Play Outside
The Box
Unscripted Learning uses improv theatre to teach teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in addition to performance skills.
Developed in conjunction with the National Comedy Theatre, Unscripted Learning uses improvisational theatre to teach the concepts of teamwork, leadership, and creative problem solving as well as teaching improv skills and theory.
Our team has decades of experience working with students and adults, and has taught thousands of individuals from all backgrounds.
Meet the Team
GARY KRAMER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Gary Kramer is a producer, director and actor and is the Artistic Director and founder of the National Comedy Theatre as well as Executive Director of Unscripted Learning. His production of the National Comedy Theatre is currently the longest running show in San Diego history, with over 6000 performances since opening in 1999. In addition, Gary also directed the New York company of the show and has taught extensively for over 30 years. He has participated in countless shows across the country as well as internationally through 4 USO tours throughout the Middle East and Europe. As a performer, Gary has also appeared on television, film, commercials and radio and earned a BFA degree from Emerson College in Boston. Gary also served as Executive Director and Vice President of the Board of the San Diego Performing Arts League.
RICHIE PLOESCH
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Richie Ploesch, M.A., BCBA has been working in the field of special education for over 10 years. His specialty is educating students and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He earned his teaching credential in 2006, a Masters Degree in 2008, and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2009. Since then, he has not only taught special education classes but also has taught as an adjunct professor, consulted with family members internationally, and provided in home behavioral therapy to improve social skills and increase independence.
SUSAN CLAUSEN
CONNECTIONS TEACHING ARTIST
Susan is an Educator, Actor and Independent Public Relations Professional. As an educator, she works with Joey Travolta's Inclusion Films, teaching filmmaking to students in the neurodiverse community, with a goal of increasing employment opportunities within the film industry. As a performer, she has worked on stages across San Diego county including Lamb's Players, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Scripps Ranch Theatre and the San Diego Symphony. With her company, Clausen Communications, she leverages her 20 year history in San Diego in Arts Public Relations and Communications, to work with arts organizations to advance and message their missions and increase special event and production attendance. She is thrilled to be working with the talented and creative students at Unscripted Learning.
SUE FABER
CONNECTIONS TEACHING ARTIST
Sue Faber has been a practicing speech-language pathologist in San Diego for 17 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in Child Development and her Masters in Communicative Disorders: Speech-Language Pathology from San Diego State University. She has worked with children ages 3-early adulthood. Her areas of passion and specialty include assessment and therapy with children on the autism spectrum and individuals with traumatic brain injury. Sue currently works as part of a preschool assessment transdisciplinary team.
DAVE GEORGE
ACTIVE MINDS TEACHING ARTIST
Dave George has been doing improvisational comedy in San Diego since 1990. He performed with Comedy Codependents, TheatreSports, and Sub-Atomic Jenkins Clan (SJC) before joining National Comedy Theatre in 1999. Dave was a the multimedia show director for and traveled around the world with Tony Robbins for many years producing seminars. He took a variety of drama classes throughout his education and first starred as Jerry Flynn in his ninth grade production of “My Client Curly”. Dave graduated UC Santa Cruz with a double degree of computer science and sociology.
ERNIE GOYETTE
ACTIVE MINDS TEACHING ARTIST
Ernie was a fan of NCT and a regular audience member for a few years before taking his first class at NCT in 2014. He started in 2015 as Mr. Voice and then began performing on NCT House Teams. After a year, he was promoted to Sunday Company where he honed his skills for 3 years before being moved to the Main Stage cast. Ernie is a professional voice actor. You can hear him daily on KPBS radio delivering the recorded spots between the shows and also at Sea World San Diego where his recorded narration plays several times per day during the live show, Orca Encounter.
LAUREL LYTLE
CONNECTIONS TEACHING ARTIST
Laurel Schultz has been a school-based Speech-Language Pathologist for the past 8 years. She received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2013. She has worked with students from preschool to high school. She is passionate about supporting her students’ communication skills and building independence within the school setting and beyond. Laurel was drawn to the Connection program’s mission to build social skills for teens on the autism spectrum through fun and engaging improv classes and is honored to be a part of the Unscripted Learning team.
Lorna Mcmurray
Connections Teaching Artist
Lorna McMurray is a retired educator. She graduated from San Diego State University in 1991 with a Masters in Social Work. In 2001 she discovered her passion for teaching and received her teaching credentials from California State San Marcos. She has 15 years of working as a Special Education Teacher. Her last ten years were working the Autism team for Sweetwater School District and as a South Bay SELPA representative on CAPTAIN – California Autism Professional Training and Information Network.
KATHRYN PASZEK
Connections Teaching Artist
Bio coming soon
MARJORIE BERRY SIMON
CONNECTIONS TEACHING ARTIST
Marjorie has been performing in San Diego and Riverside County in 1988. She’s formally studied performing art at UCSD and NYU. She also studied improv with NCT. Marjorie has a teaching credential from SDSU and a Master in Social Work from USC. Currently, in addition to teaching at Unscripted, she works as a psychotherapist in San Diego County
AMY SILVESTRO
CONNECTIONS TEACHING ARTIST
Amy Silvestro is a recent transplant from New York but has been a fan of NCT for over a decade. Amy has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Amy taught in the Gender Studies Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz for over 30 years. In addition, she was a practicing therapist and school counselor for 30 years working with students on the Autism spectrum as well as at risk youth.
MEGAN WINJE
Connections Teaching Artist
Megan has worked as a Registered Behavior Technician for over three years, providing direct therapy services to youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder in both a clinic and home setting. She received her bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience at the University of San Diego. Her passion for working with neurodiverse individuals dates back to 2012, when she began volunteering as a counselor for Camp Parkview, a summer camp for adults with disabilities. She continues to work in the field of ABA, training and supporting new clinicians.
ANDREEA BORCEA
DIGITAL INNOVATION
Andreea Borcea has spent the last 10+ years modernizing web sites, directing digital marketing strategy and developing digital tools to improve business performance for start-ups through global conglomerates. Andreea has built a career finding or creating effective solutions to unique and common problems empowering companies to self-manage as technology continues to evolve and change the business landscape. Through her digital marketing efforts, she has built a genuine social media following for her clients and optimized paid digital media spend. She has a Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing and a Bachelors of Science in Economics. She has a passion for cutting edge technology and discusses it with her co-host on Farstuff: The Internet of Things podcast.
CAITLYN MCTAGGART
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Caitlyn McTaggart, a native of San Diego, earned her B.A. in Communication and Professional Writing from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego. Caitlyn has over thirteen years of experience in nonprofit management, primarily in fundraising, accounting, strategic planning and board development. She has raised millions of dollars for various nonprofit organizations, including Autism Tree Project Foundation, the San Diego RiteCare Childhood Language Center, Scripps Ranch Theatre, the YWCA of San Diego, the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA, the San Diego Hunger Coalition and the Rotary Club and Foundation of Honolulu. Caitlyn also founded Girls on the Run of Hawaii in 2012 and helped establish the chapter of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network here in San Diego in 2008.
Meet the Board
JONAH WEINBERG
BOARD MEMBER
Jonah Weinberg brings nearly two decades of leadership experience with nonprofit and public sector organizations across the US, and internationally, with experience working across a range of issues and sectors, including disability, economic development, social service & public health, disadvantaged & minority communities, and philanthropy. He is an experienced public speaker, who is fluent in both English and Spanish, and has facilitated numerous public and technical programs, and have worked extensively with clients focused on the Latino community in the US, as well as organizations in Latin America and Europe. Jonah is also the past Executive Director of the Autism Society of Minneapolis
CLIFF BORO
BOARD MEMBER
Cliff is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of the Simplexity Ventures. Previously, Cliff served for six years as the Co-Founder and CEO of Zui.com (the leading search engine and web browser for children) until its sale to Saban Capital. For his work at Zui, Cliff was named a White House Champion of Change. Prior to Zui.com, Cliff was the Managing Partner of CVT Ventures, a venture-development company that was dedicated to helping entrepreneurs form and accelerate their businesses. On behalf of CVT, Cliff was the founding Chairman of Say Media, the founding Chairman of mSnap (sold to MarketTron). Cliff is also the former CEO and Co-Founder of Infogate until its sale to AOL Time Warner. Cliff began his career working in the hedge fund industry and worked at both Steinhardt Partners and Soros Fund Management. Cliff is on the Board of Temple Beth El in La Jolla and also serves as a member of the Board of the San Diego Performing Arts League.
DAVE PRESSLER
BOARD MEMBER
Dave is a Los Angeles based artist and character designer who has used sculpture, illustration and animation to fuse his primary passions: fine art and the world of pop entertainment. In the past 20 years he has designed characters and worlds for such companies as Kid’s WB, Disney, Fox Kids Network, Wild Brain, and The Jim Henson Company to name a few. In the last decade Dave has shifted his focus to the universe of TV animation, where he has co-created and designed for the Emmy Nominated “Robot And Monster” for Nickelodeon. Dave is currently working at Dreamworks TV Animation, and has just illustrated his first picture book for kids, “Back To School With Bigfoot,” published by Scholastic. He is busy at work preparing for an exhibition with the Lancaster Museum of Art and History in 2018.
