Sam Tidwell

Sam hails from Greenfield, CA where he embarked on a yearlong walk across America, arriving in New York City on November 1st, 2014. His journey inspired him to give back and he became a teacher in a John F. Kennedy Center Turnaround Arts elementary school. Currently, he is now a Focus5, Inc. National Teaching Artist and leads arts integration work around the country. He is also the founder of Avatar Arts, a Greenfield, CA based arts company that leads the following classes: Developing Artistic Identity, The Explorer’s Academy, and Ping Ho’s Beat The Odds drumming program. Sam’s primary directive as an educator is to help students grow and learn in an engaging, healing, and rigorous way. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Lewis and Clark College, a Social Emotional Arts Certificate from UCLArts & Healing, and has received 200+ hours of training in mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication.