Ms. Rachel and the Special Surprise: Encouraging Speech and Learning Through Play and Music

MS. RACHEL (Rachel Griffin Accurso) is a passionate educator and award-winning songwriter. She has a masters in music education from NYU. She is currently pursuing a second masters degree in Early Childhood Education. She has done many trainings and courses in areas such as speech development, early childhood development and early intervention. Ms. Rachel believes all children are capable, brilliant and important. Her sweet little son inspires her work, and she is married to the amazing Mr. Aron (AKA Herbie!). They live in New York City.

MONIQUE DONG loved drawing, imagining and creating as a child. At age 19, she headed off to the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa, where she studied animation at City Varsity and discovered the magic of storytelling! She has worked on animation for the Disney channel, including the project “Florrie’s Dragons.” Today, Monique is a freelance illustrator and her passion is creating images that encompass light, life, warmth and color.