Austin Independent School District : Gifted & Talented

Rhonda Boyer, Administrative Supervisor

rboyer@austinisd.org 512-414-0279

Rhonda Boyer, M.Ed., has served in various roles in the Austin Independent School District since 1994 and has been in Advanced Academic Services since 2004. Her current responsibility is Administrative Supervisor. She has presented at the local, state, and national level on a variety of topics including underachievement, affective education, and talent development. She has also presented for the College Board on topics related to district-level management of the AP program. Her teaching experience focused on working with at-promise youth in grades 6-12 at Mendez Middle School, Alternative Learning Center, Crockett High School, and Garza Independence High School. Her certifications include Gifted and Talented, Special Education, English as a Second Language, English Language Arts, Reading, Speech Communications, and Principal. In 2004 she was honored as Austin ISD's High School Teacher of the Year and in 2010 as the TAGT Region XIII's Advocate of the Gifted. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia Lutheran University.

Sheila Dunn, Administrative Assistant III

sheila.dunn@austinisd.org 512-414-9986

Sheila Dunn began working for Austin Independent School District in 2003 as the Principal's Secretary at Reagan High School. Three years later was hired as a Payroll Specialist III at the Carruth Administration Center. She then transitioned to the Department of Advanced Academic Services. Since coming on board with our department, Sheila has really organized the department with standard processes and continues to make improvements with our registration process for summer institutes as well as coordinating and streamlining many other projects. Sheila has two teenage sons, Christopher and Nicholas. Along with the boys keeping her busy with a variety of events including football games, track, and baseball games/tournaments, she has returned to college to obtain her degree.

Delaine Canales, Data Processor

dcanales@austinisd.org 512-414-0139

Delaine Canales has worked in education for over 18 years and has been the Data Processing Assistant for the Department of Advanced Academic Services since 2005. She is responsible for the department's Gifted and Talented teacher database and testing materials. She earned a bachelor's degree in Communications from Texas A&M University, Kingsville in 1991 and began her career as an education reporter. Her creativity and design skills led to a three-year public relations position where she honed her desktop publishing, photography, and public speaking skills. She worked at the Professional Development Academy for five years creating the training catalog and maintaining the district's teacher training database. During her 5-year hiatus raising two children she continued to work for AISD on the New Teacher Handbook, TEKS Learning Guides, and various other data entry, transcription, and desktop publishing projects.

Debi Torres, GT Program Coordinator

dktorres@austinisd.org 512-414-0155

Debi Torres joined Austin Independent School District in 1992 after teaching for three years in the Rio Grande Valley and has been in Advanced Academic Services since 2004, initially as a Program Specialist and more recently as a Program Coordinator. Prior to this position she was a teacher for fifteen years and earned her National Board Teacher Certification in the area of Early Adolescent English Language Arts in 2001. Her teaching experience includes grades 1-4 bilingual and regular education, and Reading Recovery at Widen and Allan Elementary Schools; language arts and social studies at Lamar Middle School; and English at Bowie High School. She earned her bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Texas-Pan American and is currently completing her master's degree in Educational Administration from Concordia Lutheran University. In 2006 she was honored as the Region XIII Advocate of the Gifted from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented and has presented nationally on a variety of gifted and talented topics including student inquiry, global issues, and advanced English language learners. Debi is married to an Austin ISD high school teacher/coach and all of three of their boys have attended AISD schools.

Rodney Jones, Advanced Academics Coordinator

rodney.jones@austinisd.org 512-414-2031

Rodney Jones joined the team at Advanced Academic Services in 2011 after serving as Assistant Principal at Lamar Middle School for three years. Before returning to Austin ISD in 2008, he taught middle school language arts, Talented and Gifted Independent Study, and Pre-Journalism I. Rodney entered campus administration in 2004 as an Assistant Principal for Killeen ISD. His experiences include curriculum writing for advanced courses in middle school language arts and Talented and Gifted Independent Study, trainer for Pre-AP language arts teachers, and coordinator for multiple professional development presentations to teachers and administrators. Rodney has a bachelor's degree in Applied Learning and Development-Elementary Education from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree from Tarleton State University Central Texas.

Tina Dong, World Languages Coordinator

Tina.dong@austinisd.org 512-414-4212

Tina Dong is the Instructional Coordinator for World Languages and Journalism. Although she only recently assumed this position in July of 2010, Tina is a former student and teacher of AISD. She taught French and Exploratory Languages for four years at Paredes Middle School where she became the 2003 Teacher of the Year and advanced to Middle School Teacher of the Year for Area 5. Tina also taught all levels of French as well as Spanish I and II for seven years at Vista Ridge High School in Leander ISD. She has served as the department chair at the middle and high school levels and has presented annual professional development sessions at the Leander District Conference in order to share pedagogical tools with other language teachers. She also had the privilege of leading a workshop that focused on best practices in the foreign language classroom at the 2008 National College Board Forum. Tina holds a B.A. in French and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Texas and a M.A. in French from the University of Santa Barbara in California, where she received the first ever Distinguished Scholar Award in the thirty-year history of the French Institute. She is happy to be back in AISD working with colleagues and teachers to advance the World Languages program and produce students that will truly become global communicators in college, career, and life.