Rick Blanchard

Background

About Rick Blanchard

South Carolina Department of Education State Director of GT, AP, and IB Leads the state in Gifted and Talented/High Achieving Student opportunities within the public school system. Charleston Southern University (CSU), Charleston, SC Education Instructor Lead undergraduate and graduate classes for Education majors and education professionals;Utilize face to face, hybrid, and online delivery of courses; create curriculum and resources for each course; led the initiative to add Gifted and Talented Endorsement Classes for teachers at CSU; and created an economical online delivery system for GT endorsement classes for districts and for regional contracts. August 2013- Present South Carolina Department of Education, Columbia, SC Educational Associate (State Director) for Gifted and Talented (GT), Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) Initiatives April 2007-July 2013 As state director, created and provided technical support, professional development, and evaluations for districts and educators; led the stakeholders through a state revision of the Gifted and Talented Regulations approved by the SC State Board of Education and the SC State Legislature; harnessed technology to increase efficiency; Advocated for increased access and equity for GT, AP, and IB programs; Represented SC Department of Education on regional and national organizations; collaborated with SC Education Television and with the South Carolina Consortium for Gifted Educators (non-profit) to provide high quality free access for SC teachers to GT professional development from both state and national experts in the field; and provided state leadership for these programs. Alston Middle School, Summerville, SC Middle School Teacher August 1997 - April 2007 Gifted and Talented School Leader; mathematics teacher, exploratory teacher, social studies teacher, and science teacher; SMART trained school level technical support; school webmaster; and student advocate.