Talent Development Institute

TDI 2009 Staff Biographies

Emily Bogue - Bio coming soon!

Lucy Bogue has been involved in TDI at least 9 years. She first participated in the adult Talent Development Institute that took place at the same time as the student TDI in 1999 (daughter Emily was a camper at TDI that summer; son Max started coming to TDI a few years later). It was during that week that she decided to pursue her masters in education of the gifted, a degree which she earned from Johnson State College in 2002.

Lucy’s work experience includes being State Consultant for Gifted in Vermont, a job she shared with Dr. Carol Story for 15 months through a Goals 200 Grant. She has taught education courses at JSC at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, facilitated many professional development sessions for educators, led discussion groups and seminars for parents of gifted children, and chaired conferences for the Vermont Council for Gifted Education. Lucy has also worked as a camp counselor, a day camp and playground program director, a teacher of swimming, canoeing, and gymnastics, a lifeguard, a classroom volunteer, a volunteer math teacher, an ELF instructor, an Odyssey of the Mind coach, and a registered nurse for 17 years on the maternity/newborn nursery floor at Fletcher Allen. She is passionate about writing poetry and singing.

Most recently Lucy has been the co-director (with Ellen Koier) of TDI Johnson, director of the Leadership Program at TDI Johnson, and the director of TDI Williston. She is one of the founders of, and is currently the president of, the Green Mountain Center for Gifted Education.

Max Bogue has been part of TDI Johnson for many years, the last two in the Leadership Program. Last summer he also led a chess class and was in charge of active games at TDI Williston. He loves tennis, video games, mathematics, and playing the guitar. Max has been home schooled since sixth grade, and is currently taking classes at the Community College of Vermont, in lieu of high school. Max is webmaster of both the TDI and GMC websites.

Nicole Dagesse graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a BFA in dance and BS in Environmental Science. Currently Nicole is living, teaching, and dancing in the Boston area.  Nicole is a Mad Scientist by day, traveling to schools and offering hands-on science enrichment for after-school programs, workshops and birthday parties.  In addition, she teaches dance at the Broadway Bound Dance Center, offering classes in Modern, Jazz, Tap, Yoga, and Pilates, incorporating techniques in dance composition and improvisation.  Nicole utilizes these skills while dancing with several dance companies, including the Boston Somatic Dance Company and Bennett Dance Company in Boston, as well as Wire Monkey Dance of Holyoke, Massachusetts.  With Wire Monkey, Nicole enjoys exploring the vertical dimensions of dance using mobile scaffolding, most recently performing at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival in New York City.  Her latest pursuits include rock climbing, salsa dancing, and a renewed Yoga practice.  Nicole is returning to TDI for her sixth season where she will share her passion for movement in Everybody Dance Now, and reveal some of the science behind magic in Out of Thin Air.

Jackson Fuller - Bio coming soon!

Douglas Gage - Bio coming soon!

Since 1977, Jon Gailmor has been performing in schools, colleges, resorts, restaurants and folk clubs throughout the country, serenading at child care and senior centers, singing at prisons, hospitals, corporate and private parties, delivering unorthodox high school commencement addresses and talking to students far and wide about alternative career choices.

Jon presents songwriting residencies and workshops for students in pre-school through college, and helps companies and other organizations create their own masterpieces. To aid children and grownups alike in discovering their gifts is one of the great joys of his life.

Jon Gailmor has been honored as an “Extraordinary Vermonter” by the governor, received the Mayor’s Peace Prize in Burlington, and was awarded a Silver Citation by the Vermont Arts Council. He sang as Vermont’s representative at the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and, in 1996, was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch through Brattleboro, on its way to Atlanta. He has toured with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, has released five solo albums, and lives with his family in Elmore, Vermont.

Luke Hands is a native born Vermonter. He left Vermont in 1999 and attended a private school in Connecticut. He is currently a sophomore at Houghton College in Houghton, NY where he is studying psychology and thinking about pursuing a secondary education degree. He has a passion for psychology, history, literature and ultimate Frisbee!

Robin Hands is a former teacher and school principal. She earned her Master’s Degree in Gifted Education from Johnson State College in 1991. She is currently a full time doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Leah Muth Hynes recently retired from teaching after 20 years in Georgia, VT and six years in the Boston, MA area where she worked with middle school students to better their understanding of math.  She is a 2004 graduate of Johnson State College with a Master of Arts in Education (Gifted and Talented).  She lives in Milton, Vermont with her two teenage daughters, five indoor cats, one large dog, and two Mickey Mouse fish.

Leslie Hynes - Bio coming soon!

Ellen Koier has served as the Gifted & Talented Program coordinator at the Cambridge Elementary School since 1989! During this time she has also taught in the regular classroom, grades three through seven. She has a master's degree in gifted education, has filled numerous offices and board positions in the Vermont Council for Gifted Education, was voted teacher of the year for the Lamoille North School District in 2000, and is returning for her 7th year as the Assistant Director of TDI Johnson. She lives in Morrisville with her husband, Davis, and her children, Abby and Davis.

Elissa Narowski - Bio coming soon!

Chris Peterson has been involved with the Talent Development Institute as a student or counselor since its inception. He has taught a diverse array of courses designed to help students achieve creative goals through computer applications, as well as supervised physically active exploratories. A Legal Studies major, Information Technology minor, enrolled in the Honors College at UMass Amherst, Chris plays guitar, rock climbs, and writes for a comedy website. His passions include intellectual debate and discussion, Apple computers, and pretentious hair metal. While not teaching, he works as a professional dragon-slayer in the former Soviet bloc.

Eric Peterson - Bio coming soon!

Kylie Slater - Bio coming soon!

Dr. Carol Story retired recently from her position as a Professor of Education at Johnson State College. While there, she directed the Master’s in Education of the Gifted program. She founded the Talent Development Institute and the Green Mountain Center for Gifted Education. She is a consultant in gifted education and continues to work as an adjunct professor at Johnson. Carol received her doctorate from the University of Connecticut and is a member of the resource bank of the National Research Center on Gifted and Talented at the university.