Our Board Members
These amazing people have been nominated to our board for the upcoming term.
Elizabeth Sterling
Vice President
Elizabeth has worked in the field of Deaf Education for 25 years. She has degrees in Human Services/ASL Interpreting (AAS), Speech and Hearing Sciences/Deaf Education (BA), Curriculum and Instruction/Tech Integration (M. Ed), Teacher Leadership (ABD), and certificates in both Deaf Studies and Principal/Administration. Elizabeth has had many roles in her career. She has been an adult education teacher, parent advisor, self-contained teacher, co-teacher, itinerant, and college interpreter with many jobs happening concurrently. She was the RDSPD Coordinator for 9 years in San Marcos, Texas, and in 2014, she accepted the position of Special Education Director at Texas School for the Deaf.
Kristin Pfeiffer
Secretary
Kristin Pfeiffer is the Education Specialist for Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Region 4 Education Service Center (ESC) in Houston. She has 29 years of experience in the field of special education with 19 years of those years being in the field of deaf education. Prior to joining the Region 4 ESC, she was a program director for special education whose responsibilities were assessment and the RDSPD administrator for the fiscal agent for 11 years and then prior to that an Educational Diagnostician for 10 years, where one of her assignments was working with the RDSPD intermediate site campus. Prior to that she was a special education teacher for 5 years. She joined the SWCED planning committee for the 2022 conference assisting with the silent auction.
Carmen Castro-Toriano
Director of Educators
Carmen Castro Toriano has been in education for 25 years, with 20 of them as an Itinerant Teacher for the Deaf. For the past three years she has been serving as the Coordinator for the El Paso Regional Day School Program for the Deaf. She holds a master's degree in Special Education with an emphasize on Bilingual Special Education from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Texas Woman's University. She went on to receive her principal certification from Lamar University and Graduate Certificate in DeafBlind from Texas Tech University. She holds teaching certifications in Texas and New Jersey.
Lindsey Chandler
Parent Director
Lindsay Chandler is the parent of a 9-year-old deaf child who will start 4th grade in the fall. She has been an interpreter for 20 years in primarily the K-12 setting and higher education. As a parent of a deaf child, she works hard to ensure her child as well as those in the community have access to same activities and experiences as their hearing peers.
Angela Belding
Director at Large
Angela Belding completed her 32nd year in Deaf Education, the last 12 years serving as the Program Coordinator of the Brazos River Regional Day School Program for the Deaf. She has been on the TAPED Board for 10 years serving as the Secretary for 6 years, and more recently as the Director of Educators for the past 4 years.
Dan Diffee
Co-Treasurer
Dan Diffee has taught deaf and hard of hearing students from grades K-12 and has been the director of Regional Day School Programs for the Deaf in Brownsville and McAllen. He was a consultant to school districts in Texas in the areas special instruction and communication access for DHH students. He has coordinated Signing Exact English Skillshops and RDSPD Program Reviews. He is also a BEI Certified Interpreter.
Elaine N. Young
Co-Treasurer
Elaine Young has worked as an educator of children who are deaf or hard of hearing for thirty years. She has taught in classrooms in Massachusetts and Texas and has served as an educational consultant and conference planner for general educators who have a student who is deaf or hard of hearing in their classroom. She is also an oral transliterator and trainer of oral transliterators. Elaine is currently the Program Manager for the Region 13 RDSPD and Special Education Coordinator at ESC Region 13.
T.A.P.E.D.
Want to donate to T.A.P.E.D scholarships or become a SWCED sponsor? Great! We truly appreciate your contributions. Through donations, we are able to provide scholarships to students and educators, as well as maintain a quality biennial statewide conference.