HOT Schools Staff

Bonnie is Connecticut Office of the Arts’ Arts in Education Program Manager and Director of the Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools Program. She has developed and managed Connecticut’s Directory of Teaching and Performing Artists; CT State Troubadour program, Poetry Out Loud; Artist, School and State Museum Partnerships; and several grants programs including Arts Learning, Creative Placemaking, Early Learning, Underserved Youth, and Creative Collaborations.

As Director of HOT Schools Bonnie oversees all aspects of program design, implementation, activities, professional development and outreach, and she is currently focused on developing and implementing program partnerships and expansion plans. She collaborates with participating schools and school districts and works with local arts leaders as well as the CT Department of Education, and nationally recognized consultants in the area of arts in education to design professional development for teachers, teaching artists, parents and administrators, and she consults nationally on these topics. Bonnie represents Connecticut on regional and national arts in education consortiums including New England Consortium of Artist Educator Professionals (NECAP), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). She served on NASAA’s Arts Learning Advisory Group, a mix of state arts agency executive directors and education managers who advise on policy, and she represents Connecticut for the New England Foundation for the Arts’ (NEFA) Touring Program.

She currently represents the New England Region and is a past chair of the Arts Education Work Group (AEWG), the arts education leadership body representing the NASAA/NEA partnership. Bonnie has also served as a Connecticut Humanities Programs Advisory Committee member, advisor to Hartford Performs, and is a former executive director of Connecticut Odyssey of the Mind.

Amy formerly managed Connecticut Office of the Arts' Arts in Education program and co-directed the HOT Schools program for 12 years. She has been Associate Director for Program Design since 2012. Amy holds a BA in Child Development and a Masters in Arts Education. Prior to her work with HOT Schools, she worked in museum education at the Boston Children's Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art designing programs for individuals with challenges and families with severely disabled children.

She served as an exhibition assistant and museum liaison for Jim Henson and The Muppets. She was Director of the Albany Institute of History and Art's Harmanus Bleecker Community Arts Center designing integrated arts experiences. Amy's work in arts education focuses on arts integrated program design and implementation and professional development for teachers, teaching artists, parents and administrators. She has been a consultant for museums, schools and arts organizations in arts in education program design, and is an author and visual artist.

Christopher Eaves is the Artistic Director of eavesdrop® and Associate Director for Professional Development for Higher Order Thinking Schools. He has provided arts residencies, professional development and keynote addresses for educational institutions throughout the United States. As a playwright, designer, director, actor and producer he has created over fifteen original theatrical works and has performed throughout the world.

In 2014 Christopher performed BULLSEYE, his theatrical memoir on brotherhood, bullying, identity and intolerance, throughout South Korea with the support of the U.S. Embassy, Seoul. While there he also lectured at Seoul National University of Education and Daegu National University of Education. In 2015–2016 Christopher designed and led a yearlong arts integration initiative for an entire New York school district during which he provided professional development and coaching for 200 educators and arts integrated instruction for 4,000 students in ten elementary and intermediate schools. Christopher is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), the Monacan Indian Nation and the U.S. Department of State Speakers Bureau. He has served on the HOT Schools Summer Institute faculty since 1999.

Kim is the creator of Kimnetics, using creative movements to connect body, mind, spirit and emotions. She designed, implemented and nationally launched the in-school program, Recess Rocks: a creative, dynamic movement program for elementary school children, which brings fun, low-cost, non-competitive exercise and kinesthetic learning into recess, school Celebrations! Active Classrooms, teacher workshops and movement instructor training.

She also designed and implemented the Nutrition and Physical Demonstration Activity for the State of Connecticut Department of Health. She has presented at TEDX, Go Red for Women and several Connecticut colleges. As a Dance Teaching Artist Kim has provided Teacher Artist Collaborations (TACs) in multiple HOT schools.