Staff

Ms. Faith
Owner/Director

Faith is delighted to be the director and owner of this fantastic Drama Kids program. Faith is a proud mother to her son, Bradley – and “Drama Mama” to Hillsborough County students for the last 10 years. Faith holds a BA in Education from the University of North Florida where she graduated at the top of her class. She has been involved in theatre for more than 25 years as an actress, director, choreographer and musical director. A certified Florida teacher, she has fifteen years of teaching experience, working with children of all ages. When she found a program that was focused on building confidence, speaking and acting skills in children, Faith knew it was the ideal fusion of her two passions!

Ms. Dulcie
Production Manager

Dulcie is the resident theatre ninja on the FL DK team! You can find Ms. Dulcie teaching, training, stage managing, directing, and organizing all things related to the Drama Kids Take 2 Performance Academy. Dulcie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. After several years working in the local Hillsborough County office, Dulcie now works in franchise support in the Drama Kids national office. She lives in Brandon with her husband, Dave, son Eli, and daughter, Madeleine. Also at home are dogs Roxie and Stella and cats Charlie, Metro, and Celia. She loves to watch students unleash their creativity and imagination in a safe, judgment-free space. Why yes, you can be a princess-robotsuperhero-cat!

Ms. Amanda
Creative Development Manager/Lead Drama Teacher

Amanda is an actor/social media guru/ the brain to pick if you ever need help being extra creative! She had a wonderful time training in London, England where she received her Master’s Degree in Acting. She loves working with Drama Kids because it is truly where kids can be themselves. During classes, she tries to give students the space to be open, free, and creative. Just as she teaches the students, they teach her new things each class too. You will never master acting (or teaching), you are constantly learning!

Ms. Susanne
Drama & Acting Teacher

Susanne White has been a proud member of the Drama Kids family for over 5 years. She has always enjoyed being dramatic and making people laugh. Ms. Susanne has 20 years of teaching experience in the classroom. She currently teaches VPK in the morning and drama in the afternoon. She holds a BA in theatre performance and BS in special education from the University of South Florida. Ms. Susanne lives in Seffner with her husband, Michael, daughter, Rory, and two dogs, Baby and Teddy. She loves having a front-row seat to the amazing talent and creativity of the Drama Kids students.

Mr. Stephen
Drama & Acting Teacher

Stephen Ray has been a professional performer in the Tampa Bay area for almost 20 years. A graduate from Florida School of the Arts, he has been involved in every facet of theater from performing to directing, as well as stage managing, tour managing, sound design, production management, and more! Currently, he serves as the production manager for St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival and narrates audiobooks on the side. He believes that the arts are extremely important for developing minds as it builds creativity, confidence, teamwork, and character (as well as just being plain fun). Stephen is married to his wonderful wife, Brandy, and has 4 fantastic kids. Let’s go, Drama Kids!

Ms. Christie
Drama & Acting Teacher

Christie, a Florida native who recently returned to the sunshine, holds her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Portland and her degree in Acting from Florida State University. She worked professionally in the theatre at Artist Repertory Theatre and Profile Theatre before moving back to her childhood home. Christie lives with a human and pet family including two little (human) ones, two dogs, a cat, and a fish named “Ketchup.”

Ms. Kayla
Drama & Acting Teacher

Kayla is ecstatic to join the Drama Kids team! Kayla has been participating in theatre since she was in elementary school. As a lover of theatre and learning, Kayla has experience in on-stage acting, costume design, makeup design, set design, directing, improv, and even competitive theatre. Kayla’s favorite thing to do in the classroom is to bring out the creative energy students have and give them the chance to express it freely. When she is not enthusiastically running around classrooms, you can find her at home with her daughter Emery, who she describes as quite the drama queen already!

Kayla is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Elementary education and plans to continue bringing artistic and theatrical elements into every classroom she goes into.

Ms. Melissa
Drama Teacher & Choreographer

Melissa has studied dance throughout her education. She received her BA in Theater and Dance from the University of New Hampshire. After graduating college, she worked at Walt Disney World, performing in all 4 of the theme parks. She danced in both the daytime and nighttime parades in Magic Kingdom and was also the project coordinator for the opening cast of several parades and shows.

Melissa lives in Lutz with her husband Mike, son Michael, and daughter Miranda. She is excited to join Drama Kids and is looking forward to sharing her talents with the students.

Ms. Jessica
Drama & Acting Teacher

Jessica Gainer is a teacher at Florida Drama Kids of Hillsborough County. She provides imaginative learning experiences while building self-esteem, confidence, creative thinking, speaking skills, and leadership skills within each of her students. She graduated from the University of South Florida with her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education in 2009. After graduation, she began her first passion of teaching with Hillsborough County Public Schools, and later her second passion for drama began to develop. She continues pursuing both passions as they are infused with Florida Drama Kids of Hillsborough County.

Ms. Chrissy
Music Director & Drama Teacher

Chrissy grew up in NJ. As a child, you couldn’t get her off the stage! She went on to attend William Paterson University where she majored in music education and performance with a focus on musical theater. Chrissy enjoyed an array of acting and improv classes. She spent many years as a religious education teacher as well as a preschool music teacher. And now, her passion for helping children grow has led her to Drama Kids! County.

Ms. Konnie
Drama & Acting Teacher

This is Konnie’s first year teaching at Drama Kids. She has a B.A in Communications from the University of South Florida. She’s been married for 20 yrs to her wonderful husband Angel and they have 2 amazing boys Brenden, 9, and Bradly, 8. She loves theater and has had the opportunity to perform since middle school up to adulthood. She’s also had the amazing opportunity to participate in plays and musicals such as, Pippin, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, Oliver Twist, Our Ms. Brooks, Romeo and Juliet, The Man Who Came to dinner, Fiddler on the Roof, and many more. Growing up in New York, she had the amazing opportunity to embrace the arts to their fullest.

Working with Drama Kids allows her the opportunity to merge her two passions, working with kids and the arts. She loves working with children and teaching them drama. It always amazes her to see how quickly they learn and absorb everything you show them. It is her goal to help her students flourish by becoming amazingly confident young men and women, and allow them to enjoy their learning process so they can become the leaders of tomorrow.

Ms. Libia
Drama Teacher & Choreographer

Being on stage and backstage throughout her high school years has given Libia so much confidence and taught her the importance of the arts in people’s lives. She holds a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences and through the experiences of attaining this degree, has further learned the importance of artistic outlets, which she hopes to share with her students. Libia shares her home with her fiancee and their ten pets: two cats, two lizards, and six rats.

Ms. Jilli
Drama & Acting Teacher

Jilli, a former Drama Kids student herself, is ecstatic to be able to move from pupil to teacher. A member of the program based in Albany, NY for 5 years, Jilli has been a part of the theater world since the age of one, including on stage and off. Jilli is also a graduate of Paul Mitchell: The School in Schenectady, NY, having studied both beauty and special effects makeup. On top of that, Jilli has also worked backstage with Proctors in NY to assist in wardrobe for several touring Broadway shows such as Ain’t Too Proud and Cats. Jilli is excited to take on a new aspect of theater and to be able to instill the confidence in her students that she gained from her time in Drama Kids herself.

Ms. Christiana
Drama & Acting Teacher/Choreographer

Christiana Teddi, a musical theater and dance education student at the University of Tampa is ecstatic to be embarking upon this journey with her students. She is originally from Lawrenceville, Ga where she has been acting and dancing for the last 15 years. She can’t wait to meet and have a blast every day in class with all of you wonderful kiddos!!

Ms. Jennifer
Drama & Acting Teacher

A Tampa native, Jennifer is a seasoned performer and educator with over four decades of stage, studio, and instructor experience. Her theatre background ranges from the page (concept, script writing) to the stage (performer, director, choreographer, stage manager), and is trained in multiple genres of dance and musical theatre, including studying at Broadway Dance Center and Luigi’s Jazz Centre in NYC under the tutelage of Broadway greats! She was a professional performer with Busch Gardens and several independent companies and performed with world-renowned Diavolo in The Veterans Project: “A Long Journey Home” and several follow-on projects.

Jennifer served 10 years in the United States Navy and holds her MA in Creative Writing, BA in Business Management and Marketing, and AS in TV/Radio Broadcasting and Communication, and has experience working with students of all ages and abilities. She is an adjunct Theatre and English professor at Saint Leo University is currently pursuing her PhD in Dance, where her research is focused on, “Exploring the Socio- Emotional Impact of Somatic and Creative Movement on Veterans

Ms. Nicole P
Drama & Acting Teacher

Bio coming soon!

Ms. Nicole B
Music Director

Bio coming soon!

Ms. Natasha
Music Director

Bio coming soon!

Join our team! Drama Kids is seeking dynamic and fun part-time teachers to meet our growing class schedule.  Please visit our Contact Us Page and submit your interest.