Board of Trustees
Morgan Pohl
Board Member
Morgan has been involved with AECT since Aesop Says in 2006. She has earned a Master badge in Costumes and was last seen as Toad in The Wind in the Willows in 2015. Morgan is presently a junior at Michigan State University double majoring in Theatre and Women’s & Gender Studies and double minoring in Mathematics and LGBTQ & Sexuality Studies. Morgan has been serving on the AECT board since 2014 and runs the website.
Katie Brewer
Board President
I joined the AECT family in 2011. Both of my daughters have loved every minute with AECT on and off stage. After seeing all of the wonderful growth and character development my children gained through their experience with AECT I knew volunteering my time on the AECT board would be well worth it. I received a B.A in Psychology from Central Michigan University and a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University. After many years of social work I now focus my time on Making the World a Better Place by volunteering my time at All-of-us Express, the Laingsburg High School Drama Boosters, the Laingsburg Girl Scouts, advocating for animals and helping with my family real estate business.
Shelby Brewer
Youth Board Member, Current Participant
Shelby is a senior at Laingsburg High School. She came to AECT in 2011 and has enjoyed many roles on stage but is currently loving her role as director. In her free time she enjoys reading, watching movies and hanging out with AECT.
Andy Callis
Andy Callis holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Chicago’s Roosevelt University, and a B.S. in Communication and Theatre Arts from Eastern Michigan University. He was the founding Artistic Director of Shaw Chicago, earning “Critics Choices” from the Chicago Reader for The Doctor’s Dilemma, The Apple Cart, Back to Methuselah (abridged), Misalliance, The Black Girl in Search of God, and The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles. He directed Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Village Wooing at Roosevelt University, and was a musician in the Belinda Bremner’s ACTF award winning Mrs. Coney by which went to the Kennedy Center. At Lansing Community College, Andy has directed Androcles and the Lion, The Conference of the Birds (ACTF merit recognition for Ensemble), Spoon River Anthology, Dark of the Moon, The Grapes of Wrath, All’s Well that Ends Well, Endgame (Pulsar nomination Director), Six Degrees of Separation (Pulsar nomination Best Play), and A View from the Bridge (ACTF merit recognition for Directing). A multi-instrumentalist, Andy has also been Music Director for Footsteps Theatre’s Free To Be You And Me, and Lansing Community College’s How To Eat Like A Child and Lysistrata 2411 A.D. He performed as Grandpa in You Can’t Take It With You at M.S.U., as Burl and Mr. Webb in Lansing Community College’s Smoke on the Mountain and Our Town respectively. Andy performs with various Lansing bands on keyboards and accordion regularly. He has three daughters and is very proud of them all.
Sara Frank-Hepfer
Board Member
I am a graduate of the National Shakespeare Conservatory as well as the College of Financial Planning. I have worked as an actor, a youth job developer and a financial advisor. Presently I am Vice President at Financial Technology, Inc. I have served on several boards including the East Lansing Zonta Club, the Lansing Derby Vixens and currently Fenner Nature Center. My diverse background has allowed me to gain many skills that will be useful as a board member of All-of-Us Children’s Theater.
Cynthia Wright-Pratt
Board Secretary
As of Fall 2016, Cynthia has costumed 25 shows for All-of-us Express. Starting in 2013, Cynthia was elected to the All-of-us Express board and is currently Treasurer and chair of the Nominating Committee. As a board member, Cynthia is working toward strengthening and ensuring the future of All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre.
Cynthia has a masters degree from Michigan State University in rehabilitation counseling and has worked for the State of Michigan since 1993 as a consultant for Michigan Rehabilitation Services.
Adrienne Yates
Vice President
Growing up in Elkhart, Indiana, Adrienne developed an appreciation for the arts, playing the French horn, singing, and performing on stage in musicals. Her passion to engage and excite children in the arts was evident throughout her 13 years teaching and 3+ years administrating experience in education. She spent two years teaching in Germany, experiencing 17 countries and their beautiful cultures, works of art and theaters. Arts Appreciation and Arts Integration are programs Adrienne supports being utilized in schools and in the classroom as early as possible, through classes or clubs, art shows and showcases. With these programs being removed at an alarming rate, programs like AECT are that much more important for our communities today. Adrienne’s three children live in Laingsburg, and look forward to many years of enjoying the programs AECT has to offer.
Shannon Bowen
Board Member
Raised in New Mexico, where I attended undergrad and graduate school at Eastern New Mexico University, I became a high school drama teacher at my previous high school. I developed a theatre arts program (grades 9-12) from scratch, abiding by the standards and benchmarks of State of New Mexico, leading a successful and thriving theatre arts program for two years.
Relocating to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles, I found my passion working in retail management, and through this path, reunited with my life’s goal of continuing theatre education. I taught acting for film and television at The Playground, a children’s conservatory in Los Angeles (Gary Spatz- Director). After two years, I moved to Lansing with my (then boyfriend) husband, Blake Bowen. We married in 2013 and welcomed our son, Keaton, at the end of 2014.
I am an active member of the Lansing theatre community, having appeared in shows at Peppermint Creek, Riverwalk, and Over the Ledge Theatre Companies. I will be directing for Riverwalk in 2017 and have recently been accepted to participate in the play selection committee at Riverwalk.
Dayna Smith
Board Member
Having always had a penchant for the arts Dayna learned to play the piano at an early age and was involved in several theater productions as well as the glee club during her tenure in high school .
A born and bred Mid- Michigan local Dayna first came to know about ACET during the late 2000’s when her then single digit daughters were involved in a spring production.
Dayna attended Wayne State University and currently works as Regional Director of Business Development for Aloette Cosmetics . She is also a licensed insurance agent. Dayna joined the board to “give back” and is very active in her church and volunteers in the community.
Audrey Tieman
Youth Board Member
All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre (AECT) is a community-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees elected at the annual membership meeting held each September. Officers are elected by the Board during the annual membership meeting in September.
The Artistic Director, show Directors, Stage Managers, Crew Heads/Supervisors and Instructors are employed through the City of East Lansing Division of Parks, Recreation and Arts (ELPRA); they are not employed by or supervised by the AECT Board of Trustees. AECT board members and officers are volunteers.
Officers and members
2017-2018
President
Katie Brewer
Secretary
Todd Vanderbur
Vice President
Adrienne Yates
Treasurer
Cynthia Wright
Sara Frank-Hepfer
Morgan Pohl
Andy Callis
Shannon Bowen
Dayna Smith
Andy Boyan
Jeffrey D’Valentine
* Shelby Brewer
* Audrey Tieman
* Addy Vanderbur
*Youth Members