Rebecca Schlarbaum brings creativity to life through art and empowers learners in artistic expression. She loves hearing her students’ clever ideas and supporting them in making ideas come to life. Her favorite saying is, “Some people only dream of meeting their favorite artists, I teach mine.”  She enjoys sharing her expertise through tricks, tips, experiments, and crazy ideas.  Mrs. Schlarbaum is an artist because she feels most alive when making things and expressing herself in visual and kinesthetic ways and opens the world of creative expression to her learners. Her inspiration comes from hiking, biking, cooking, sewing, dabbling in sports, and raising her two young children. Experiences she brings into her craft include growing up with four brothers,  spending summers on a farm, travels to Haiti and Kenya, and has climbed two “fourteeners”! She can’t wait to get to know her learners and start creating!

Richard Clarke is a musician, composer, and music educator based in Colorado, USA.  He moved here to Colorado in 2014 from the United Kingdom.  He studied music and music education at college, gaining a Master’s from the Royal Northern College of Music and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Bristol.  Since moving to Colorado, He has taught at STEM School Highlands Ranch, Bennett School District, and Littleton Public SchoolsRichard plays saxophone, piano, guitar, and sings.   He composes instrumental music and arranges a lot of music for different ensembles, using Sibelius and Ableton applications.  His passion for teaching real-world music skills to students is informed by classroom teaching experience of problem-based learning, as well as working with professional musicians and integrating music technology into his teaching practice.  

Tanner comes to Colorado Springs from Hays, Kansas where he attended Fort Hays State University on a football scholarship. While there, he earned degrees in Exercise Science, Education, and Education Administration before moving to Colorado Springs to begin his teaching career. Tanner generates a motivating and creative learning environment bringing out the best in learners. An advocate of student-centered learning, he brings joy into his work with students that instills a love of learning to last a lifetime. When not teaching, Tanner enjoys skiing, hiking, climbing, camping reading, trail running, biking, and fishing.