We have a highly talented, experienced, and enthusiastic team of teachers — all specialists in various fields, with several senior counselors to assist them — who are working to create a fun, thematically integrated experience for everyone. Let us introduce them to you.
- Nehad Khader: Arabic and Dance
Nehad, a Palestinian-American, is a graduate of Temple University’s sociology and English departments. She is a native Arabic speaker, having studied Arabic in elementary school in Iraq and later with her mother who is an Arabic teacher. She also completed the highest level of Arabic offered at the University of Jordan. She has been performing debkeh, Palestinian folk dance, for eight years at numerous venues including Villanova University, Temple University, community festivals, and private functions; and enjoys choreographing and training other dancers. She led a local debkeh troup Maseera that collaborated in dance performances with Al-Bustan’s Percussion Ensemble. Nehad is also a staff member of Al-Bustan, working as education program coordinator since fall 2007.- Leila Buck: Storytelling/Drama
Leila, a Lebanese-American, is a storyteller, performer and teaching artist based in New York City. She is the Artistic Director of Nisaa Arab American Women’s Collective, member/former Education Director of Nibras Arab American Theater Collective, an artist with NY Theatre Workshop, and a writer and performer for the NY Arab-American Comedy Festival. She has performed her award-winning show, ISite, and her recent show, In the Crossing, at various universities, high schools and cultural centers in the US and abroad. Leila has a B.A. in Theater from Wesleyan University and a M.A from NYU in drama for education about the Arab world. Leila was a teaching artist with Creative Arts Team for five years in NYC, where she also led workshops and summer programs at several Arab American community centers. In spring 2007, Leila taught Al-Bustan’s dramatic storytelling weekend workshops, and is returning for second year of teaching storytelling and drama to children and teenagers at Al-Bustan Camp.- Joseph Tayoun: Music
Joseph, a Lebanese-American, is a music teacher, an accomplished Middle Eastern percussionist, and a certified elementary education teacher in New Jersey. He has taught music at a number of secondary schools in Philadelphia and New Jersey. His MidEast Ensemble offers a series of educational and performance programs for schools, universities and cultural centers. He has participated in several residencies with Zakir Hussain and with Simon Shaheen at Swarthmore University and at The Painted Bride Art Center. He collaborates with various Philadelphia musicians, incorporating a wide range of styles and techniques of Middle Eastern music. He leads Al-Bustan’s music instruction program including Al-Bustan Percussion Ensemble, weekend apprenticeship group, and at several public schools: Moffet, Feltonville, and Penn Alexander. Joe has been teaching at Al-Bustan Camp since its launch in 2002.- Rachel Bliss: Art
Rachel is a visual artist whose work has been exhibited in twelve solo shows and numerous group shows in galleries and museums, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Society of Illustrators’ Museum in New York, Rider University, Coombs Contemporary Gallery in London, and Alternative Museum in New York. Her work has been reproduced in publications such as The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Village Voice, and Penguin Books. Rachel has taught/lectured at the Philadelphia College of the Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, and Village of Arts and Humanities. She was artist-in-residence for three years at Greenfield Elementary Public School working with students in grades K-8. In fall 2006 she co-taught Al-Bustan’s art and story writing workshops, and in spring 2008 taught a series of after-school workshops at Moffet Elementary School. This is her second year teaching at Al-Bustan Camp.- Nora Hildenbrand: Nature
Nora is a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia. After receiving a B.A. in art history from Boston University, she worked as an assistant second grade teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana and then as an after-school program supervisor for a K-6 program in Syracuse, New York. She received her M.S. Ed. and state certification in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania and also became certified to teach middle school science. Nora spent twelve summers as a camper and then counselor at a nature camp in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. - Dahna Abourahme: Video
Dahna is a filmmaker who grew up in Abu Dhabi and Amman and now works between Beirut and New York City. She received her MA in Media Studies at the New School of Social Research in New York. She teaches video to youth and has been involved in several community art projects in the U.S. and in the Middle East. Her credits include sound recording for 500 Dunam on the Moon and like twenty impossibles. Her first feature documentary, until when… follows four Palestinian families living in a refugee camp near Bethlehem, Palestine. She is returning for the fourth year this summer to work with Al-Bustan Camp teenagers, teaching video-making skills and using video as a medium to explore culture and identity.- Sally Bonet: Camp Manager and Poetry/Identity
Sally, an Egyptian-American, is an educator with several years of experience teaching young children in both Egypt and the U.S. She grew up in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the U.S., but she considers Cairo her hometown. She obtained her Bachelors degree in Psychology from UCLA and completed her Masters of Science in Education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She was an elementary teacher at the Great Valley School District the past two years. She also has experience singing in Arabic and is working with her musical band on recording their fourth CD release. Sally is a native Arabic speaker in both the Sudanese and Egyptian dialects. She taught Arabic at Al-Bustan Camp in 2006 and is returning this summer as Camp Manager. She will also be working with the young campers exploring aspects of their identity through poetry. - Thea Abu El-Haj: Education Research & Evaluation/Video
Thea, a Palestinian-American, is an educational researcher and teacher educator, and currently a faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She grew up in Iran and Lebanon, lived in Egypt and has spent extensive time with her family in Palestine. She began her career in the field of education developing cross-cultural curriculum and then working as an elementary school teacher for many years. Since receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania in the anthropology of education, she has been researching, writing and teaching about socio-cultural processes and education. She has a particular interest in conducting collaborative research with educators to document and evaluate programs. She is returning for the second year this summer co-teaching with Dahna Abourahme, exploring aspects of teenagers’ culture and identity through the medium of video.
