
Starland is a center to discover your creativity in Deerfield, Illinois dedicated to creating a fun and learning environment for children through creativity. Starland's Mission
Starland's mission is to expose families to different creative
outlets in order to discover where ones creative talents lie. Our
professional and nurturing staff will help guide your child through
the many artistic outlets in hopes of fitting the child to the
appropriate creative medium. At Starland we take great
pride in matching students with their passion.
Unlike government institutions and large corporations we take
a personal approach to every child in discovering their passion
and helping them refine it. What also sets us apart from
our competitors are our innovative and high-tech classes. We
stay up to date with the latest trends and offer your child the
ability to be exposed to new technology they won't normally get
until college.
We here at Starland understand that a parent's time is precious,
and we save you the hassle of having to drive your children all
around to different centers for classes by providing the convenience
of having many disciplines under one roof. Once you visit our
warm and comfortable center you will be hooked!
Learn more about the services offered by Starland:
Owner Adam More spent the
majority of his working life as an options trader on the CBOE. Woke
up one morning and had a revelation of creating a center for
children of all ages to find and refine their creativity. "Maybe
it was the bad burrito, but I decided I wanted to give something
back after years of taking from the system". I bring
a genuine interest in having people find their creative voice
early, and it gives me great joy to hear peoples positive experiences
at the center. Once you know me you will begin to sense
my enthusiasm in having people have a great experience at Starland.
Jory Mangurten
Some of Jory Mangurten’s fondest memories are of volunteering in her mother’s elementary school classroom. It is there that she discovered her lifelong passion for working with and mentoring children. Jory has a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois and a master of arts in teaching (early childhood education) from National Louis University. Jory has used her skills in curriculum planning and development to educate young people in a variety of settings. She has taught preschool in Skokie and kindergarten through third grade in Evanston. She has co-directed summer day camps. She also has experience working with gifted, at-risk, and special needs children. Jory furthers her love of teaching by tutoring individuals and groups in all subject areas. She has become more and more devoted to Starland as her two children have learned and grown through its programming. They have been inspired and nurtured in its creative setting, and she hopes that other children may share their many positive experiences.
Audrey Pam is a local
teacher, art therapist and mom. She completed her undergraduate
degree in art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985
and her Masters degree in Art Therapy from the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago in 1990. She has had the wonderful opportunity
to have worked with many children and adults of all abilities.
Her past clients have included those from the Christopher House,
the Chicago Lighthouse of the Blind, The Center on Deafness and
The Illinois Spina Bifida Association. She has also worked with
patients on the mental health units of several hospitals. She
uses art to help individuals improve their self-esteem, enhance
creativity and encourage self-expression. For the last few years,
she has loved making art with her own children and teaching clay
classes at the Kipling School in Deerfield. She is thrilled to
also have the opportunity to teach at Starland.
Ashley Nunan is thrilled to join the Starland family in this program lovingly passed down to her by the great Mary Poole. This is her12th year teaching performing arts on the North Shore where she has been director and music director for New Trier's Performing Arts Summer Workshop, director for Edgewood Middle School's musicals, resident music director at the Wilmette Park District, and director of Northlight Theater's Senior Summer Academy. She is immensely proud of founding a theater workshop and a show choir at the park district, and of developing her early childhood drama and music classes there and at Kenilworth's All Things Bright and Beautiful preschool. Ashley loves all her students; from the two year olds drama queens through her former students in acting programs around the country! She runs a thriving private voice studio specializing in healthy vocal technique for young singers and happily sings herself with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. Ashley is a proud New Trier theater alumna and holds a BA in music from Drake University. She is so grateful for the love and support of fiancé Erik and cat Zooey.
Mary Poole has been with Starland for 2 years now, teaching pre-K through middle school and writing and directing plays. Mary's last position before coming here was in Kigali, Rwanda, where she spent a year teaching at a school for children orphaned by the genocide. Mary is very happy to be back at home and at Starland, where children have loving families at their beck and call, and food is so plentiful we have to keep the kids from throwing it away! What keeps Mary happy at Starland are the wonderful, devoted staff and the fabulous children and their parents. Nothing is more satisfying than a job in which you can positively impact the lives of so many young stars and watch them grow. And getting to act out princesses and dragons all day doesn't hurt! Mary holds degrees in musical theatre and writing from Illinois State University, and is a member of Opera Illinois, where she recently performed in La Traviata. Mary teaches private voice and acting lessons, and thanks her wonderful husband Phillip for his love and support.
Jordyn Pins Jordyn
is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University where she received
her BFA in Theatre Performance with an emphasis in dance. Jordyn
has taught and choreographed for Northbrook Children's Theatre,
Summer Theatre Workshop and their professional company, Theatre
for Young Audiences. Jordyn also teaches at On Your Toes Dance
Studio and choreographs for the award winning dance company. She
is excited to return to Niles West High School this fall where
she is the choreographer for their musical productions. Professionally
Jordyn is currently dancing with Core Project in Chicago. Theatrically
Jordyn has been in numerous plays throughout Chicago and Los Angeles.
Marta
Cruz has over
25 years of experience working with and teaching children. She
started out as a teacher’s aide in a full day parochial
school for kindergarteners. She loved working with children to
such a great extent that she continued there for 6 years. Marta
is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. She taught Spanish and Crafts
classes at the Park District of Oak park. After that, Marta used
her teaching experience and expertise to run a home-based day care
for 7 years. Marta’s greatest teaching experience is through
her love to her children and grandchildren! “It is the young
child’s excitement for learning and
their sense of wonder that keeps me drawn to early education.” ~Marta
Cruz
Jesse
Keeler started
making movies when he was 11 years old after discovering his Father's
super-8 camera. His passion for art grew while attending the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA. Jesse
got caught up in the explosion of digital media technology in the
1990's. During that time he worked as an application engineer doing
systems integration and demos of 3D animation software such as,
3D Studio Max, Maya and Softimage, as well as generating 3d renderings
and animations for presentations. He continues to work on many
independent projects as a videographer and animator. Jesse was
part of the team of After Effects animators that prepared the video
for the Crown Video Fountain at Chicago's Millennium Park. About
5 years ago he started teaching kids computer skills. He loves
passing along to his students a love of learning and pushing the
envelope of their creativity.
Lisa Zarov
grew up in Providence, R.I. and has a Bachelors Degree from
Northwestern University and a Masters in Social Work from University
of Illinois @ Chicago. She has been writing music, playing guitar
and performing in bands in Chicago for over 20 years. When her
kids were toddlers, she discovered that they, and their friends,
were a delightfully captive audience whenever she played guitar
for them. So she began playing at birthday parties for the toddler
set and worked at B’Nai Torah preschool, where she incorporated
singing and guitar into the days of her students as often as
she could. Lisa brings her experience, as well as her combined
love for children and music to Starland, where she will serve
as mom-tot music teacher.
Alan Begoun aka 'Mr. B.' has always had a love of working with young children. He's coached little league baseball and basketball, volunteered at the J.C.C. kindergarten program and for the last two summers has been an assistant at the Chicago Botanic Garden day camp. He has honed his skills an entertainer/teacher of young children by being a grandfather of seven. Alan has also done community theater with The Highland Park players. He really enjoys assisting with the various drama and musical theater classes at Starland. He greatly appreciates the opportunity to work with these great kids.
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