Board of Directors 2020
Terri Taylor Straut
Terri Taylor Straut, President is an experienced parent advocate, based on meeting the needs of her gifted and talented children. Terri served on the Board for the Jefferson County Association for Gifted Children for over 15 years. She is also a member of the Colorado Association for Gifted Children (CAGT) and Supporting the Needs of the Gifted (SENG). Terri's focus has been on underachievement and high school programming. She led a small group of parents to advocate for high school GT programming, based on the high school experiences of her oldest son, Patrick.
After Patrick's death, Terri turned her attention to understanding suicide among the gifted, the role of overexcitabilities and to help identify improvements in parent and educator training as well as risk identification. Terri has been telling Patrick’s story, with a focus on his educational environment, gifted and talented and twice-exceptional traits, and personal experiences since 2013. The Center for Gifted Education, in the School of Education at William and Mary accepted Patrick as a case study to evaluate his life and death in the form of a psychological autopsy in 2014. The psychological autopsy was published in Roeper Review on January 14, 2020.
With the study now published, Terri is dedicated to continuing to share the lessons learned from Patrick’s life as a gifted student and his untimely death by suicide with others so that similar situations might not end tragically.
Dr. Blanche Kapushion, Secretary, is an expert educator and administrator of Gifted and Talented programs. Dr. Kapushion served as the Director of Gifted and Talented Education in Jefferson County public schools in Colorado from 2008 to 2016. She currently serves as a Principal Consultant at Global Education Enterprise, an educational consulting firm. Blanche is also Past President of the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented. Blanche was a teacher and administrator in Jeffco schools for her entire professional career. Blanche also serves as an Associate Professor at Regis University teaching courses on GT education, educational research and educational leadership. She has has authored numerous articles and books on gifted and talented education.
Dr. Blanche Kapushion
Martin Straut
Martin Straut, Treasurer, is a seasoned sales professional in the Data and Information Management field. He currently serves as a senior sales associate with Informatica, previous organizational affiliations include Sun Microsystems, BEA and Digital Equipment Company. Martin's many years of experience managing budgets and technical implementation plans make him a great fit for the foundation. As the father of two children, Martin understands that challenges of finding a good education fit and the rigor necessary to help a gifted athlete continue to grow and succeed in her chosen sport. Martin was also Patrick's favorite uncle.
Maryann Billington, Vice President, is a dynamic entrepreneur with years of experience that spans business and education and includes consulting, facilitation, executive coaching, and leadership development for executives in scores of organizations across industries and around the globe. Her areas of expertise include creating education solutions for executive development, organizational transformation, and performance improvement. As the mother of two gifted sons, Maryann knows the challenges of keeping bright kids engaged and motivated to reach their potential, even as they grow into adults!
Maryann Billington
Evan Stevens, At Large Director, is a Jefferson County alumni and product of the GT program. Evan is also a long time friend of the Straut family and best friend to Patrick throughout their childhood. He has 10 years experience in business administration and is a current small business owner. Evan is also an advocate for the Jeffco OELS program and lived in residence at Mount Evans OELS teaching and working with both GT and sixth grade student programming. Evan’s life has been shaped by educators and he wants to give back by serving students who have shared in similar life experience to both Patrick and himself.
Evan Stevens
Cyndy Hampton, At Large Director, is a long time Social Work professional in Jefferson County Public Schools. Cyndy served on the Advisory Committee for the creation of the GT Center at Wheat Ridge High School. She is a strong supporter of gifted and talented children and their families and the GT Center community specifically.
