INSTRUCTORS
Our instructors are professional creators, passionate about their craft and inspired to share their knowledge.
WHITNEY LOCKERT
GUITAR
In addition to being an experienced performer, Whitney has taught private guitar lessons for several years. He believe learning should be fun and involve more than just seeing where to put your fingers and which notes are which on a music staff.
His approach to teaching in groups with varying levels of experience is to find common ground through root chords and similar musical patterns in seemingly disparate songs. By tracing the influences of today’s Top 40 hits back to classic rock and rhythm & blues, Whitney makes his classes accessible, engaging, and fun for everyone.
ANNA STYPKO
PHOTOGRAPHY
Anna is a painter turned filmmaker who graduated with an MFA from NYU .
She's shot two feature films both premiering at Sundance and SXSW, respectively, and directed a bunch of shorts.
Her most recent project is an art collective, oughtknotart.com, where artists get assignments and make things.
Anna is particularly excited to be a part of Recess because she loves meeting new people and helping them showcase their personality through photos.
Her approach to teaching is to try everything.
JIMY SHAH
storytelling
Jimy Shah is a multifaceted storyteller who loves comedy. From directing and producing to writing and performing, she has spanned the gamut of comedic mediums and is always looking for ways to learn and grow her craft.
From her days as an intern at Saturday Night Live and a film major at NYU to producing comedic content for Kevin Hart, The Walt Disney Company, Maker Studios, Super Deluxe and Mashable - she’s cultivated both her own comedic voice and sharpened that of others.
Jimy’s excited to be a part of Recess as she’s looking forward to helping others find the humor in the most serendipitous to the most mundane of their life experiences. Through writing exercises, improv games, and small bursts of public speaking and joke writing, she’ll teach you how to find and shape your own comedic abilities.
No matter the medium, she believes storytelling gives us the opportunity to grow, to build community, and express our most authentic selves. Why? Because everyone’s got a story to tell.