New Members of NAGC Board of Directors

Lauri B. Kirsch, Ed.D., Florida Gifted Network

We are NAGC. We are teachers, parents, coordinators, counselors, university professors, and researchers who support and advocate for gifted children. Each of us is a voice to be heard; each of us has a contribution to make as we strive to positively impact the lives of gifted youth, our nation’s future.

I seek election as President-Elect because I’m dedicated to and supportive of NAGC’s mission and have a steadfast commitment to advocating for gifted children.

Leadership matters. Accomplishing NAGC’s mission requires tenacious leadership with a track-record of success in changing minds, influencing policy, and empowering equitable practices. With years of experience, I bring deep understanding of our membership, our organization, and the field of gifted education.

I’ve demonstrated success as an organizational leader with service to NAGC as Governance-Secretary, Treasurer, State-Board Representative, and Committee-Chair. Within Florida, I’ve collaboratively influenced statewide policy development as a State-Affiliate President. My decades-long efforts as gifted-coordinator in the 8th largest school district resulted in national recognition for strong policy and equitable programming.

Shelagh A. Gallagher, Ph.D., Education Consultant, Engaged Education, Charlotte, NC

All education should engage and challenge children; ideally, gifted education also cultivates higher levels of reason, imagination, and passion for learning--an education that is qualitatively different from the norm. I want to serve NAGC as a member of the Board because the nation still has a long way to go to provide all gifted students with this education. We still lack a national infrastructure: many states have no mandate for gifted education and many states with mandates have little or no funding. All states struggle with inequitable access to gifted programs. Gifted education remains largely unaddressed in preservice teacher preparation; this perpetuates pervasive problems including insufficient high-end differentiation in the regular classroom, infrequent opportunities for gifted students to accelerate, and inaccurate referrals to gifted programs--especially the persistent under-identification of gifted minority and low-income students. We have made progress providing models of effective, rigorous curriculum, but we still need to define the skills and qualities that represent the heart of best practice in instruction for teachers of gifted students. I want to help NAGC promote policies, build relationships, and support research to ensure equitable, accessible, high-quality programs for all gifted students regardless of location, income, or race.

Tamra Stambaugh, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Executive Director Programs for Talented Youth, Vanderbilt University

Investment in human capital is critical. Not too long after I started teaching, I was elected to the board of the Ohio Association for Gifted Children. My work on the board taught me how organizations comprised of knowledgeable, passionate, and energetic individuals who work together can create positive changes when focused on a common goal. I have served in a variety of roles during and since my state board service including teacher of gifted, administrator of gifted programs, director of pre-collegiate programs, curriculum developer, researcher, and professor. In each of these roles I have relied on and contributed to the work and influence of NAGC. NAGC is a place to share ideas and resources, discuss empirical evidence and theories including how those translate into practice, and to invest in human capital. I want to contribute my energy, creativity, knowledge and experience toward shaping NAGC’s ongoing efforts to equip others in providing appropriate and equitable educational opportunities for all gifted children.