Brandon is the K-12 Music and Theatre Arts Consultant. He has over 10 years of experience as a music teacher, having taught general music and high school chorus, run an after school strings program, and coached marching bands and drumlines. Brandon holds an M.A. in Curriculum Specialist, and a B.S. in Biochemistry.

Sayward Grindley is thrilled to be joining NCDPI as the Dance and Visual Arts Consultant. Teaching future dance educators and performers, Sayward has been on the Dance Faculty at Elon University, Meredith College, East Carolina University, and Appalachian State University. Sayward held Education and Management positions with Carolina Ballet and Sarasota Ballet, where she created curriculum materials and arts integration workshops for educators, also based on state standards, and she also danced professionally with Sarasota Contemporary Dance. Sayward holds an MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University-White Oak and a dual BFA in Dance Performance and Dance Education with K-12 certification from East Carolina University. Sayward is also a mother of three and is a visual artist.

Sharon is the Arts in Education Director at the North Carolina Arts Council.

Zoe is the Folklife Director at the North Carolina Arts Council.

Carly is the Senior Program Director at the North Carolina Arts Council.

Justyn is a K-12 Social Studies Consultant at the Department of Public Instruction

Jill Taylor is the Manager of School and Teacher Programs at the North Carolina Museum of Art. She earned a B. A. in Art History and English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master's degree in English from North Carolina State University with a project comparing art and writing as forms of communication. During her tenure at NCMA, she has managed arts-integration teacher programs and fellowships, written instructional resources, and helped develop NCMALearn (www.learn.ncartmuseum.org), the Museum’s award-winning teacher resource website.

Harrell received her associate of arts degree from Peace College and her BFA and MAEd from East Carolina University. After 13 years of teaching middle and high school art, she began a position at the NCMA in 2010 to develop teen and college programs. In her role as coordinator of teen and college programs, Harrell explore topics related to her master’s thesis, “Interactive Technology as a Tool for Student Centered Learning in the Art Classroom.” She is now the Director of Education at the NC Museum of Art. Harrell has established programs for college students, including juried exhibitions and a student-run college arts council.