Board of Directors
Meet Denise Michele Hicks

Denise Michele Hicks is originally from a Blue Star Military Family of Chicago, Illinois. She is our current President of AAGT. While in Chicago Public Schools, she participated in gifted programming and STEM enrichment services. She is an alumna from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Northwestern University working to continue her family legacy of service in public science, public education and public health. She currently holds a seat on the National NAGT Committee with the Javits-Frasier Scholars Program and Dr. Martin Jenkins Scholars Program. She has completed her advanced certifications in Gifted and Talented Education at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Currently, while working on her doctoral studies in STEM Ed Leadership, she serves at Arizona State University in the Center for Bio-mediated, Bio-inspired Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory, ASU ACCESS Educational Programs Initiatives and US Military Academies Advising Team for Arizona’s Congressional 7th District.

Meet Vicki Greer

Prior to working on the reservation, Vicki spent five years teaching in Taiwan. Her career has also involved working as as the Office Manager for rescue missions serving the homeless in various parts of the United States, including Alaska, Florida, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. She has an Education Specialist degree with a specialization in Curriculum and Instruction and a Masters degree in International Teaching.
Vicki is married and has three gifted children, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. She loves to read and play music. She lives in Lakeside, Arizona, located in the White Mountains.

Meet Marianne Landrith

Marianne Landrith is a Program Director for the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office. She taught for 35 years in regular and gifted education in the Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, was previously a co-chairperson for the S.U.N. (Serving Unique Needs) Program, and coordinator of the Jacob K. Javits Grant for Sunnyside and Pima County Schools. Marianne is the co-founder of the Southern Arizona Gifted Network which supports gifted coordinators and teachers of the gifted through professional growth opportunities, as well as providing resources and events for parents and families. Marianne has presented at the NAGC Annual Conference, and the AAGT Annual Conference. Marianne holds a B.A. in Elementary Education, and an M.A. in Language, Reading, and Culture, both from the University of Arizona.
Originally from Southern California, Marianne was a gifted student in the early days of gifted programming, and as the daughter of an educator, she has been immersed in education for most of her life. As a teacher, Marianne was always interested in the unique needs of the gifted students, and when she became the mother of a gifted child, it became her passion. She feels strongly about advocating for gifted students, and ensuring these students and their needs are better understood, that they are accepted for who they are (and not just for what they can do), and that every gifted student has the opportunity to learn something new and exciting every day. She is grateful and honored to be a member of the AAGT Board of Directors where she can share in promoting and supporting gifted education.
Marianne enjoys spending her free time in the outdoors hiking, backpacking, camping, or reading a good book on the beach or by a campfire. Sitting at a ballgame is a great way to spend an afternoon, too. She finds the greatest joy in the company of her husband of 37 years (also a teacher), her two grown children, and her two-year-old granddaughter.

Meet Rebekah West-Keur

Rebekah A. West Keur, M.Ed. is a Middle School Gifted Specialist for the Paradise Valley Unified School District teaching in the DLC program. The DLC program is a semi-self-contained gifted program at Sunrise Middle School. She is also an academic Associate with ASU’s Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction Gifted Education department. In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor with Maricopa Community Colleges.
Rebekah is an accomplished educator and teacher leader in gifted education, elementary, middle school, high school, and college education with an emphasis in humanities, Gifted Education, and professional development. She has been working in the field of gifted education for the past ten years in elementary school through college programs in Title I, suburban, national, and international settings including working with the DDC and John’s Hopkins CTY program.
Rebekah has an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Gifted Education from Arizona State University. She has earned multiple degrees from Grand Valley State University including Curriculum and Instruction, English, and Theater, and has studied in English masters programs at GVSU, ASU, and Oxford. She is currently working on her doctorate in Leadership and Innovation at ASU, specializing in K-12 educational leadership where her dissertation is in Increasing Equity in Gifted Programming Through a Multi-faceted Approach to Close the Opportunity Gap.
Rebekah has presented at the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) national gifted conferences, the state Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented (AAGT), SENG conferences, and is a published author on gifted education. She is also currently serving on the NAGC Teaching for High Potential Advisory Committee and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented.

Meet Stephanie Newitt

Being a member of AAGT empowered Stephanie in her advocacy efforts with her local school district. She served on numerous committees with her school district to develop gifted education vision and mission statements and expand gifted education programming. She was also a founding member of the Gilbert Gifted Education Parent Council. She was recognized for her advocacy efforts with the 2017 AAGT Friend of the Gifted Award. Stephanie joined the AAGT Board of Directors in 2018 to support parents in their local advocacy efforts. She has a passion for connecting with parents, helping them find resources and develop a sense of community so that they know they are not alone on their journey. This passion led her to pursue certification to be a SENG Model Parent Group facilitator to help parents find the gifted lens so they can better understand, appreciate and support their quirky, intense, asynchronous gifted children.
Stephanie lived in San Antonio, Texas, for 18 months where she became fluent in Spanish. She and her husband spoke Spanish at home and raised their children to be bilingual. Originally from San Jose, California, Stephanie has called Gilbert, Arizona, home for more than 20 years. She is a former Cub Scout leader, Art Masterpiece parent volunteer, church youth leader and enjoys gardening, reading, camping, and family history. Recently she discovered kayaking! Her favorite flavors are lemon and blackberry and she has a 30 foot long blackberry patch! She loves Arizona sunsets and the Arizona scents of rain and citrus blossoms. She is grateful to be living in Arizona where there is a mandate for gifted education and is appreciative of the opportunity to serve on the AAGT Board of Directors.
Meet Mai-Lon wong

As a native Arizonan, Mai-Lon loves to spend time hiking our lovely mountains around the state, learning pickle ball and golf. As a novice gardener, she is learning more about the resilience of vegetables. Dr. Wong is switching her name to the Nging Nging, the Cantonese name for the grandma on the father’s side. She is super excited to welcome her second grand child this summer.
Dr. Wong’s professional career brought her to AAGT as a way to support the often-neglected education of our gifted students. As a life-long learner and advocate of education, she has worked to reform the school system for the benefit of all students. Dr. Wong serves as the Chair of the Gifted Summer Seminar to promote teacher learning with nationally recognized leaders in Gifted Education.
Meet Michele Thelen

Meet Scott Hagerman

Meet Helen Freeman

Helen Freeman is a native Arizonan, having been born and raised in Phoenix. She is married to Gregg Freeman and they are the parents of 10 gifted children who are now all grown with families of gifted children of their own who are scattered all over the United States. She received a B.A. in Elementary Education and an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Brigham Young University. After moving to Camp Verde, Az, in 1977, and with a houseful of incredible children, she spent her time raising them as a stay-at-home mom, finding ways to give learning experiences for her children by being involved as a volunteer in their school activities and on school Parent Advisory Councils. She also served for 25 years as a Cub Scout leader and trainer, eventually earning Scouting’s Silver Beaver Award in the Verde District. In addition, she founded and directed the Camp Verde Kids’ Chorus, a local children’s community chorus so her children and their friends could have the opportunity to sing and perform and develop their musical talents when there was no music program at the schools.
She also coordinated the yearly Missoula Children’s Theatre residency in Camp Verde and produced and directed many musicals for the schools and community. When her children were all in school, Helen became the Gifted Coordinator/Teacher at Camp Verde Elementary school, where she had the privilege of working for 11 years. During this time she received her Gifted Endorsement and became acquainted with AAGT. Helen was elected to the Camp Verde Unified School District Governing Board, where she still serves and is her 13th year as a board member. Being elected to the Board required her to leave the job she loved to take on a new position as the General Music teacher at American Heritage Academy in Camp Verde. She worked there until she retired in 2018 to be able to spend more time as a grandmother (29 grandchildren so far). She still has a passion for all things gifted.
Meet Michael Butts

Michael Butts was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael took on the responsibility of being a community leader by becoming a Cincinnati Police Officer. Michael enjoyed working with the families in his community within the jurisdiction that he was assigned prior to relocating with his family to Arizona in 2016. While pursuing his undergraduate education at Arizona State University and as a working father of two young sons at the time, Michael joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated in 2011. This membership allowed him to further serve the community of Phoenix residents through several key initiatives of the organization. Those included mentoring high school students, registering citizens to vote, and leading networking programs. In 2017, Michael was approached with the opportunity to lead as an educator. He taught high school seniors for two years using a Cambridge Advanced Curriculum class elective called Global Perspectives. During the next three years, he was tapped to teach Social Studies to fifth grade students. Building and developing the next generation of leaders resonated with Michael in such a way that he enrolled in and completed his Masters’ in Educational Leadership through Northern Arizona University online program while continuing to teach. He passed his Administrator Certification test in 2021 through the Arizona Department of Education and is now supporting the learning initiatives of the Osborn School District community.
Michael is currently completing his doctoral degree through Northern Arizona University Educational Leadership program. His dissertation focuses on looking at the relationships between gifted education programs and Superintendents’ perceptions about gifted education. Michael is the proud father of two boys (Micaiah and Matthew) and two girls (Lauren and Viergela). His hobbies include local community politics, cycling and traveling.
Meet Rowe Van Meter
Originally, Rowe is from Cleveland, Ohio and she has lived in Arizona since 1995. My bachelor’s degree is in Journalism from Arizona State University and my masters degree is in Elementary Education from Cambridge College (Boston). Rowe completed my doctorate in organizational leadership with an emphasis on K-12 education. Her dissertation topic was how teachers meet gifted students’ academic needs in regular classrooms.
In my free time, Rowe loves to spend time with her husband and two sons. As a family they love to camp and ride ATVs during the fall and winter and visit San Diego in the summer. In addition, Rowe enjoys reading skiing and traveling to exotic places.
Meet Jessica Zimmerman
Before stepping into her current coaching and coordinating roles, Zimmerman taught kindergarten, second and third grades, as well as transitioning into a resource gifted teacher role in Roosevelt School District’s gifted program, teaching 150 students weekly, grades K-8. She focuses on gifted students and is committed to providing access and equity to ensure that they receive a high-quality education and are supported holistically, as they deserve.
Concerned about maintaining gifted students’ access to appropriate instruction during school building closures, Zimmerman quickly developed Zoom lessons and materials for online instruction, then met online with gifted students in large groups, small groups and one-to-one. Zimmerman has created and facilitated online gifted teacher training modules that were approved by the district board and positions Roosevelt’s teachers to earn endorsement and certification requirements for teaching gifted students. She acts as the districts gifted coordinator, meets with the 18 district site coordinators, and supports cluster grouping, self-contained, and resource gifted programming structures across the district, along with supporting ways to find equitable identification practices of gifted students in Roosevelt.
She earned a bachelor’s in communications in 2010 and a master’s in elementary education and teaching in 2013. In 2021, Jessica was recognized as the first ever, Milken Educator Award winner in her district, and was awarded $25,000 dollars, along with recognition and excellence in her impact on students through her leadership. In Phoenix Magazine, she was named one of the “Great 48 in 2022”.
Jessica Zimmerman is a mother to her 3-year-old son Oliver. Oliver is an avid “reader” and book collector. Among his 500 books his favorite authors at the moment are Todd Parr, Eric Carle, Mercer Mayer, James Dean, and Dr. Seuss.
AAGT Members At Large
DONNA CAMPBELL
LEADERSHIP COUNSEL
CAREFREE, AZ
JULIE GUNNIGLE
LEADERSHIP COUNSEL
PHOENIX, AZ
ADAM LANINGHAM
LEADERSHIP COUNSEL
CHANDLER, AZ
CONNIE CROWLEY
ADVOCACY TASK FORCE
BUCKEYE, AZ
NADIA WESTEN
ADVOCACY TASK FORCE
FORT HUACHUCA, AZ
KARI SJURSEN
ANNUAL CONFERENCE TASK FORCE
TUCSON, AZ
LISA RODDY
PARENT INSTITUTE TASK FORCE
PARADISE VALLEY, AZ
CINDY BROWN
PARENT INSTITUTE TASK FORCE
CAREFREE, AZ
JANIS BARON
ADVOCACY TASK FORCE
SCOTTSDALE, AZ
KATHIE BAILEY
SUMMER SEMINAR & ANNUAL CONFERENCE TASK FORCE
BENSON, AZ
LAURA DORRELL
MEMBER ENGAGEMENT/AFFILIATE TASK FORCE
TEMPE, AZ
AAGT Staff

Meet Heather Pace

Heather joined AAGT as the Executive Director in August 2019. Her background is in promotions, communications, marketing and web development. She “accidentally” became an executive director in 2011 after meeting a client at her marketing company when they approached her for a digital marketing consult. They had recently lost their executive director and she stepped in for the interim to help with branding and event promotion. After 90 days, they asked her to stay on permanently and the rest is history.
Heather has always wanted to have passion in her career, so working in the non-profit sector fulfills that desire. Education is and has always been a priority in Heather’s life, so it felt natural to work with an organization that helps our unique Arizona learners.
Born and raised in Scottsdale, AZ, Heather is a product of the Scottsdale Unified School District and was identified Gifted in 5th grade. Right around gifted programming began in Arizona. Heather is the mother of two and step-mom to three uniquely talented kids. Plus three dogs – life can be quite chaotic!
In her spare time, Heather loves spending time with her husband in their mountain home and traveling as many places as possible. She loves hiking, reading, cooking, photography and constantly re-decorating and arranging furniture.
Meet Taylor Nakakihara

An administrative professional for over a decade, Taylor has always loved being an “office lady” and is honored to have been chosen for this role in supporting AAGT’s mission. She is inspired to find new ways for the organization to reach even more people to connect them with gifted education support that can change lives.