Brittney Allen (Music Director)
A native Southern Californian, Brittney Allen is a flutist and educator based out of Washington, D.C. A student of Dr. Sais Kamalidiin, Ms. Allen has obtained her B.M. and M.M. in Music Education from Howard University. Brittney Allen has performed alongside Deepak Ram, Holly Hoffman, Ali Ryerson, Nicole Mitchell, and James Spaulding. An active educator and freelancer (having performed as first flutist with the Colour of Music Festival in Charleston, S.C. in previous years), Brittney Allen actively seeks opportunities to develop her musicianship and skill-set as an educator - most notably, Ms. Allen actively performed and participated as a part of Imani Wind’s 2015 Chamber Music Festival and Project Trio’s 2016 Teacher Training Workshop. Currently, Ms. Allen teaches applied flute at Bowie State University (after having previously taught the Blues as a Cultural Art Form at the University of Maryland), serves as lead orchestra instructor for the Children’s Orchestra of D.C., directs and conducts the Premiere Wind Ensemble of the DC Youth Orchestra Program and performs freelance within the Washington, D.C. metro area.
Racquel Smith (Logistics Support)
Ms. Smith has served the John Lewis community for the last 3 years as the Schoolwide Enrichment Coordinator. She taught middle school science and elementary math in Florida and D.C. for 13 years prior to joining our school family. She received her B.S. in Health science and M. Ed from the University of Florida and her MPH from Nova Southeastern University. Her philosophy of education is best summed up by the following quote, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. “ ~Malcolm X
Clinton Springer (Set Designer/Director)
Clint is the proud father of 2nd grader Delia and PreK 4 student, Desi. Many years ago, as part of his high school’s Art Club, he assisted in the design, building and painting of sets and backdrops for productions including South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Dracula, Fried Green Tomatoes, Little Shop of Horrors and The Wizard of Oz. Being most proud of the creation of a six foot tall Audrey II plant that was able to “eat and swallow” cast members while housing two student puppeteers to make the plant come to “life”! He has been involved in JLES play productions since his oldest was in PreK 3, including Annie, The Lion King Jr., and pre-pandemic Aladdin Jr., providing audio/visual support and set-up, stage building, painting and stagehand duties the nights of production.
