Teri Appell is a consummate GT educator, possessing the intuitiveness, wisdom, and strategies needed to guide individual students in discovering, or often rediscovering, their love of learning. It is common to hear stories about the hesitant reader who becomes the child never without a book, or the kid who hates science excitedly telling stories of hands-on discoveries made during a lab.

Throughout the year, in a classroom environment Teri describes as “organized chaos”, students are exposed to activities including: applications of nano technology, states of matter, taxonomy, architecture, and more.  Teri ’s vast experience, expertise, and resources provide exposure to many interesting topics that would never be covered in other classrooms. Her patience and understanding of the gifted child’s sense of humor and sensitivities allows her to positively channel their energy. Teri excels at the challenge of meeting her students’ wide range of emotional needs.

Teri completed her Masters in Gifted Education at UNC, and in 1986 began as an itinerant GT teacher with DPS. Teri is respected throughout the district as an educator who is vocal in both her building and the district for the needs of GT students.  For over 20 years she has been a “step up and get-it-done” type of contributor in her role as educator, advocate, parent, and colleague in the gifted community.

Teri Appell teaches 4th and 5th grades at Southmoor Elementary 

Not all special education teachers desire to work in a school for gifted students.  Not only does she work with the needs of dual exceptional students, but she will gather other children who do not have IEP’s into small groups to give them a needed skill boosts as well.  She spends endless hours supporting and guiding parents to available assistance for their children, and handles her caseload with expertise, compassion, and timeliness. 
One student compared Colleen to ice cream - “She makes you feel good after you talk to her.”

She has worked very closely with children with Aspersers and Autism Syndromes, attending meetings with them to learn more about the condition, and then working with teachers to assure that our classrooms offer a supportive and appropriate learning environment for these children.  Colleen has made a great impact on twice exceptional children and families.

Colleen is the special education teacher at Ebert Elementary’s Polaris Program.

Jim Loan has been one of the most instrumental educators in the Denver metro area over the past thirty years.  As one of the founders of Denver Academy, a school for students with learning differences, his foresight and leadership has helped hundreds of 2E students to finally experience the success in school that they deserve.  Jim has always understood the struggles many students have in traditional school systems. 
Under his leadership, Denver Academy has grown to one of the largest schools for students with unique learning styles west of the Mississippi. Denver Academy has differentiated instruction for over three decades due to Jim’s recognition of the need for teacher training. He supports the faculty in helping them understand how to teach to each student’s strengths. 
 Jim started his education career in southern California in 1968 teaching inner city youth in a heavily populated gang neighborhood.  During his time at Denver Academy Jim was involved in starting Project Intercept, a teacher training program that has been instrumental in training teachers in school districts in New York, Texas, Louisianan and the Virgin Islands; winning national recognition in New York for it’s positive effect in preventing student drop out rates.

Linda's vision and advocacy for gifted individuals have influenced legislators, parents, educators, administrators, and the like, to consider and institute positive changes for the sake of our nation's brightest and most capable children.

Linda earned her Ph.D. in Special Education and Educational Psychology in 1973 under the direction of Dr. Leo Buscaglia at the University of Southern California. She founded the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development and its subsidiaries, the Gifted Development Center, and Visual-Spatial Resource in Denver, Colorado.  Her research on giftedness led to discovering that one-sixth of the gifted population suffers from hidden learning disabilities, and at least one-sixth of the learning-disabled population demonstrates visual-spatial gifts. A passionate advocate for both gifted and learning-disabled children, Linda affirms the positive aspects of thinking and feeling differently.
 
A prolific writer, Linda has authored such classic books as Upside-Down Brilliance:  The Visual-Spatial Learner, Cognitive Skills, Auditory-Language Skills, Visual-Motor Skills, and Gross Motor Skill. She has also written numerous articles and delivered hundreds of lectures throughout the world. Thousands of children from around the world have been tested at the Gifted Development Center.  In her 46 years working with gifted and 2E children Linda has made a profound difference in the lives of children, parents, and educators.