About Creative Kid College Coach
Years of Counseling Experience and An Innovative Approach to Support Each Student’s Unique Talents
Harriet Katz
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Harriet Katz ✸
Harriet’s (she/her) background is uniquely suited to help students pursuing the arts reach their goals.
Harriet has over twenty years of experience as an executive producer of animation, live-action, and special effects for national and international brands. She was involved in casting talent, hiring musicians, and producing a variety of media. She has hired countless college students from a variety of programs and maintained close contacts with internship-granting institutions.
With Harriet’s help, students identify preferred programs; prepare essays, portfolios, and auditions. With her guidance, students learn to communicate who they are as they navigate the college search and application process. Harriet is well-informed of the particular requirements for applying to a visual or performing arts program. She helps the student to convey their passion and commitment in all parts of their college application. This is an innovative approach to college counseling that directly speaks to the interests and talents of this specific group of students.
Currently, Harriet volunteers as the college and career counselor for the Mountain View/Los Altos High School District’s Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts and Technology. After observing the student’s reticence to use the mainstream resources available to them, Harriet felt there was a need to assist students in identifying programs that were of interest to them. Her goal is to help the student prepare a concise presentation of who they are and what skills they possess.
Harriet has made presentations to groups of students and their parents, helping them to understand what options are available. She has privately counseled students both nationally and internationally on their portfolios and has helped with essay preparation and the audition/application process. Her students currently attend a variety of schools, including Brown, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Boston Conservatory, MICA, Pratt, University of Michigan, RISD, UCLA, USC, Chapman, and LMU.
Harriet is a member of NACAC, The National Association for College Admission Counseling, HECA, the Higher Education Consultants Association, and WACAC, The Western Association for College Admission Counseling, and maintains active involvement in the area of visual and performing arts programs.
Caillie Dick
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Caillie Dick ✸
Caillie’s (she/her) favorite part of the application process is helping students in the visual and performing arts translate their work into writing. Her first experience with this process came when she was a film student herself in a media art program during high school, and only grew as she took on both design and writing positions during college. She was a lead designer in the Sustainability Office of UC Santa Cruz and then a staff writer at two different publications while she finished her degree. Immediately after graduation, she took on a research assistant position at Stanford University with a musicology professor studying audiovisual aesthetics.
All of these experiences prepared her to join Creative Kid College Coach in the spring of 2016 as an essay consultant. Her extensive experience with visual art, writing, and editing lent to her innate ability to guide students through the process of writing personal essays as well as artist statements. Under Harriet’s expert guidance, she quickly expanded to working with students on program selection and portfolio curation. Now she excels at working with students to marry any medium they flourish in with an accurate written portrayal of their skills and abilities, using her insight and guidance to help students use all parts of their application to express their unique creative passions.
Caillie has continued her training in college counseling at UCLA and is a member of WACAC, the Western Association for College Admission Counseling.
Natalia Spritzer
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Natalia Spritzer ✸
Natalia's (she/her) background and passions coincide with the many facets of the modern-day application process. As a creative educator, interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and designer, Natalia's extensive and diverse experiences within these roles have prepared her to join Creative Kid College Coach. Natalia's preliminary experiences originate from her own journey with applying to colleges and universities as a visual arts student who was driven to pave her portfolio in conjunction with her love for Psychology and Education. These passions were further cultivated at UC Santa Barbara at the College of Creative Studies, grounding her skills in portfolio curation and writing. During this time, Natalia worked as a 4th Grade teacher at the Santa Barbara Congregation and interned at a BioTech company and Stanford Children's Hospital as a Graphic Designer. With the necessity for virtual instruction, Natalia began teaching 3D Modeling, Visual Art Skills, and Web Design to students of all ages.
With a Bachelor's in Art with minors in Applied Psychology and Education, Natalia went on to get her Master's in Art and Design Education at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the Teaching and Learning in Art and Design (TLAD) department. In a retrospective collaboration with her academic and teaching experiences impacted by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Natalia sought out a research initiative that aligned with solving the gaps that remote learning created for creative student learners. This research and the rest of her accumulated experiences further exemplified the importance of creative disciplines for individual wellness and growth. As a result, Natalia has a unique perspective when helping students develop their creativity and individuality within and beyond the college application process.
Mara Ramirez
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Mara Ramirez ✸
Mara Ramirez (they/them) has been an arts educator for over 10 years. They are trained in the Reggio Emilia approach of exploration-based learning, and have worked with people of all ages and skill levels to create age-appropriate, challenging, and engaging personalized learning plans, syllabi, and ongoing artistic relationships.
Mara started their career working with youth at art studios such as Scribbles and Giggles, ARTifact, and SFCAC, to name a few. Soon after, they moved on to teach in Public Education at the San Francisco Art Institute in the Young Artist, PreCollege, and Adult Community Course Programs. Other community courses of theirs have been taught at both public and private institutions, such as Art School LLC and the Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park.
Mara’s portfolio-building curriculum is tailored to each individual student and includes as much critique, advice, and assignments as needed. Priority is given to learning comprehension of many different mediums and styles while maintaining unity of concept, craftsmanship, and technical skill. Through the implementation of practice and focus on conceptual framework, students will find their own unique voice and confidence. Mara centers on finding fun and emotional regulation in our creative practices, as they believe these are the strongest foundations for not only a great portfolio that will impress college admissions but for a grounded and passionate lifelong studio practice.
Carolyn Janssen
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Carolyn Janssen ✸
Carolyn (she/her) is a seasoned educator dedicated to nurturing the creative growth of artists. With over 15 years experience teaching at collegiate and secondary institutions, she skillfully mentors students in portfolio creation and application navigation. Her study at the MFA program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design fostered her expertise in drawing, painting, two-dimensional design, and digital art processes. Her teaching philosophy prioritizes student-centered mentorship and a commitment to nurturing individual artistic voices.
Carolyn's artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo shows at the Julie Saul Gallery in New York and Quinta del Sordo in Madrid. She has also participated in residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts and Vermont Studio Center, and has completed commissions for the permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Robert’s experience as a counselor has taught him crucial skills such as organization and preparation that supports his work with performing arts students. Whether critiquing an art portfolio or curating a selection of prescreens and auditions, Robert loves helping each student creatively present their unique voice in the application process. He is excited to help students realize their vision as they venture into the arts because he is inspired by the individuality of other artists. In both an academic and professional context, he sees the intersection of art and writing as essential to the ongoing refinement of one’s artistic personality. Robert is thrilled to share his passion and hopes it is infectious!
