About Us

“Out of the dark night, right? SHAZAM!”

~Gladys Herdman, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Shazaam inspiration:

At its core, Shazaam was inspired by my daughter and her friends’ love of after dinner performances at social gatherings. I was truly amazed by what they could come up with in a short amount of time, and I thought, “How much fun would it be to have a summer camp that really tapped into that creativity and self-empowerment?” Thus, Camp Shazaam was born and began in the summer of 2018. Since that time, Camp Shazaam has slowly evolved to include a broader range of offerings, and has now become Shazaam. The name “Shazaam” was inspired by a scene from the 1970’s TV movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, where a gaggle of ruffian neighborhood kids, from the wrong side of the tracks, take over the annual Christmas pageant. The worst of them casts herself as the Angel of the Lord who finds inspiration in her role from the Marvel Comics character. This combination, of the marvel super hero empowered to do good and the dirty faced feral kids, reminds us all that at our core, we are all worthy and capable of great things.

 

Meet the Team

 

  • Tara Sawyer (She/Her)

    SHAZAAM DIRECTOR, DANCE INSTRUCTOR

    Tara Sawyer is the Director of Shazaam, and has been working with kids since 2011. She is a mom of two amazing kids, an avid dancer, and recently started taking voice lessons just to keep it real. When Tara was a kid she was obsessed with horses, running, riding her bike, pom-poms and crowns. She took tap dance and ice skating as a kid, was a cheerleader in middle school, but didn’t really start studying dance until she was 37 years old. She grew up in a big family, running wild and free in nature and has fond memories of dancing to disco in living rooms with adult women that she admired. Trained as a landscape architect and having a prior life, before becoming a mom, of designing playgrounds and parks, Tara has always been interested in creating community. Tara is also the Executive Director of Pea Pod Playschool, where she works in the classroom with parents and their toddlers. She fundamentally believes that we are all good inside and that there are no bad kids, only unmet needs, and she uses that lens in the classroom with which to truly see people. Tara is passionate about providing brave, authentic spaces for kids to learn, grow, create and take healthy risks such as performing in front of others. She is fully vaccinated for COVID-19, has current background checks, and is CPR/First Aid certified.

  • Mandy Harrison (She/Her)

    TUMBLING/GYMNASTICS INSTRUCTOR

    I spent ten years of my youth practicing gymnastics and learning a lot of different physical skills and life skills, as well as growing a friendship with my now best friend. I went onto cheerleading in high school, where I could showcase my tumbling skills from gymnastics, and started coaching all-star competitive cheerleading and tumbling the year I graduated high school. During my five seasons coaching for the gym, we took teams to multiple national competitions and our teams were known for their safe and clean tumbling skills. I miss that job and those kids more than any other!

    Working with kids from an early age, I’ve always taken an approach of entering their world and celebrating their creativity, curiosity and potential. Helping a child try something new and achieve something they have their heart set on is one of my favorite experiences in life.

    I now have masters level education in clinical mental health and experience as a mental health therapist for individual adults. My knowledge and experience with emotion regulation, attachment and interpersonal neurobiology, and human growth and development just gives me a new depth of skill for interacting with kids. I always made it a point as a coach to pay attention to every individual’s personality and behavior in the group and help each child recognize their strengths and see the possibilities for themselves.

    Joining Tara in her approach of empowerment through dance and movement has brought back a joy I’ve missed and I’m honored to be working with your children!