Payson Area Association
for the Gifted and Talented
Tentative Keynote Speakers
Jason McIntosh has been the Collaborative Peer Teacher for the Gifted in the Avondale Elementary School District for three years and an AAGT Board Member for one. Mr. McIntosh previously taught in Ohio, Georgia, and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Eight of his fourteen years of teaching experience have been in gifted education. He is Nationally Board Certified and has a Master's Degree in Elementary Education, as well as, a Master's in the Art of Teaching with a specialty in Biology.
Sandra N. Kaplan has been a teacher and administrator of gifted programs in an urban school district in California. Currently, she is clinical professor in learning and instruction at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. She has authored articles and books on the nature and scope of differentiated curriculum for gifted students. Her primary area of concern is modifying the core and differentiated curriculum to meet the needs of inner-city, urban, gifted learners. She is a past president of the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). She has been nationally recognized for her contributions to gifted education.
Dr. Beljan is the past president of the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. He also holds child and adult diplomate qualifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology. Dr. Beljan completed two Post-Doctoral Fellowship programs in Pediatric Psychology and Pediatric Neuropsychology. Dr. Beljan’s professional focus is on Gifted Intelligence, Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Learning Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Executive Functioning Deficit and intervention. Dr. Beljan also specializes in the pediatric psychology of pain management. Dr. Beljan co-wrote Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis in Gifted Children and Adults. He has a private practice in Scottsdale, Arizona and is a nationally retained forensic neuropsychology expert and has lectured internationally.
Teena Flesher is an instructor and a supervisor of student teachers within the Mary Lou Fulton’s Teacher College of Arizona State University. Teena received her Master's Degree from Northern Arizona University and her Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University. She has been in the field of education since 1997, and has taught regular elementary and gifted students. She has presented at several local and state-wide conferences and workshops. She has been educating undergraduate and graduate-level teachers at the college level since 2003, in multiple programs of study. Teena also currently works as a Gifted Education Specialist in a local school district.