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Founders and Directors
Donna Hulsey and Karen Langdon founded and co-direct ACE Academy.
Donna Hulsey
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Head of School
As an undergraduate at Rhodes College and a graduate student at the College of William and Mary,
Mrs. Hulsey pursued a strong foundation in the classical liberal arts, linguistics, literary analysis,
rhetoric, and composition. Mrs. Hulsey has worked as a senior technical writer, publication editor,
and project manager in business; a freelance writer in banking and healthcare; and an instructor in
writing in elementary and college classrooms. Outside academics, she has enjoyed teaching in
several realms, but her
favorite challenge has been coaching teams in creative problem solving (Odyssey of the Mind and
Destination Imagination) since 1990. Led by the needs of her own children into advocacy for gifted
children, Mrs. Hulsey has trained in best methods for teaching gifted learners, as well as
Montessori methods and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. A veteran of several
startups, Mrs. Hulsey has been a founding member of several professional organizations and publications.
dhulsey@austingifted.org
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Karen Langdon, M.Ed.
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Director of Admissions and Counselor
Mrs. Langdon graduated from Emory University with a double major in Biology and Psychology and
completed her Masters in Education at the University of Arizona, with a specialty in counseling and parent
education. Employment in several medical hospitals followed, where she did parent education and training,
therapy, marketing, and served as a consultant and speaker on a range of medical topics.
Mrs. Langdon completed all coursework for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South
Carolina and finished her internship at Austin State Hospital. When she struggled to find gifted services
for her own children, Mrs. Langdon changed directions. In 1999, she co-founded Summer Wonders, a summer
program for gifted students, and completed an internship at the Gifted Development Center in Denver,
emphasizing assessment of gifted children and counseling families on the social and emotional needs of
this population. She serves as a community resource and public speaker on the needs of gifted students,
conducts teacher training, and helped found the Austin chapter of the American Creativity Association.
klangdon@austingifted.org
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Teachers
Deanna Buckley
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Science
Mrs. Buckley is completing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas. Her
extensive teaching experience includes science instruction for students of all ages, from elementary
to college, as well as curriculum design and training for teachers. She has published several articles,
including a recent article in The Science Teacher. Mrs. Buckley's classes are fully hands-on, detailed,
and somewhat rowdy. ACE students often have to be coerced out of the science classroom and frequently
spend their breaks there.
dbuckley@austingifted.org
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Laura Zahm
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Science
Mrs. Zahm has a master's degree in Geology from the University of Texas. After spending 10 years working
in research for the petroleum industry, she has turned her energy toward her true passion, teaching
science. She has served on several K-12 education committees, published in many scientific journals,
and spent most of her spare time (when not working and raising her three gifted children) working in
the classroom helping to enrich the "hands-on" science activities at the elementary and middle school levels.
Mrs. Zahm plans to share her passion for the natural sciences with all the students at ACE not only to
help them learn about the inner-workings of the world around them but to help them grow into
stewards of the planet for the future.
lzahm@austingifted.org
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Lauren Siegel
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Math
Mrs. Siegel received her undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988.
After spending time in the workforce, and while raising two gifted sons, she trained specifically to
teach math using the inquiry method with the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences UTeach
program. She is certified to teach mathematics at both the middle and high school levels in Texas.
Mrs. Siegel also teaches spinning at the YMCA and volunteers regularly with Mobile Loaves and Fishes,
and with Caritas. A favorite math class at ACE is Mrs. Siegel's annual bead extravaganza, featuring
bead jewelry making and related spreadsheets. She will be making two presentations at this year's
conference for Texas the Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) about the math labs she
developed over the past two years alone and in cooperation with our Art Teacher, Martha Merry.
siegel@austingifted.org
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Anita Sybesma
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Math
A native of Austin, Mrs. Sybesma holds a B.S. in Education with Mathematics concentration from UT Austin.
She has additional credits and hours in GT training, the IBO Middle Years Programme, and the ACC
Center for Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations. Before coming to ACE, she led AISD students through
26 years of middle school math, regular and GT prealgebra, and regular and GT algebra. She has wowed
our Summer Wonders students with math puzzles and string art math. As Mom to a gifted child, Mrs. Sybesma
has advocated for gifted education while also volunteering in her church and community. She is most
proud of her awards that include Austin Association of Gifted and Talented, Board member and GT Teacher
of the Year; Alpha Delta Kappa, Chapter and District President; campus finalist for Teacher of the
Year at Fulmore MS and Murchison MS; Golden Apple Award at Murchison MS; Certificate of Award at
Murchison MS and Fulmore MS; and unofficial but most precious -- plaque from the students of the
first and only 7th grade GT algebra class at Murchison MS inscribed, "Thanks for an awesome year
Mrs. Sybesma!! 1999 -- 2000 7th Grade Algebra Class" surrounded by pictures of the students from class.
sybesma@austingifted.org
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Donna Hulsey
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Primary and Middle School Language Arts, World History, Student Newspaper
Mrs. Hulsey's LA classes combine the classical with the creative, integrating Latin and Greek roots for
English words, a strong foundation in grammar, research techniques, presentation skills, and writing
in many forms. All of this periodically goes into the slightly chaotic publication of the school paper.
Exploration of world cultures integrates art, music, science, math, and mythology as we inquire into
the development of various civilizations, philosophies, and religions.
dhulsey@austingifted.org
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Maya McElroy
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Language Arts
Mrs. McElroy received her BA in English from Texas A&M, Texas Teacher Certification at A&M Corpus Christi,
and is currently pursuing her MSIS (in school librarianship) at UT's School of Information. In between,
she spent nine years teaching English in public schools. Her ACE Language Arts class focus on
writing, both creative and expository; fiction and non-fiction reading; building vocabulary; and
interpreting poetry and plays--her favorite! (They are called "plays" for a reason!) When she's not
in school, she enjoys movies, camping, and road trips--and visiting libraries.
mmcelroy@austingifted.org
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Sue Borel
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Kindergarden and First Grade
Mrs. Borel's educational background includes a Bachelor's in Education from the University of Michigan
and a Master's in Education from the University of Texas. She also holds teaching certificates in
several areas from K-12. Her teaching experience includes elementary level, high school level,
and community college level, but her passion is for the primary grades. She has many hours
of G/T teacher training from the Texas Association of Gifted & Talented, and she was one of the
founding board members of the Austin Association of Gifted and Talented. For several years she
served as the G/T Parent Representative at her own children's school, where she was a tireless
advocate for adequate services for identified students. Mrs. Borel has two sons and one daughter,
and her personal interests include reading, traveling, and family activities.
sborel@austingifted.org
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Melinda Rincon
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Preschool
Mrs. Rincon left the corporate world to enter teaching, and she never looked back. Having taught classes
from elementary to adult, she found her love at the Pre-Kindergarten level. In her Pre-K classroom at ACE,
Mrs. Rincon's students work together in small groups as well as independently, working through centers,
reading time, and weekly matches of Scrabble and chess. Socially and emotionally, her students are
at a Pre-K level; academically, they work at first and second grade levels. When not in the
classroom, Mrs. Rincon's passions are gardening, reading, travel, and family activities.
mrincon@austingifted.org
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Karen Langdon
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Emotional Intelligence
Understanding and learning positive ways to deal with emotions, developing leadership and team skills,
understanding and getting along with others, learning to use positive self-talk are all part of the
Emotional Intelligence curriculum. Topics vary and are based on other aspects
of the curriculum, i.e. social studies, history and language arts. Through hands-on experiential
activities, group discussion, journaling and social interaction, children learn to better understand
themselves and others, build self-esteem and empathy, and learn the positive use of perfectionism
and risk-taking.
klandgon@austingifted.org
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Sally DeForest
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Spanish and Yoga
With 25 years' experience in public and private schools, Ms. DeForest brings an artistic flair to her
classes at ACE. Her Bachelor's degree is in Communications, she holds teaching certificates for Speech and
Spanish, and special college concentrations in Art and Drama. She is also a licensed massage therapist
and yoga instructor. Given any fair-weather opportunity, Ms. Deforest conducts her classes outside.
sdeforest@austingifted.org
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Martha Stroud-Merry
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Creativity Director--Art and Music
Mrs. Stroud-Merry has her degrees in communications and music, but her creativity spans all parts of her
life. As the art teacher at ACE, she introduces the children to classical art forms and terminology as
she guides them in creating their own masterpieces. She has designed Art Make-and-Take days for
ACE families that get parents and siblings deep into the creative process. Outside of classes, Mrs.
Stroud-Merry has operated a jewelry business and organized charity events. In addition to singing
professionally for private events, she practices her classically trained voice as a member of the
Austin Civic Chorus, which performs with the Austin Symphony.
mmerry@austingifted.org
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Amy Lowrey
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Drama
As the founder and owner of Just Imagine! Theater for Kids, Ms. Lowrey has been teaching theater arts
and improvisation to children for many years in Austin. She has also been a long-term teacher for
Summer Wonders.
alowery@austingifted.org
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Paul Chaplin
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Chess
A United States Chess Federation-certified National Master (NM), Mr. Chaplin instructs ACE students
weekly on the basics of chess as well as advanced strategies and tournament play.
pchaplin@austingifted.org
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David Heath
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Robotics
Retired from NASA and inspired with a passion for teaching children, Mr. Heath teaches animation and
robotics to ACE students. At NASA's Johnson Space Center as an Aerospace Engineer for over 30 years,
he worked as a Reentry Specialist (for Apollo & Shuttle), Artificial Intelligence Specialist,
Automation & Robotics Specialist, and a Consumable Analyst. Mr. Heath has Montessori certification
and has written computer software for young children. When not redesigning the world, Mr. Heath travels
the globe and participates in a think tank that addresses global issues.
dheath@austingifted.org
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Coach Bob McLucas
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Physical Education
Owner and Director of Stretch-N-Grow of Central Texas, Coach Bob uses games and exercises to teach
sportsmanship and skills while students learn about the body, proper alignment, and nutrition.
coachbob@austingifted.org
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