GEM Award Winners

Betty graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska in 1979 and took the first gifted education class offered at her college. She substituted for 13 years in the Boise School District from 1989-2003 and was a long-term substitute for two GATE facilitators during that time. Those experiences solidified her desire to teach gifted students, and she moved into her first teaching position at Horizon Elementary School, in Boise, Idaho, where she taught a pilot self-contained classroom with K-3 graders. In 2009, Betty began teaching first and second grade highly gifted students in a self-contained classroom at Collister Elementary School, where she taught for 10 years. She retired in May 2019, so she now has time to partake in her favorite pastimes of xeric gardening, walking and hiking, and she has the luxury of time to indulge in her favorite activity, reading!

Betty’s passion for gifted education and her kind heart have touched the lives of many during her 30 years in the Boise School District. She is loved and respected by all who meet her.

Currently the Chair of Gifted Education at the School of Education at Whitworth University, Jann has been a fierce and steady advocate for gifted children for more than 30 years. She is a respected professor, advisor, and speaker in the field of gifted education. She has served as the Program Coordinator and President of Edufest since 1997, helping to provide Idaho teachers with the highest quality gifted education professional development in the state. Jann’s contribution to gifted education in Idaho is significant, and will continue to ripple throughout Idaho’s classrooms. Outside of Idaho, she is prolific in her advocacy and development of teachers of the gifted, and consistently demonstrates a commitment to gifted children around the world.

Diane has shared her love for creativity with gifted students and teachers throughout the states of Idaho and Washington. She has worked tirelessly to bring awareness to gifted education and her passion for this is always evident. Diane taught for 39 years in the public schools, she served as President of ITAG/SAGE and is currently the artistic director for the Future Design Academy, she is a trainer for ArtsED Washington and loves being retired!

Dianne has made an enormous difference into the lives of many. She is generous with support, advice, expertise and her time all with grace and professionalism. Her former students took away knowledge, but also assurance that she would support them as they grew up and figured out the path meant for them. Dianne is resourceful, bright, and she models what it truly means to be a lifelong learner.

After moving to Boise in 1975, she taught special education at Longfellow Elementary School for two years, then resigned from the school district and started working at the State Department of Education on a Special Ed Javits Grant to train teachers throughout the state in the implementation of PL.94-142. She continued working part and full time for the SDE until 1985. In 1985-1986, she filled in for Linda von Tagen and Susan Riley in the GATE Program while they were on leave.

In 1986, she was hired as a full-time GATE Facilitator based at Hillcrest Elementary School. She has worked at Highlands, Washington , Longfellow, Hillcrest, Monroe, Owyhee, Whitney, Liberty and was part of the original staff at Riverside Elementary School, starting in 1992. She has been at Riverside since then. Dianne is most proud of the individual connections she has made with students.