Meet Your TimeSlips Certified Trainers

July 8, 2022

Images above (alphabetical by Last Name) Left to right:
Top row: Nephelie Andonyadis, Sam Goodrich, Kathy Hawkins, Sarah Jacobus, Rob Knapp
Bottom row: Jackie Kostichka, Elaine Maly, Andrew Morton, Liz Nichols and Michael Snowden

TimeSlips is excited to welcome our newest trainers and introduce you to the entire crew of Certified Trainers on our team! These are the faces of TimeSlips offering expert coaching support in a diverse group of individuals with innovative creative engagement practices. With more than 100 years’ experience in facilitation combined, their education and expertise, aside from their artistry, is impressive. We invite you to learn about them and, in the true spirit of TimeSlips, send them a Beautiful Question to info@timeslips.org and in the subject line write, “Beautiful Question to _____” and insert  the trainer’s name. We’d love for you to introduce yourself!

Meet your Certified Trainers!

Nephelie Andonyadis 

A theater artist and educator, gerontologist, and a Certified TimeSlips Facilitator, Nephelie works at the intersection of community, arts and policy to help change the culture of care and care systems for all older adults. With a long-time practice in community-engaged art-making as an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company, Nephelie brings twenty-five years of university experience (in the classroom and in leadership) and her artistic practice into conversation with health care economics and policy to help transform the lives of older adults. With an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and an M.S. in Aging and Health from Georgetown University, Nephelie works in the space of creative aging to empower and advocate for older adults.

Beautiful Question: What draws you to working with elders?
One of the reasons I am drawn to work with elders is the ways in which I witness the impact of the arts on my own parents’ aging. In the last years of my mother’s life, her relationships were transformed through her discovery in the joy of painting, both as a beautiful, personal creative expression and as a way to create a new identity for herself as an artist, even as she forgot the details of her life before. When I work with older adults who are living with memory loss and dementia, I am constantly reminded of the essential need to be in relationship with others as we are now, in the present moment.

To learn more about Nephelie, visit: https://www.nepheliemaria.com/

Sam Goodrich

Sam oversees various TimeSlips projects such as Tele-Stories, connecting artists with under-connected elders via phone, and Stage Right, a project in which seniors with dementia create and perform in their own original musicals. With a performance background and a personal connection to working with those with memory loss, Sam hopes to bring light to the benefits that creativity can have on a person with memory loss, as well as the relief it can bring to loved ones and care partners.

Beautiful Question: What is a meaningful lesson you’ve learned from someone older than you?
My Aunt, Eleanor Austin Guilbert has been writing her whole life, mostly haikus and short stories. Both her and my dad were/are great writers and storytellers. Her entire life she’s wanted to get something published so her work could be shared beyond family and friends. This spring, I was visiting with her when she got a call that a medical literary journal wanted to publish one of her stories! At 97 she made one of her life goals a reality. Her hard work and determination are endlessly inspiring to me. Never give up, no matter how long it may take!

To learn more about Sam, visit: https://www.timeslips.org/from-the-desk-of-sam-goodrich/

Kathy Hawkins

Kathy has been a TimeSlips Facilitator for 16 years and is a Board-Certified Music Therapist. Her areas of expertise include intergenerational programming, creativity and aging and dementia care. She is a sought-after conference presenter and lecturer who worked at Heather Hill as the staff Music Therapist/Internship Director/Supervisor for 10 years.

BQ: What has been one of your favorite experiences with TimeSlips?
I trained rostered artists and enrichment staff at six Veterans’ homes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2017-2020) after leaving the hospital position to concentrate on community-based program start-ups. Staff noted residents who attended that “never came to anything we offer” and several had a line outside prior to their groups. It was a reminder that my joy in advocating for those whose voices aren’t often acknowledged (youth, activities/allied health/artist professionals, nursing assistants, individuals with cognitive differences) was still needed and stronger than ever.

To learn more about Kathy’s work, visit: https://www.timeslips.org/from-the-desk-of-kathy-hawkins/

Sarah Jacobus, LCSW, MFA

Sarah is a Los Angeles-based social worker and teaching artist in creative storytelling and literary arts for older adults, with extensive experience working with people with memory loss. She has been a TimeSlips Certified Facilitator since 2014, with groups in residential care communities, day programs, and senior centers. As a Certified TimeSlips Trainer, Sarah coaches an international roster of trainees through the certification process. She is a facilitator of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project model and leads storytelling and creative writing classes through EngAGE, a non-profit that provides arts programming in senior housing. She is also a trainer with Lifetime Arts, co-leading arts education trainings for individual teaching artists and organizations hoping to expand arts programming for older adults.

BQ: What has been one of your favorite experiences with TimeSlips?
One of my favorite experiences using TimeSlips was the creation of a readers theatre play called “Ladies Choice” with my TimeSlips group at the Freda Mohr Senior Center. We used the setting and characters from a TImeSlips story the group had created as a jumping off place for a series of pair improvisations that fleshed out the details of the plot and provided the foundation for a written script. Our improv sessions were the highlight of the process, inspiring much hilarity. We presented “Ladies Choice” at a Hanukkah party attended by around 100 elders and later recorded it as a podcast. 

To learn more about Sarah, visit her website: www.sarahjacobus.com

Rob Knapp

Rob is a singer, songwriter and producer based out of Milwaukee. He graduated from UW-Milwaukee with his Bachelor of Fine arts in acting in 2016. Since graduation, Rob has focused on expanding his music career and has been a staple artist in the local scene ever since. He specializes in audio editing, poetry and creating original content using words and music. Rob started working with Timeslips in 2020 as a Tele-Stories artist and enjoys his continued connection with the community through creativity.

BQ: What is one of your favorite experiences with TimeSlips so far?
My favorite project that I have worked on so far was the MKE Always Home project. It was special to me because we were able to capture the elders’ responses exactly as they were given and use that as the inspiration. We also got to represent the city of Milwaukee in a unified and beautiful way. These elements helped give the project a personal touch of connectivity that I believe is at the core of our work at Timeslips. 

Jackie Kostichka

Jackie received her undergraduate degrees in Dance and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and her Masters in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. She first trained in TimeSlips in 2015 and has been involved in creative aging in many ways. She taught Folkloric Mexican Dance at the UCC Senior Center, has been a facilitator for Stage Right Theatre, was a Student Artist in Residence (SAIR) at Milwaukee Catholic Home, choreographed and performed a piece called “Moving Images” based on TimeSlips stories, interned at St. Ignatius Nursing and Rehab in Philadelphia, PA, as a dance/movement therapist from 2018-2019, and worked as a Life Enrichment Director at a skilled nursing facility in Port Washington, WI, from 2021-2022. She has also been a Community Engaged Artist for TimeSlips’s Tele-Stories in 2021 and 2022. Jackie loves to use music, movement, and person-centered care to help promote creative expression within her groups. 

BQ: What is one of your favorite experiences with TimeSlips so far?
One of my favorite projects was performing at the Alzheimer’s Association Convention in 2017 when Anne Basting was the keynote speaker. We performed a dance piece based on a TimeSlips story and then led an experiential activity with about 1,000 people in a room on how to add movement to stories. It was amazing to see the whole crowd engage and have fun in the movement experience!

Elaine Maly

An award-winning essayist and storyteller, Elaine is also recognized as a social innovator for her nonprofit leadership, including several positions with TimeSlips. She is particularly passionate about intergenerational projects with under-resourced communities.  She is a weekly guest at a local adult day center where every TimeSlips session ends in an energetic dance party.  

BQ: What was one of your favorite projects/experiences using TimeSlips?
Super Heroes! It was an experiment with a new group at an adult day center. I just wanted to ask the Beautiful Question “If you could have a super power, what would it be?”  Their responses were completely unexpected.  Instead of the usual super powers (flying, ex ray vision, super strength, etc.), this group came up with superpowers that would help one another—energy to help people complete their tasks, protective graffiti to keep everyone safe, party planning to keep everyone happy, the power of prayer to help people make good choices, and super smarts to invent things like robot legs. 

They also determined immediately that they would all need to work together as a team. It turned into a more than year long project that culminated in a book called “The Righteous League.”

If I had a superpower, I would be “Super Grandma” who brings cookies and hugs to comfort lonely children all over the world.  

Andrew Morton

Andrew is an award-winning playwright and theatre maker who creates socially engaged theatre with and for vulnerable populations. His work has been produced across Michigan, the United States, and internationally. Originally from England, Andrew holds a Master of Arts in Community Arts from Goldsmiths College, the University of London. He is currently based in Detroit, where he works as a teaching artist and facilitator with a variety of social service and arts organizations and was recently named a 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow. Andrew’s next project, Sofa Stories, created with young people who have experienced homelessness will premiere in multiple spaces in Detroit in 2021.

BQ: What was one of your favorite projects/experiences using TimeSlips?
Earlier this year, I supported the first phase of our Tele-Stories project in Western New York. We trained four community-engaged artists in TimeSlips techniques, and then matched them with isolated older adults in the greater Buffalo area. Over eight weeks, the artists led their “tele-buddies” in creative conversations over the phone, and at the end of the project, they each created an artistic gift inspired by their conversations. We were lucky to find a great group of artists to work with, and my weekly meetings with them were always a highlight of my working week.

To learn more about Andrew, visit: https://www.timeslips.org/from-the-desk-of-andrew-morton/

Liz Nichols

A native of New York City, Liz has an eclectic background in education and communication, and strives to bring “the power of fun” – the value of play and creative expression – to folks at every stage of life. In addition to being a Certified TimeSlips Trainer, Liz is a professional storyteller and Certified Laughter Yoga Leader. She is the former Director of Storytelling at Stagebridge, a vibrant community where all lifelong learners are celebrated and enriched through the performing arts. Liz has studied, lived and worked in Asia, and for 25 years has enjoyed bringing fun, cultural understanding and art appreciation to school groups as a volunteer in the Storyteller Program of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Liz loves movies, skiing, and especially waterfalls. Liz earned a BA from Brown University, MA from Stanford University, and Elementary Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University.

BQ: What was one of your favorite projects/experiences using TimeSlips?
As a Certified Facilitator, I’ve loved using TimeSlips at memory cafes and with other care pairs – it’s so great when care partners discover how creative and engaged their loved one can be in the moment, when we slow down, play together, and “we can say whatever we want”. As a Certified Trainer, it was especially gratifying to see how one of our Creative Care Community’s bilingual staff adapted TimeSlips to spark more conversation and connections among their adult day program’s Spanish and English-speaking attendees.

To learn more about Liz, visit: www.liznichols.net

Michael Snowden

Michael is a storyteller who uses multiple media of artistic expression to create experience. He is also the executive director of Evelyn’s Angel, working closely with family caring for loved ones with Alzheimers and Dementia utilizing his 10+ years of experience as a caregiver.

Beautiful Question: What is a meaningful lesson you’ve learned from someone older than you?
One lesson I learned from someone older than me is to enjoy and be patient with life. Always choose what makes you happy!