Dr. John Barge
State School Superintendent, Georgia Department of Education
Dr. John Barge was born and raised in Cobb County, Georgia, graduated from Campbell High School in 1984, and attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia on academic and journalism scholarships where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1988.
John has earned three advanced degrees, a master’s degree and a specialist’s degree from the State University of West Georgia and his doctorate degree in educational leadership from the University of Georgia. In his 20 years in education, Dr. Barge has served as a high school English teacher, middle school Spanish teacher, assistant principal, and principal. He also served as the State Director of Career, Technical and Agriculture Education for the Georgia Department of Education. John has been recognized as a STAR teacher in 1996, as Georgia’s Assistant Principal of the Year in 2001, and received the Berry College Alumni Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2005.
Prior to becoming State School Superintendent, John served as the Director of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction with the Bartow County School System.
John and his wife Loraine, long-time Floyd County residents, have been married for 19 years. They have a 15 year-old daughter who attends public school in Floyd.
Dr. Joseph Renzulli
Professor, University of Connecticut; Director of National Research Center
Joseph Renzulli is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, where he also serves as Director of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. His research has focused on the identification and development of creativity and giftedness in young people and on organizational models and curricular strategies for differentiated learning environments that contribute to total school improvement. A focus of his work has been on applying the pedagogy of gifted education to the improvement of learning for all students. He was designated a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at the University of Connecticut in 2000, and in 2003 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In 2009 Dr. Renzulli received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award for Educational Innovation. The American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology named Dr. Renzulli among the 25 most influential psychologists in the world. Although Joe has obtained millions of dollars in research grants, he lists his proudest professional accomplishment as being the founder of the summer Confratute program at UConn, which began in 1978 and has served thousands of teachers and administrators from around the world.
Jean Watts
Teacher and Author of two humorous books related to gifted children, In Search of Perspective and Off Hours
Jean Watts has been a teacher for 25 years in Maine. She has taught fifth and sixth grades, K-8 gifted, art, algebra, and classes at the University of Maine in the History of Education. She has a BS in Psychology from Kansas State University, an M.Ed. from the University of Maine, and last year took a seminar at the Harvard Learning Differences Conference. Her favorite career, however, was that of raising her four children, who are now grown and being paid back with children of their own. Jean is the author of two cartoon books about gifted children and motherhood, In Search of Perspective, and Off Hours, and has illustrated a bit for others. She is delighted, if befuddled, to be using technology in the ever accellerating quest to help all kids discover their strengths and be excited about learning.
Dr. Brian Housand
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University
Brian Housand is an assistant professor in the department of Curriculum and Instruction and coordinator of the Academically and Intellectually Gifted Program at East Carolina University. Dr. Housand earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut’s National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented with an emphasis in both gifted education and instructional technology. His column, Technology Untangled, appears in the NAGC publication Teaching for High Potential. Brian frequently presents and works as an educational consultant on the integration of technology and enrichment into the curriculum. He is currently researching ways in which technology can enhance the learning environment and is striving to define creative-productive giftedness in a digital age. http://brianhousand.com
Dr. Sally Krisel
Director Innovative and Advanced Programs, Hall County Schools; NAGC Board of Directors
Dr. Sally Krisel is the Director of Innovative and Advanced Programs for Hall County Schools (Gainesville, GA). In that capacity it is her job to “raise the bar” for as many students as possible, increasing high-level programming options for gifted students and extending as appropriate the pedagogy once thought to be the exclusive domain of gifted education to a much larger group to improve student engagement and achievement for all students. In the last five years, the system has won approval for three International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs; and it has launched eight charter schools and eight “niche” programs of choice, all of which are based on a philosophy of talent development. http://www.hallco.org/rigor
Prior to accepting the position in Hall County in July 2006, Dr. Krisel served for ten years as the Gifted Education Specialist at the Georgia Department of Education; and from 1983-1996, she was Director of Student Assessment and Gifted Education for Clarke County School District in Athens, Georgia.
A member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), Krisel is also a part-time faculty member in the Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia (UGA). She is author of numerous book chapters and articles in the field, and she has been recognized by UGA’s College of Education and NAGC for her contributions. In 2004 Krisel was named the winner of the UGA College of Education Professional Achievement Alumni Award and NAGC’s Community Service Award. Sally is a Past-President of GAGC and winner of both the GAGC Leadership and Margaret Bynum Awards.
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