2026 Talent Show!Special EventIn-Person

Elizabeth Acerra is an English and ENL teacher currently working as the assistant principal of Language and Arts at ATLAS High School in LIC, Queens. Born and raised in NYC, she has lived and worked in every borough except the Bronx. She helps teachers help kids to love books, language, music, art, and theatre. She is an avid reader, part-time semi-professional karaoke and shower singer, wife and mother, and lifelong learner.

Fred Arcoleo has spent close to 40 years as an urban educator and community organizer, working on the front lines of local and global struggles that have deeply shaped his songwriting. He writes songs and poems that reveal the contradictions between appearance and reality, channeling anger over social conditions into creative work. He has released three albums, one of which reached no. 7 on the National Folk Music charts.

Yoseli Castillo Fuertes is a bilingual Afro-Dominican lesbian poet, educator, activist, and mom. A Cave Canem alum, her work has been featured in anthologies across New York, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Santo Domingo. Yoseli is the author of De eso sí se habla / Of That, I Speak (2012) and coeditor of the anthology Pájaros, lesbianas y queers, ¡a volar! (2025). She is dedicated to creating spaces that uplift queer, immigrant, and Afro-Caribbean voices.

Groupwork is Ashraya Gupta and Mary Ann Keeler: teachers by day, synth-pop duo by night.

Emily Moore has taught English to over 200 amazing NYC public high school students per year since 2001. She is the author of the chapbook Shuffle (Paper Nautilus Press), an amateur ukulele songwriter, and the creator of @OutcomeOngoing, an Instagram cartoon about the hilarious subject of pandemic breast cancer.

Craig Roberts is a New York–based writer and educator. Throughout his career, Craig has found great joy in introducing his students to the works of Shakespeare. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he earned his BFA in Acting from Ithaca College and his master’s degrees from Mercy College and Baruch College. As a performer, Craig has appeared in a wide range of productions, from The All Night Strut to The Laramie Project. He now enjoys traveling the country performing in History Time Henry, an interactive musical that brings American history to life for schoolchildren.

16th Street Band is a group of teachers and former students who play together in the city from time to time, performing 1970s and 1980s cover tunes.

Terrecia Williams is a 19-year teacher from the Bronx who is just as passionate about the creative arts as she is about teaching precolonial African kingdoms. A recent graduate of AMDA (The American Musical and Dramatic Academy), she hopes to become a Broadway performer. She also loves trivia, spoken word, and tap dance. Watch out, world—Teacher Life: The Musical is on its way!