ADULT PROGRAMS - Needham Public Schools

INSTRUCTOR BIOS
in the greater Boston area. His website www.musingsonthevine.com
aims to share his passion about wine,
strip away the mysteries surrounding wine, and provide
a resource for those “who just want to be able to buy a
decent wine to drink with dinner tonight”.
VALERY MARCANTONIO, a graduate of the St. Louis
Conservatory, is a tap/jazz dance teacher, choreographer,
and performer. She has taught in various area
neighborhood, college, and school settings, including
Newton Recreation Department, Emerson College,
Belmont Day School, and Studio Ten Tap. Her
professional credits include Marcantonio’s Tap/Jazz
Collective, Patrice Monahan ShufflinTime, and Mystic
Chorale/Tremont Temple-Boston.
NICOLE MASON has a BA in English from The College
of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. She taught English
in Acadia Middle School in Clifton Park, N.Y., and
helped design an ELA exam preparation program
there before moving to Boston. She teaches English
at Needham High School, and has taught SAT Prep
classes for Needham Community Education since the
fall of 2008.
TOM MATZELL is a semi-retired Boston television and
advertising executive who has successfully sold four
homes without a broker, saving almost $90,000. He
has also completed training to be a real estate agent.
With a BA in Theatre and Communications, and 40
plus years experience as a performer and marketing
guru, Tom is right at home in front of a class willing to
learn something new and have fun doing it.
CATHY MERLO is the Associate Director and Advisor
for Evening & Fast Track students at the F.W. Olin
Graduate School of Business at Babson College,
providing career counseling for the evening and executive
MBA students at the graduate school. In addition
to being a career adviser, Cathy also develops courses
and teaches classes, both online and in the classroom
on a wide variety of subjects including social media.
CHRISTINE MIRABILE loves French! From her first
French class at eight years old, she fell in love with
the language and continues to study it. While living
in Brussels with her family, she had the opportunity
to speak French everyday and to travel extensively in
Europe. She is a graduate of Boston College and Tufts
University and taught French in the Needham Schools
for nine years. She is a member of the American Association
of Teachers of French and the French Cultural
Center of Boston.
ZEHARA NACHASH is a New England area belly
dancer and Boston’s premier snake dancer. She performs
throughout the New England area, and teaches
belly dance classes, fire-eating lessons, and snake
dance workshops throughout the area. For more information
visit: www.zehara.com
JOANNE NEALE is the owner of Needham-based
Garden Mentor, a consulting service for the homeowner,
providing education (plant identification and
care information), garden design (from plant lists to
landscape plans), and personal plant shopping, all with
an emphasis on low maintenance and environmental
responsibility.
CAROL OBERLE is a Certified Yoga Instructor who
has been practicing yoga for more than a dozen years.
She has been teaching yoga to adults in various local
settings for many years.
DIANA PARKHURST has a BS in Physical Education
and a MS in Teaching and Administration, both from
Springfield College. She has been a member of the
Needham High School Physical Education & Wellness
department since 2005, and before that taught physical
education at Newman Elementary School. She
received the 2009 Massachusetts Secondary Teacher
of the Year for Physical Education. Diana is also the
head coach for the NHS Boys Rugby Club, head coach
for the Northeastern Women’s Rugby Club, and serves
as coach, player, and captain of the Boston Women’s
Rugby Club.
BOB PONTE received a degree in Music Education/
Piano from the New England Conservatory of Music,
and has taught music in public schools and tutored
students privately for over 25 years. He is recently
retired from the Cambridge Public Schools where he
taught and/or developed a wide array of courses for
4th through 12th grade. In addition to providing piano
instruction for Cambridge students, Bob assumed
many other roles, including Orchestra Director, Concert
Band Director, and Jazz Ensemble Director. View
more details at www.pianoplus-fatcow.net
FAX: 781-455-0417 • PHONE: 781-455-0400 x235 37