Vermont. She has written a collection of short stories entitled Can't You Just Be a Human Being About This? She can be reached at collowevt@yahoo.com.

Mary Jo McCauley Never Enough Earrings, Pendants Galore, Butterflies and Hearts Mary Jo McCauley is a Level II certified artisan for Precious Metal Clay (PMC) by the PMC Guild. A talented designer in fiber and jewelry arts for the past ten years, she got hooked on the flexibility of PMC and the personalization it offers to fine jewelry. She offers Basics and Beyond Basics classes in jewelry design throughout the Central New England area.

• What is PMC (Precious Metal Clay)?
  Developed by Japanese scientists in 1991, precious metal clay consists of pure silver or gold in tiny particles smaller than 20 microns. These particles are mixed in an organic binder and water formula. During firing, the binder burns away and the precious metals sinter, leaving either .999 silver or 24K gold. PMC holds the surface pattern of organic objects like leaves and twigs, and when fired, the organic materials burn away leaving detailed imprint in silver and gold. A great creative medium!

Lynn Park has shared her experience, artistic talents and interest in beaded-jewelry making with a large number of groups throughout the region.

Mulazimuddin Rasool, Ed.D was born and raised in Pittsfield, Mass. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he received a BA in American History, and minored in African American Studies. He earned a Masters Degree (M.Ed) in Counseling, with a minor in Organizational Development, and an Ed.D in Instructional Leadership. He also has a MCH (Masters Degree in Clinical Hypnotherapy). He is certified by the state of Massachusetts as a Social Studies Teacher, Guidance Counselor, Attendance Officer, and Principal. For more than 30 years he has conducted seminars and workshops for middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and correctional facilities. He is presently a high school track and field coach and Program Manager for Will Power Consultants. His thought provoking stories and charisma are guaranteed to stay in the minds of his audiences long after the experience is over.

Continuing education has always been a priority and Ricki is certified as a Professional Window Treatment Consultant by the National Home Decorating Products Assoc. She is also an Allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers and is a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Her background includes one year at the New York School of Interior Design and an Interior Design degree from Newbury College in Boston, Ma.

Renee Stolar Business Basics 101-
Renee Stolar has been part of the family business, J. Stolar Insurance Agency for the past 10 years. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University and is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent in Massachusetts. J. Stolar Insurance Agency specializes in personal and commercial insurance and she works with many insurance companies to provide these coverages to her customers.

Wendy Story
Wendy Story, a Palmer native, began working with her father in the funeral business in 1984. Beers & Story Funeral Home was established in 1950 at its Palmer location, and in 1951, Herbert Story opened their Belchertown facility. Beers & Story is a family-run business, with four licensed funeral directors, three of whom are in the Story family. Wendy's husband, Marc Gaudreau, her daughter Alyssa Hall together with 12-year employee Crystal Champigny and Wendy, work hard to bring comfort and support to the families they serve. In January 2002, Beers & Story, South Hadley Funeral Home opened its newest location to serve the communities of South Hadley, Granby, Holyoke and Chicopee.

Jeanette Tenczar is accomplished in many needlecraft techniques and is an unusually talented quilt maker. She has previously presented this course to the Quaboag Valley Art Guild and wants to share her talents and love of quilts with others.

Margaret White - Margaret is a Creative Memories Consultant who enjoys teaching people of all ages how to preserve their memories through photo organization, traditional and digital album making and custom framing. Your Life - Your Story - Your Way.