Staff

Domi Adamova

Creator, Artistic Director and Tutor

Domi is a teacher and teacher trainer, who came to Athens two years ago from Prague in the Czech Republic. She was a K-12 teacher for 10 years, then for 5 years she co-directed an international educational theater operating all around Europe teaching English through theater. At the same time, she worked as a program developer, coordinator and tutor organizing innovative educational projects (e.g. summer schools for teachers and international teacher conferences) promoting the practice of intercultural and multicultural learning. Czech Ministry of Education, and British Council supported the projects.
In Athens, she has finished her second masters in school and community counseling. From 2005, she cooperated with ARTS/West producing an interactive educational show Jackie and the Giant, and running different workshops for children enhancing their social skills and self-esteem through theater techniques.
In 2007, at West Elementary School Domi successfully piloted the whole-school anti-bullying program Bully-proof School. She also wrote and directed a musical Jasmine and Juniper involving in the process 120 students of West Elementary School as a special self-esteem, cooperation and team-building skills increasing project with close community involvement.

Chris Crews

Co-founder and Tutor

Chris has been working for the past fifteen years as a community organizer, an environmental educator, and a media creator and producer. He brings a wide range of practical and theoretical experience with him to the APE Center. He has been the Director of rv media for the past ten years and has produced several documentary films, as well as a number of video shorts. He has also worked in the field of environmental advocacy for Ohio forest preservation and restoration. He moonlights as a poet and blogger, and you can occasionally find him behind his turntables as a DJ. Chris has a B.A. In Specialized Studies, with a minor in Classical Civilizations, and an M.A. In Political Theory and Media Studies, both from Ohio University. He was born and raised in Appalachian Ohio, and places a strong value on community and living in harmony with the land.

Heather Irwin

Grant writing Intern

Heather is a graduate student in International Studies and Telecommunications at Ohio University. She has written grant proposals for local community service organizations and for university research projects, with moderate success, and her proposals have won praise from seasoned grant writers for their clarity and sense of purpose.

Tutors

Echo Railton

Professional Artist and Our Logo Designer

Echo Railton has her BFA in painting and worked for the Canadian program Learning through the Arts. She and the elementary class teacher led hands on arts based projects dealing with core curriculum subjects. She paints and exhibits in and around Athens.

Eric Leighton

Professional Musician

Eric has been a musician since he found his father's guitar leaning in the corner at age five. He began choir at seven, began learning the trombone at nine, formed his first jazz band at 14, his first punk rock band at 15 and has continued to perform with various ensembles for more than 30 years; jazz, classical, rock, blues, bluegrass, old-timey, folk, punk rock and even heavy metal. A working musician that performs an average of four gigs a week, Eric, known to many around the country as Junebug, has been working with the Johnny B Foundation since 2000. The JBF, feeling the importance of live music in our communities, is dedicated to ensuring that under funded young musicians are given the opportunities and assistance to develop their skills. In addition to music, Eric is a published poet, a weekly newspaper columnist, an experienced computer/network repair technician, amateur photographer and occasional small farmer. He is in love with the Appalachian region and believes that if we all do that which we are drawn to do in our communities, our communities will thrive.

Art Kopczinski

Visual Artist

Art is a native Ohioan, and graduate of Hocking College in Environmental Art. His major interests are nature and Fine Arts. He taught Environmental Art at Hocking College, and he also has been creating games geared towards strategy and education. Art works as a behavioral specialist at Reach, Tri-County, which is a youth partial hospitalization program for severely emotionally disturbed children. He is a father of four, residing on a small farm in Meigs County, currently involved in developing an environmental art’s center for Meigs county and surrounding areas.

Michelle Crow

Senior choral music education major, with minors in hearing, speech and language sciences and psychology

...and many others