About

Established in 2004

Maryland Educators of Gifted Students evolved from a need among educators to unify and collaborate in maintaining and improving gifted education services for children in the state of Maryland.
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The members of MEGS are able to enhance curriculum, instruction, and achievement for all students by combining efforts to provide educators with professional development, conferences, and networking opportunities.
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• MEGS is an organization of Maryland Educators that promotes leadership in the field of gifted and talented education and provides opportunities for professional development.
• MEGS serves in a advocacy role for maintaining and improving gifted and talented education for students in the state of Maryland.
• MEGS monitors legislation related to gifted and talented education and disseminates such information to educators and advocates of gifted and talented education.
• MEGS sponsors an annual statewide conference on gifted education with sessions to help teachers develop techniques, curriculum, and program alternatives for challenging gifted children.

Our Goals

• ​To encourage and promote leadership and support networking in gifted and talented education among members of the corporation.
• To promote and provide opportunities for professional growth for members.​To serve in an advocacy role for gifted and talented education in the state of Maryland.
• To promote opportunities for collaboration with other professional organizations and institutions with like purposes.
• To influence the development and implementation of gifted and talented education policies within the state of Maryland.
• To promote and encourage the development of approved coursework in gifted and talented education with institutions of higher education.
• ​To recognize outstanding teachers/administrators of gifted and talented students.

​Our Mission

​To provide professional development, support, and growth opportunities for educators responsible for facilitating the education of gifted students.

Our Executive Board

Rae Lymer, Ed.D. (they/them)
President 

Dr. Rae Lymer is a Partner of Research, Measurement, & Policy at The Learning Accelerator and serves as the President of the Maryland Educators of Gifted Students, as well as was the previous Co-Chair of the Maryland Gifted and Talented Advisory Council.  Dr. Lymer presents on topics related to individualized instruction, strengths-based education, and equitable gifted identification practices. Their work with systems, teachers, and administrators on building equitable and effective gifted instructional services, developing models of meaningful professional learning, leveraging impactful program evaluation, and improving instructional practice for all learners has yielded several awards and been featured in multiple publications. 

Esther Gencheva (she/her)
President-Elect

Esther has taught Kindergarten for 9 years with Baltimore City Schools and through BCPSS has had the privilege of teaching and supporting Gifted Learners in various ways, including CTY. She completed her Masters of Ed through Johns Hopkins School of Education in 2016 and was part of Teach for America's 2014 cohort. She also has the great pleasure of being a mom to 3 sons.

Kristen Modes, M.Ed., NBCT (she/her)
Vice President

Kristen Modes is the Content Specialist for Gifted and Differentiated Services for Charles County Public Schools. Prior to this role, she coordinated gifted/enrichment instruction programs as a school-based gifted resource teacher. Kristen offers local and national professional learning leadership in gifted instructional strategies, characteristics, social-emotional skills, equitable identification practices, acceleration, and curriculum writing. She served as a tri-chair of the 2022 Maryland State Conference on Gifted and Talented Education. ​​

Chrissy Trest (she/her)
Executive Director

Chrissy currently works with The Behavior Place LLC, leading operational systems, policy development, and organizational support within an ABA clinical setting. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in public education, including district leadership in gifted education and advocacy for twice-exceptional (2E) students. Chrissy is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences and has co-chaired multiple Maryland State Conference on Gifted and Talented Education conferences.

Carina Wells (they/them)
Treasurer-Elect

Carina Wells is an Educational Associate for Baltimore City Schools. After starting teaching English Language Learners while service overseas in the Peace Corps, they returned to the States to teach Special Education in Baltimore. They now coordinate supports for Special Populations at KIPP Baltimore with a focus on gifted learners, students with disabilities, and twice exceptional students.​

Rachel Barden (she/her)
​Board Member

​Rachel Barden is a fourth grade Center for Enriched Studies teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland. She is passionate about nurturing curiosity and intellectual risk-taking, especially in math education. Rachel is driven to teach social-emotional learning, especially with gifted learners, and spoke at the MEGS Conference about the significance of mental health and well-being.

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Penny Zimring (she/her)
Past President

Penny Zimring is the Past President of the Maryland Educators of Gifted Children (MEGS) and serves an adjunct instructor at the Johns Hopkins University for graduate students in the International Teaching for Global Leadership Cohort. She has been honored for her work by The Marquis Who’s Who Publications Board as a recipient of the 2022 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and will be featured in the 2023 edition of Who’s Who in America publication. Penny has worked in the field of gifted education for over 25 years in various classroom and district-level leadership positions. She served as a central office leader in the Howard County and Loudoun County (Virginia) Public School Systems, a presenter at various national and state conventions, and a consultant for several school districts in Maryland and the Iksan Public School System in Iksan, South Korea. Penny was awarded a Maryland State Leadership Award and the Gifted Education Program District Leadership Award from the Maryland State Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education. ​