About Camille Linen:

Camille’s career in education has extended from the classroom to the board room and back again. She believes strongly in Howard Gardner’s philosophy that “Artistic learning should be carried out over a significant period of time and allow ample opportunity for feedback, discussion and reflection. The arts are deeply personal…where students encounter their own feelings.” Her whole career in teaching has been dedicated to promoting the arts within the entire educational spectrum from Kindergarten to Adult Literacy.

Mornings, Camille is an ESL instructor for BOCES’ (Board of Cooperative Education Services) Adult Literacy program at the Carver Center in Port Chester, N.Y. She has been teaching new immigrants our wonderfully complex language through the arts, history and culture of the U.S. for 15 years. The Art of English, which is a series of units on this website, was created out of the most successful and popular lessons she has taught hundreds of students from all over the world. Camille had started the same educational program she now teaches for BOCES before it was taken over by the state organization.

Afternoons, Camille is the education director for the Port Chester Council for the Arts. As co-founder of the organization, she initiated community arts-based programs for children and seniors at seven elementary schools and at community, church and senior centers. She keeps her community ties by teaching a theater workshop at the Rye Brook Senior Center.

Camille is also the Literacy through the Arts coordinator for Port Chester school district elementary school students K-5. The program was awarded a NYSCA grant for outstanding and innovative arts-programming the second year after its inception. Like The Art of English curriculum, Literacy through the Arts connects NYS standards in ELA, Social Studies and the Arts to a comprehensive visual and performing arts instructional program taught by professional artists. This program gives steady employment to 12-15 professional artists annually.

As a respected community leader, she was elected to the Port Chester District #4 Board of Education for two terms and served as its president twice, was named Community Service Leader in Port Chester, was honored as one of “20 women making history in the arts” by the Westchester Arts Council and was named “Outstanding Teacher 2003” by the NYS Adult Educators.

A graduate of Marymount and Iona Colleges, Camille Linen has written and published curricula for NYS for Adult Literacy and was published by Interact. She is the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of two granddaughters and three grandsons. She is married to actor, singer, storyteller Lou Del Bianco who has collaborated with her on many arts-in-education projects.