About

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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Aisha Moody (she/her)
​Board Member

Bio coming soon

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. ​