Christie Kahil has spent 25 years involved in the arts and education. After graduating from UNCC with a degree in Theatre and English with a minor in Art, she envisioned a long career as a costume designer and director. However, after her first child was born with significant learning disabilities, she went back to school to study education, and began to experiment with the connection between the arts and learning. After more than a decade working in education as a teacher and developing arts integration curricula for K-12 classrooms, Christie is a passionate advocate for the power of the arts to change the lives of young people. For the past two years, Christie has been a program coordinator- first for ArtsTeach and now the Arts & Science Council- managing the ArtStart program, an arts integration artist residency program operating in CMS elementary schools. She is also an adjudicator for the NCTC Regional Play Festival, a member of MTA and coordinator for the annual MTA Unified Auditions, and active in several local arts organizations. Currently she is pursuing an MA in Liberal Studies at UNCG.