Starland is a center to discover your creativity in Deerfield, Illinois dedicated to creating a fun and learning environment for children through creativity. Starland's Mission

Starland's mission is to expose families to different creative outlets in order to discover where ones creative talents lie.  Our professional and nurturing staff will help guide your child through the many artistic outlets in hopes of fitting the child to the appropriate creative medium.  At Starland we take great pride in matching students with their passion.

Unlike government institutions and large corporations we take a personal approach to every child in discovering their passion and helping them refine it.  What also sets us apart from our competitors are our innovative and high-tech classes.  We stay up to date with the latest trends and offer your child the ability to be exposed to new technology they won't normally get until college. 

We here at Starland understand that a parent's time is precious, and we save you the hassle of having to drive your children all around to different centers for classes by providing the convenience of having many disciplines under one roof. Once you visit our warm and comfortable center you will be hooked!

Learn more about the services offered by Starland:

Owner Adam More spent the majority of his working life as an options trader on the CBOE.  Woke up one morning and had a revelation of creating a center for children of all ages to find and refine their creativity.  "Maybe it was the bad burrito, but I decided I wanted to give something back after years of taking from the system".  I bring a genuine interest in having people find their creative voice early, and it gives me great joy to hear peoples positive experiences at the center.  Once you know me you will begin to sense my enthusiasm in having people have a great experience at Starland. 

Jennifer Paget Blumberg has been teaching art classes in mutli mediums for the past 15 years as well as designing and creating a large line of jewelry for 22 years. She had a degree in Studio Art from Scripps College and a Masters in Education in "creative arts in learning for early childhood and special needs" from Lesley College.

Audrey Pam is a local teacher, art therapist and mom. She completed her undergraduate degree in art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and her Masters degree in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990. She has had the wonderful opportunity to have worked with many children and adults of all abilities. Her past clients have included those from the Christopher House, the Chicago Lighthouse of the Blind, The Center on Deafness and The Illinois Spina Bifida Association. She has also worked with patients on the mental health units of several hospitals. She uses art to help individuals improve their self-esteem, enhance creativity and encourage self-expression. For the last few years, she has loved making art with her own children and teaching clay classes at the Kipling School in Deerfield. She is thrilled to also have the opportunity to teach at Starland.

Suzy Klein has a degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis on Fine and Applied Arts from the University of Illinois (1984). She taught second grade at Indian Trail School in Highland Park for 8 years and various grades for 2 1/2 years in Rochester, Minnesota.  In addition to classroom teaching, Suzy developed and taught art classes for children of all ages for summer school programs in Highland Park and at the South Eastern Minnesota Visual Artists Association in Rochester.  Suzy discovered her artistic passion in college when she took her first Art for Elementary Educators course on an exchange program in Bath, England.  She was introduced to various mediums and fell in love with clay!  From there she honed her talents throughout college and eventually landed at the group studio at Lill Street in Chicago.  After taking a break from the art and teaching fields to be a full-time mom, she is eager to get the creative energy flowing and inspire the kids at Starland to discover their unique talents.

Mindy Hester I am a Chicago native who began performing at a young age. But, unlike the other girls my age putting on plays in their basement, I was the director, producer, set designer and costumer. I also played every part. And, instead of choosing "Grease" or "Annie", I did "Romeo and Juliet" and "Macbeth". I have a BFA in Acting from The Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. After graduation I moved to Los Angeles where I worked regularly on
the stage, film and television.

Ashley Nunan is thrilled to join the Starland family in this program lovingly passed down to her by the great Mary Poole. This is her12th year teaching performing arts on the North Shore where she has been director and music director for New Trier's Performing Arts Summer Workshop, director for Edgewood Middle School's musicals, resident music director at the Wilmette Park District, and director of Northlight Theater's Senior Summer Academy. She is immensely proud of founding a theater workshop and a show choir at the park district, and of developing her early childhood drama and music classes there and at Kenilworth's All Things Bright and Beautiful preschool. Ashley loves all her students; from the two year olds drama queens through her former students in acting programs around the country! She runs a thriving private voice studio specializing in healthy vocal technique for young singers and happily sings herself with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. Ashley is a proud New Trier theater alumna and holds a BA in music from Drake University. She is so grateful for the love and support of fiancé Erik and cat Zooey.

Mary Poole has been with Starland for 2 years now, teaching pre-K through middle school and writing and directing plays.  Mary's last position before coming here was in Kigali, Rwanda, where she spent a year teaching at a school for children orphaned by the genocide.  Mary is very happy to be back at home and at Starland, where children have loving families at their beck and call, and food is so plentiful we have to keep the kids from throwing it away!  What keeps Mary happy at Starland are the wonderful, devoted staff and the fabulous children and their parents.  Nothing is more satisfying than a job in which you can positively impact the lives of so many young stars and watch them grow.  And getting to act out princesses and dragons all day doesn't hurt!  Mary holds degrees in musical theatre and writing from Illinois State University, and is a member of Opera Illinois, where she recently performed in La Traviata.  Mary teaches private voice and acting lessons, and thanks her wonderful husband Phillip for his love and support.

Jordyn Pins Jordyn is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University where she received her BFA in Theatre Performance with an emphasis in dance. Jordyn has taught and choreographed for Northbrook Children's Theatre, Summer Theatre Workshop and their professional company, Theatre for Young Audiences. Jordyn also teaches at On Your Toes Dance Studio and choreographs for the award winning dance company. She is excited to return to Niles West High School this fall where she is the choreographer for their musical productions. Professionally Jordyn is currently dancing with Core Project in Chicago. Theatrically Jordyn has been in numerous plays throughout Chicago and Los Angeles.

Mary TisaMary Tisa, a native of Pittsburgh Pa, is a graduate of The George Washington University with a BA in English and Dance where she received The Presidential Arts Scholarship for Dance and the Nancy Diers Johnson Award for Outstanding Choreography. While in Washington DC she danced as a performing apprentice for Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Company, performed in the DC International Improvisational Festival, and at the Sharing the Legacy concert in New York City. Upon graduation, she moved to Chicago and is currently a company member of the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Corpo Dance Company, and Jay-son Dance Company. She is also on faculty at the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance and at the WACC/Joffrey Dance Program. She counts her blessings in the form of her wonderful family and thanks them for their support.

Marta Cruz has over 25 years of experience working with and teaching children. She started out as a teacher’s aide in a full day parochial school for kindergarteners. She loved working with children to such a great extent that she continued there for 6 years. Marta is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. She taught Spanish and Crafts classes at the Park District of Oak park. After that, Marta used her teaching experience and expertise to run a home-based day care for 7 years. Marta’s greatest teaching experience is through her love to her children and grandchildren! “It is the young child’s excitement for learning and their sense of wonder that keeps me drawn to early education.” ~Marta Cruz

Jesse Keeler started making movies when he was 11 years old after discovering his Father's super-8 camera. His passion for art grew while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA. Jesse got caught up in the explosion of digital media technology in the 1990's. During that time he worked as an application engineer doing systems integration and demos of 3D animation software such as, 3D Studio Max, Maya and Softimage, as well as generating 3d renderings and animations for presentations. He continues to work on many independent projects as a videographer and animator. Jesse was part of the team of After Effects animators that prepared the video for the Crown Video Fountain at Chicago's Millennium Park. About 5 years ago he started teaching kids computer skills. He loves passing along to his students a love of learning and pushing the envelope of their creativity.

Lisa Zarov grew up in Providence, R.I. and has a Bachelors Degree from Northwestern University and a Masters in Social Work from University of Illinois @ Chicago. She has been writing music, playing guitar and performing in bands in Chicago for over 20 years. When her kids were toddlers, she discovered that they, and their friends, were a delightfully captive audience whenever she played guitar for them. So she began playing at birthday parties for the toddler set and worked at B’Nai Torah preschool, where she incorporated singing and guitar into the days of her students as often as she could. Lisa brings her experience, as well as her combined love for children and music to Starland, where she will serve as mom-tot music teacher.

Alan Begoun aka 'Mr. B.' has always had a love of working with young children. He's coached little league baseball and basketball, volunteered at the J.C.C. kindergarten program and for the last two summers has been an assistant at the Chicago Botanic Garden day camp. He has honed his skills an entertainer/teacher of young children by being a grandfather of seven. Alan has also done community theater with The Highland Park players. He really enjoys assisting with the various drama and musical theater classes at Starland. He greatly appreciates the opportunity to work with these great kids.