MAGE & HAEd Present:

Keynote Speaker, Russell D. Johnston became acting commissioner of elementary and secondary education on March 16, 2024. He was previously a deputy commissioner, a role in which he oversaw special education, instructional support, and a variety of initiatives to identify interventions and monitor improvement.

Since joining DESE in 2014, Acting Commissioner Johnston's work has included leading the team that provides direct support to the Lawrence, Holyoke and Southbridge schools; COVID-19 mitigation measures that helped keep students in school; meeting regularly with special education stakeholders to improve services to students with disabilities; helping to pass policies that led to a reduction in the use of restraints and increased public reporting of their use; collaborating on improvements to the Individualized Education Program process for students with disabilities; and providing leadership to the instructional support staff who work to strengthen teaching and learning for all students.

Po-Shen Loh is a social entrepreneur and mathematician, with a track record of inventing incentive-aligned solutions to address timely population-scale real-world problems, from pandemic control to helping human society thrive in the AI era. He is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and served a decade-long term as the national coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad team from 2013–2023. Since 2023, he has been the Vice President of the IMO Foundation, as the founder and organizer of the annual IMO Alumni Reunion. His latest innovation brings together math stars and professional actors, to mass-produce live-streamed creative problem-solving lessons that match the engagement level of online video entertainment.

Rebecca Givens Rolland is an oral and written language specialist in the Neurology Department of Children's Hospital Boston, where she works as part of an interdisciplinary team to diagnose children with learning disabilities and provide recommendations for parents and schools. She served as the academic learning specialist at Kingsley Montessori School and as the project coordinator for the Rigorous and Regulated Learning Environment project. As a nationally certified speech-language pathologist, she has worked clinically with populations ranging from early childhood through high school and provided teacher professional development. At Harvard, she served as a teaching fellow for a number of courses, including Reading Difficulties, Adolescent Literacy, and Adult Development. She has an Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.S. in speech-language pathology from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, an M.A. in English from Boston University, and a B.A. in English from Yale.

Del Siegle is the Lynn and Ray Neag Endowed Chair for Talent Development at the University of Connecticut, where he directs the U. S. National Center for Research on Gifted Education (NCRGE). He is a past-president of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and recipient of their 2021 Founder’s Memorial, 2018 Distinguished Scholar, and 2011 Distinguished Service Award. He is a former co-editor of Gifted Child Quarterly (GCQ) and the Journal of Advanced Academics (JOAA), co-author with Gary Davis and Sylvia Rimm of the 6th and 7th editions of Education of the Gifted and Talented, author of The Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding, & Reversing Underachievement, and author of a technology column for Gifted Child Today.

Aimee Yermish, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and educational therapist in private practice. She provides consultation, individual and family therapy, and assessment, for gifted and twice-exceptional clients across the lifespan, as well as presentations and consultations for professional colleagues working with those populations. Drawing on her analytical background as a scientist and practical background as a classroom teacher, she focuses on the development of self-understanding, self-regulation, mature relationships, problem-solving, and range of independent choice in life.

Marlon Davis, Ed.M. has amassed over 25 years of urban public and charter school education experience.

Marlon’s professional career in education began in 1994 as a member of Teach for America with the NJ Teacher Corps. In 1998, he received his Ed. M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard GSE. As ED, Marlon was successful in turning around The Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge into one of the highest performing charter schools in the city. He assisted in creating Design by Educators, Inc., now called Validated Learning, Inc. where he served as the COO and Director of School and District Engagements.

Marlon has been very interested in Executive Function skills as a way to boost student achievement in students from low-income environments and gateway cities. Marlon was formerly the Executive Function Specialist/Family Engagement Manager at the Acera School of Innovation, Creativity, and Leadership and currently is the principal of the William Diamond Middle School in Lexington, MA.

Melinda Stewart is passionate about working with people for whom the "usual" isn't enough. She has worked with gifted children and adolescents in a variety of professional and informal settings for over 35 years. Melinda is on the editorial board of SENG and is trained as a SENG parent group leader. Her current writing focuses on the normal psychological development of highly gifted people, especially children. She counsels adults, adolescents and children from diverse backgrounds, including intellectual, neurological, socioeconomic, and ethnic diversity.

Those who are "many ages at once" present a challenge that she particularly enjoys.

Elise Jacobson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a traditional therapy practice specializing in the PDA profile of Autism. She has a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and an MSW from Yeshiva’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. She provides individual therapy to PDA adults and parents but also offers support groups to build local communities. She teaches PDA affirming practice most recently through PDA North America and mentors' clinicians individually and in group consultation. You can contact Elise at EliseJacobsonLICSW@gmail.com or learn more about her work online at PDATherapyCollaborative.com.

Dr. Barry Gelston, M.Ed. is the Board President of GHF formerly Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, guiding its mission to empower every gifted family to make strategic, proactive, and intentional educational choices. He recently completed his doctoral studies and served as Co-Director of the Office of Institutional Research, Evaluation and Accreditation at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. Barry now serves on the MAGE Board of Directors and supports the organization's strategic planning.

Mila Teshler is a certified and licensed Pediatric Occupational Therapist with twenty years of experience working with infants, children and adolescents in clinic, school and home settings. She is the founder and the clinic director of KidLink Therapy PC located in Massachusetts, USA.

Dr. Gayle Bentley is an educator and founder of the Bentley Center which supports gifted and twice-exceptional families. She has taught in the public school system since 1999 and recently completed her doctorate in cognitive diversity in education.

Gayle serves on the board of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) and regularly presents clinics at state and national conferences about gifted education and twice-exceptionality. She recently published her first book with Dr. Lin Lim, Using Picture Books to Help Little Ones Learn About Themselves.

Heidi Lack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PhD, CSPP), Health Service Provider (HSP), Harvard-trained with a specialization in the field of behavioral medicine (mind body connection). Dr. Lack is also a board certified, registered art therapist (MA, Lesley U, AATA, ATCB), artist, SoulCollage® facilitator, published spiritual educator, trained in misophonia, sensory sensitivities/intensities/ overexcitabilities, giftedness, 2e, multipotentiality, ADHD, women with ADHD, neurodiversity, neuropsychological testing, CBT/DBT/ACT, and gifted/2e parenting.

Elizabeth Letsch, M.S., Ph.D., ABPP(RP) is a forensic neuropsychologist with extensive experience in the field of evaluating gifted children. She is board certified in Rehabilitation Psychology, and worked with veterans with spinal cord injuries until moving into the realm of gifted individuals.

Crystal Rose, M.D, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of Harvard Alumni for Education (HAEd) Boston Region, an international Shared Interest Group composed of members from all 13 schools from Harvard. HAEd is a convening group seeking to engage, support, inform, and further educate alumni on the Future of Education through networking, panels, and events.

Hannah Shin, Co-Director of Harvard Alumni for Education (HAEd), Boston Region and has a B.A. in Psychology and Elem Ed from Wellesley College, an M.Ed. in Human Dev and Psychology from Harvard GSE and an Ed.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Simmons University. She is Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), is licensed in Elem. Ed. and for Students with Severe Disabilities and consults as a Behavior Specialist in Cambridge Public Schools.

Dr. Katharina Elbert holds a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences and is the vice-chair of the Massachusetts State Gifted & Talented Advisory Council of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She also serves as a MAGE Board Member and is the Co-Chair of the MAGE Advocacy Committee since it's inception in 2016.

Michelle Barmazel is the Co-President and Organizational Liaison for MAGE and she also sits on the Harvard Alumni for Education (HAEd) Boston Regional board as the HKS Engagement Coordinator. An educational consultant with an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School focused on gifted education policy, Michelle also has an MBA from Stanford Business School and is a former McKinsey consultant. Michelle recorded her TEDxHGSE talk, “Why Gifted May Not Be What You Think”, here at Harvard GSE in 2014.

Karen Blumstein is the Co-President and Parent Liaison of MAGE. An elementary, special needs, gifted educator, Orton-Gillingham practitioner with classroom experience focusing on 2E dyslexic students, Karen regularly performs teacher trainings and speaks on Gifted Education and Twice Exceptionality. Karen will be co-hosting and moderating the conference events.

Gerry Mroz is a member of the Board of Directors of MAGE and the Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee. He is a tireless advocate for exceptional students across the state, serving thousands of families over the years.

MaryGrace Stewart, President Emerita of MAGE is the Chief Academic Officer, Founder, and President of Ideal4Gifted, a community of learning and belonging for gifted and twice-exceptional children ages 5 to 14. Her focus has been on traditionally underserved populations such as the BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities. She has taught Pre-K - grade 12 and performed PD world wide.
She holds degrees in Art Education, Theater, Physiology of art production, and a Ph.D, in Organizational Change and Leadership from U.S.C. (dissertation on gifted education in MA).

Julia (Julie) Baker has been an English teacher in Massachusetts at the high school level for 17 years and has taught every skill level and grade covered in a traditional four-year institution. She also develops curriculum and mentors new teachers and former students in the field of education.
Julie has her undergraduate degree in English from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Science in Journalism from Boston University, a Master of Education from UMASS Boston and recently completed a C.A.G.S In School Leadership from American International College. Julie is secretary of the MAGE Board.

Janis Baron has over 40 years of experience teaching, developing and administering children’s programs, training faculty and administrators with K-12 staff.
Janis is the Founder and Director of the KITE summer program for high ability students in Grades K-8. A longtime advocate for gifted education, beginning with Director of Andover’s GT Program in the 1970s, Janis is the author of “Fulfilling the Promise: Enrichment Strategies for the Regular Classroom” for the Massachusetts Department of Education’s Office for Gifted and Talented, 1981. A former member of the Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education, Massachusetts DESE, Janis sits on MAGE Board.

Rebecca Lamkin is a Research Health Scientist at the VA Boston Healthcare System where she has worked on projects ranging from clinical drug trials to expansion of teledermatology for rural patients to inappropriate antibiotic utilization. Rebecca formerly worked at the CDC and the JHU School of Public health.
Rebecca received her BA in Chemistry & Sociology from Emory University, and her MA in Sociology from JHU. She has been on the board of PIN, Inc for over a decade (The Parents’ Independent School Network facilitates communication, promotes parental networking and awareness, and provides programs to our New England area member school communities). Rebecca sits on the MAGE Board.

Deb Lee’s work in gifted education spans two decades, both in public and private sectors, and ranges from teaching to program administration. Prior to relocating to Massachusetts, she served as a Curriculum Director in a mid-sized public school district and was an active member of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC). An alumna of Northwestern University, her professional interests lie in STEAM, diversity, and equity. Deb continues to serve on the Board of the Midwest Academy for Gifted Education in Chicago alongside MAGE.

Matthew Benet is an educator specialized in gifted students. First through private tutoring, then through CTY, and today as the founder of edRev, Matt has taught and mentored over 200 gifted students since 2016 - where he was the winner of the CTY Online Sarah D Barder Fellowship for excellence in gifted education. Matt also designed, created, and ran CTY’s High School Competitive Math Club.

An expert in virtual education, Matt was enlisted by MIT’s Educational Studies Program (SPARK, SPLASH) to design and direct their first virtual program after COVID hit and he has designed an interactive VR classroom for teaching Physics.

Matt founded edRev, an organization that focuses on gifted socialization and tutoring, with a focus on helping gifted students achieve their potential. He strives to help gifted students thrive and develop skills to address asynchronous development – a common trait among the gifted. He also serves on the MAGE Board of Directors.

Rose Guillette is a Vice President for Segal Marco Advisors where she has worked for over 24 years. Ms. Guillette oversees institutional investments for Public Pension Fund and Taft-Hartly Pension fund clients. Ms. Guillette, along with her husband, have homeschooled their two teenage children since the beginning. The family recently relocated from Tennessee to Massachusetts and they believe in meeting young people where they are in their journey and supporting their needs. Ms. Guillette believes in respecting young people as strong contributors to our society.

Ms. Guillette was the program director for the PG Retreat in 2021. Ms. Guillette's children have been involved in the Gifted and Talented program, SAVY, at Vanderbilt for over 10+ years where she has attended many parenting classes and seminars on gifted education and advocacy. Ms. Guillette is a graduate of Regis College with a degree in mathematics and economics and currently serves on the MAGE Board of Directors.

Magalie Pinney was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts to second generation, struggling Haitian immigrants. She earned her Communications baccalaureate, cum laude, with a minor in Sociology from Regis College.
Magalie is currently a Senior Operations Associate at State Street Corporation. Maggie is the Director of Communications for the MAGE Board and received the MAGE public service award in 2019.