Aliza Cantu

Art is an adventure and Paint, Paper, Scissors is the newest adventure for its creator, Aliza Cantu. Paint, Paper, Scissors is a place where children come to create and to celebrate, to experiment with art media and learn about the world around us.

For the past five years, Aliza has enjoyed teaching art enrichment courses at her home studio and at two excellent San Antonio pre-schools, the Discovery School and Heintz Preschool of Congregation Agudas Achim. Paint, Paper, Scissors is a natural extension of her love of working with children and her love of creativity.

As for her formal background, Aliza holds her Master of Arts in Teaching from Trinity University. Prior to her work as an art teacher, she was a first grade teacher in the North East Independent  School district. While at the district, she served as a mentor in the Basic School Program and as the Art Chair for her school. Following her work in the classroom, Aliza became Director of Education of the San Antonio Children’s Museum. Here she developed curricula, set  museum educational standards, and led a group of talented individuals in carrying out the museum’s mission of serving our community.

One of Aliza’s greatest joys is to create art pieces with her daughters Sophie and Iliana, and her husband, Willie. Art Together… Art Forever is the result of this relationship. Enjoy!

Marta Amezquita

Marta Amezquita has been a teacher for thirty-one years. Most of her joy and personal vision, while working with elementary age children, centered on using the fine arts to connect ideas and have an appreciation of language, culture, and the natural world. Marta specialized in teaching the gifted in several Texas districts, and happily spent over twenty years teaching in North East I. S. D. Since 2004, she has taught English part-time at St. Mary’s University, and continues to inspire students to bring to life their individual masterpieces. Marta is thrilled to be working with the young artists of Paint, Paper, Scissors!

Jill Di Giampaolo

Jill Di Giampaolo graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a Masters in Education in 2002 and immediately started working at Lackland Elementary. She loves San Antonio, despite being a “Yankee” from up north in Pennsylvania. Jill’s childhood aspiration was to be a Muppeteer for Jim Henson, her favorite Muppet is Pepe.

Rebekah Planto

Rebekah Planto is a San Antonio native who recently returned to the area and is excited to be part of the art-making team at Paint, Paper, Scissors! In 2006, she received a B.A. in Individualized Study from New York University (NYU), where her areas of interest included Cultural Anthropology, Visual Art, and Psychology. Rebekah’s lifelong passion for art and interest in working with children has led her to teaching art and craft classes at Alamo Heights ISD’s “Summer at Heights” programs, at Temple Beth-El Religious School, and now at Paint, Paper, Scissors. She has also worked extensively with children as a camp counselor, substitute teacher, and as a nanny and babysitter, both in San Antonio and New York. As an artist, Rebekah enjoys drawing, painting, collage and experimenting with other media and handcrafts.

Dawn Tawil

Dawn Tawil is an experienced pre-school teacher who has been working with children non-stop since the age of 16. Her degree from Johnson County Community College in Early Childhood was a stepping stone to developing her own way of reaching out to children in an academic setting. She comes to Paint Paper Scissors as both a teacher and a Lead Art Explorer with a creative mind and great rapport with children. She has always loved art and crafting and enjoys sharing these talents with her students. Dawn, and her husband, Nathan, have two young children. In her spare time, she enjoys scrapbooking, photography, computers, and collecting Donald Duck items.