Armelle GLOAGUEN
Founder, Educator, Performer
Team Members
Teachers
Star Rating
Schools
Students
“ZE" Team
Meet the Family That Makes It All Possible!
Paola Loza Bushnell
Spanish Teacher
Hola, my name is Paola Loza Bushnell. I was born and raised in México. I graduated with a degree in Early Education. With over 10 years of teaching experience in USA and México, I have had the opportunity to teach diverse groups of students as part of their formal educational and enrichment curriculum. As a result, I have become proficient in designing stimulating hands-on lesson that cover visual, auditive and kinesthetic areas that keep all the students interested and focused on the new language.
As a former teacher, I have been able to create new and inventive ways for children to learn, such as workbooks, activity manuals, and learning CD-ROMs.. recently I have created online CLUBS such as: EDIBLE CRAFTS, LETS SEW, YOGA for KIDS everything tough in my native language Spanish.
Learning any language requires a commitment from the Students, Instructors and Parents.It is very important to have consistency in the lessons to acquire proficiency in the language.
I look forward to meet your child.
Adétola FAGBÉMI
Marketing Director
AF is the founder of DigitalementElles, a marketing and communication agency dedicated to small businesses and their owners. Adetola has worked with many industries from retail and beauty to financial and real estate companies. Her role has been to develop and to implement the best marketing strategies to stimulate sales and to build the notoriety of her clients.
Her expertise is always welcome at AFK!
Gautam
Animator/Designer
Gautam has been working globally for 14 years as an Animator /Designer and a sketch artist. He has been working with us since February 2020 and we love his talent full of humor! Gautam is from INDIA, is a pet lover, an Environmentalist, a artist painter, AND a Human and Animal Rights activist! All values AFK stands for without equivoque.
Claudia Lowry
Administrator
Claudia Lowry joined the AFK family in 2023, bringing her exceptional organizational skills and bright energy to our administration department. Since her arrival, Claudia has become an indispensable part of our team, streamlining processes with efficiency and a smile that lights up any room. Originally hailing from the Cape Town, South Africa, Claudia’s passion for community building and her commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace align perfectly with the core values AFK holds dear. Beyond her professional prowess, Claudia loves learning, technology and traveling.
Her efficient systems management is valued at AFK!
Tany SAPIONE
Spanish Teacher
Born in Lima, Peru, Tany studied assistant teaching in “Las Cazuarinas” school, where she worked as a Kindergarden assistant.
Full of energy, Tany is a happy and interactive bilingual spanish teacher who brings to her students the eagerness to learn a new language while having a tremendous amount of fun. She plays the autoharp and thrives to grow her repertoire in English and Spanish.
Tany moved to the US 10 years ago and lives in Port Chester, NY with her husband and two children.
bénédicte GLOAGUEN
Graphic/Webdesigner - Artistic director
Benedicte is the one and only behind all Armelle’s CD covers, posters, brochures and the new logo! She also painted a gorgeous 15′ x15′ backdrop for Armelle’s Language Studio’s yearly multilingual presentation, full of colors, forest, smurf house, castle and river. She has created art work and websites for many private companies and non-profit organizations, she has a heart of gold!
Benedicte graduated at the Ecole Pivaut Supérieure Technique Privée d’Arts Appliqués, Nantes, France. She lives in France.
Matthew BAUER
The "Rhythmaniac" Percussionist and vocalist!
Since getting started with music at age 9, Matthew’s musical credo has been ‘maniacal about rhythms’ and is now owner/creator of Rhythmaniacs!
Originally a native of Central New York, he has relocated to Westchester County after attending the Music Conservatory at Purchase College.
Maria C. Lima
Web Developer
Maria is an esteemed and celebrated independent web developer based in New York City. Her design and development work shows tremendous passion and insight, which she brings to all of her clients and projects with love, professionalism, and an esteemed work ethic admired by all who partner with Maria.
Lorena Galliot
"Learn French Through Music" Teacher
Lorena Galliot is a natively trilingual journalist, producer and educator who came to New York from Paris, France in 2011. A longtime producer of the Duolingo French podcast, she loves helping kids learn her native language through stories, music and games. She lives in Tarrytown, NY with her husband and their 3-year-old daughter Anaïs, who reminds her every day to find the joy in small things.
Ericka REYES
"LEARN SPANISH THROUGH MUSIC" TEACHER
Ericka studied teaching primary schools in Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala, and holds her NYS Teaching Certificate. She has worked with AFK since 2003, first at Armelle’s Language Studio in NY. She is as much part of the family as she is part of “ZE” team!
She is an amazingly versatile, engaging and committed teacher. Her students love her creativity and clarity in her way of teaching!
Ericka moved to the US 25 years ago and lives in New Rochelle, NY with her three sons.
Émilie Samson
Music and Learn French Through Music Teacher
Émilie holds a Master’s degree in jazz voice from Manhattan School of Music, and she’s been teaching voice and piano for over ten years. She is passionate about pedagogy and knows how to teach every level and age!
With her Rock Your World Kids® training and Kindermusik license, she has taught babies to retirees, working with complete beginners to undergraduate level students. She is bilingual and is trained in teaching the Learn French Through Music® technique.
She can also teach beginner ukulele and guitar, which is perfect for voice students who want to learn how to accompany themselves.
While Émilie specializes in jazz voice, she also teaches many other styles including pop and musical theater. On piano, she teaches intermediate classical, jazz and pop, with a focus on how to accompany yourself as a singer. She is leading her own studio in New York City.
Nina OSSOFF
World Music Instructor
Over the past twenty years, Nina has taught music and musical composition to students ranging in ages from pre-school to college, at institutions that include the Home School/Camp Mohawk in White Plains, NY, the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sleepy Hollow High School (grant program educator),
New York University and Montclair State University (guest lecturer), and Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY (guest educator at her alma mater, from which she earned a BA in Music in 1980). She is especially adept at engendering enthusiasm in students for musical composition, encouraging them to use their life and school experience (including classroom learning) to guide their lyrical and musical development.
We are honored to have Nina on board! Her energy, open mind and knowledge of world music is a wonderful addition to our enrichment Rock Your World Kids music program!!
Nina lives and works in the greater New York City area, with an office and home in Briarcliff Manor, NY.
Yasmina EDWARDS
Business Development Director
Yasmina Edwards is the Founder of Edwards Global Management, NY (EGM NY), a talent management company that provides a safe platform for its clients by allowing them to freely create their art.
Fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Yoruba, Edwards is acutely aware of the unique value which intercultural communication brings to the table. By amassing a roster of international clients among whom are writers, musicians, film directors, and actors, EGM NY champions the growth of underground artists. Due to her focus on multimedia projects, Edwards provides her talents with a visionary platform to share their stories with the global community. Yasmina travels between New York, Paris, and Lagos.
Brian Carter
Jazz Percussionist
Brian Carter is a seventh generation New Rochellean. His great, great, great, grandfather William Henry Carter escaped slavery in VA, in the 1830’s. The Trinity Church established, by the French Huguenots, was his destination. W.H. Carter is in the 1840 census as a free man.
Probably the only reason you haven’t heard of professional drummer Brian Carter until now, is that he’s busy creating an international music exchange, a jazz exchange program between La Rochelle, France and his native New Rochelle. He is currently working on the New Rochelle Jazz Festival, Jazz in July. When not playing drums the multi-talented Carter owns his own, BMC Productions Mortgage Co. and is a dedicated educator. Brian Currently teaches private students in Westchester. A Recital is performed annually at the Ossie Davis Theater, in the New Rochelle Public Library. Carter believes in the Thomas Edison adage, “Talent is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.”
Carter, is a Jazz/Comp.Theory music major from both SUNY New Paltz College, SUNY Purchase Music Conservatory with Jon Faddis, Richie Morales, and the esteemed Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY, where he studied with jazz luminaries, Jack Dejohnette, Dave Holland, Dewey Redman, Miroslav Vitous, Charlie Haden, Karl Berger, and the late greats, Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry. Carter has performed with Bernie Williams, Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Horacio”El Negro” Hernandez, Danny and Wilfredo Reyes, and Westchester luminaries, Tony Cimerossi and Gil Parris. In addition to leading his own Brian Carter Quartet, Which has included, Kevin Hill, Ken Gioffrey, Gregg Feline, Bob Baldwin, and Regan Whiteside, Bill White, and Alan Bates. Brian is music staple in the Westchester County area as a sideman and session drummer for premier area studios.
His commitment to education can be summed up in his own philosophy: “Cultivate the talents in every child, and they will shine.” In addition to his busy private teaching practice, running BMC Productions Mortgage Co., Carter has created the “Kids for Drums” after school program, which allows young drummers to learn technical rudimental techniques at a young age. Leading to advanced comprehension of hand techniques required to play in drum lines. This successful program has been run in Westchester elementary schools like Central School in Larchmont, Mamaroneck Ave. School, Chatsworth Ave. School, and at the Groove Academy. Brian is also the Director of The Westchester Rocks Music Camp, a successful musical program in the Westchester County. The camp is a summer-based program which teaches kids not only drums, but guitar, bass and keyboards, and requires them to give a musical performance at the end of each week. This brings out the various skills young musicians possess like choosing a particular song for performance, or downloading lyrics. This is teaching the value of working together for common goals, something we all need to learn how to do better.
Through all these endeavors, businesses, and Community activities, Brian has become a fixture in lower Westchester.