About
Established in 2004Maryland 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.
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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Our Goals
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Our Executive Board
Penny Zimring (she/her)
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Rae Lymer, Ed.D. (they/them)
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Gina Byrd, M.Ed.
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Kristen Modes, M.Ed., NBCT (she/her)
Vice President Kristen is the Content Specialist for Gifted and Differentiated Services for Charles County Public Schools.
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Debbie Blum (she/her)
Treasurer For the past eight years, Debbie Blum has served as the Coordinator of K-12 Gifted and Talented (G/T) Education for the Howard County Public School System. Prior to this role, she supported differentiated instruction and talent development programs as a school-based G/T Resource teacher for 5 years and later as a Central Office resource teacher for 8 years. Debbie has been a member of MEGS since 2006, serving as a State Conference Chair for several years and currently serving as the outgoing Treasurer.
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Esther Gencheva (she/her)
Treasurer 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.
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McKenna Lewis, Ed.D.
Secretary |
Ruby Brown
Member Engagement |
Theresa Jackson
Social Media |
Corinne Viglietta (she/her)
Partnerships Corinne Viglietta represents the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY). Currently CTY's teacher development lead, Corinne brings 15+ years of experience as a classroom teacher (DC, MD, and France), curriculum writer, professional learning leader, museum and special collections educator, and equity-focused collaborator. As Associate Director of Education at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Corinne ran an interdisciplinary research program for culturally diverse advanced learners; led professional learning and curriculum development for over 30,000 educators; and spearheaded the creation of a teacher member program and website, as well as partnerships with school districts and organizations across the US. She also taught several summers at the New Jersey Governor’s School for Public Issues. Corinne has presented on equity, challenging and adventurous learning, and literacy at numerous conferences and has been an invited presenter for the American Federation of Teachers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Council of Teachers of English, Humanities Texas, West Virginia Council of Teachers of English, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has degrees in English and French from the University of Notre Dame and in English from the University of Maryland, along with a graduate certificate in teaching multilingual learners. Her chapter on student-driven inquiry will appear in a new Folger Shakespeare Library series on teaching complex texts, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in 2023.
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Carina Wells (they/them)
Advocacy 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.
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