Dr. Gayla Hodges-Turner

Founder and CEO

A former teacher, gifted coordinator, principal, special education coordinator, and superintendent, Dr. Hodges is a veteran educator, who served in Mississippi and Alaska schools for thirty years. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Mississippi State University with a focus in Mississippi school finance at the state level. She is experienced as a consultant in special education complaint investigations for the state of Alaska and teacher improvement in Mississippi. Distinguished as the first woman superintendent in two Alaskan Districts and honored by the U.S. Army for volunteer service, Dr. Hodges has successful experience in grant writing, directing capital improvement projects, strategic planning, technology plans and purchases, instructional planning and program evaluation, NAEYC accreditation, budget development, and contract negotiations. Dr. Hodges loves riding horses, ATVs, cooking, entertaining friends and is the proud owner of a dog mushing trophy. Involved in church and civic groups, Dr. Hodges has a son, Michael, who proudly served his country in Afghanistan.

Carolyn Mashburn

Executive Vice-President of Texas Services

Carolyn Mashburn is a project manager and national consultant with Education Resources who has worked with students, their teachers, and their parents for over 40 years. She continues to work in classrooms to model instruction for all learners. Carolyn spends most of her time now conducting teacher workshops. Recognized for her interactive and practical presentations, her energetic sessions leave teachers revitalized and eager to implement her shared ideas and learning experiences in their own classrooms. Carolyn and her husband, Layne, are the parents of two sons, grandparents of two insatiable learners, and reside in Kingwood, Texas.

Carolyn began her teaching career in 1966 in Springdale, Arkansas. She has taught every grade from 6 through community college, is certified in Reading, English, Language Arts, Gifted Education, and Special Education and has served as curriculum coordinator for English, language arts, reading, speech, journalism, and gifted education and project manager for Understanding by Design, Strategy Instruction, and Differentiation. Carolyn has received many honors including the Outstanding Teacher Researcher Award from the University of Houston. She is a past President of the Texas Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts and was recognized, as a Teacher of the Year for Kingwood High School and Humble ISD as well as with the Texas Excellence Award for Outstanding High School Teachers from the University of Texas. She holds a bachelors degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, a masters degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

Tamsie West

Director of Online Services

Tamsie West, who joined Education Resources as a consultant, module developer, and web designer in 2006, has taught in Mississippi schools for thirty years. Holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi University for Women and a Masters degree from Mississippi State University , she has earned her National Board Certification in Adolescent/Young Adult English and Language Arts and has been inducted into the Mississippi Hall of Master Teachers.

West has conducted numerous workshops around the state over the past twenty years for the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute, the Mississippi Department of Education, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Topics have included best practices in the teaching of reading and writing, reading and the Language Arts Framework, journaling, alternative assessment, school improvement, collaborative learning, writing for National Boards, and Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge model. She was instrumental in writing curriculum and assessments for the Job Training Partnership Act in the 1980’s, was a member of Mississippi’s portfolio pilot group, is a contributing author in Teacher’s Voices: Portfolios in the Classroom (Mary Ann Smith & Miriam Ylvisaker, eds. Berkley: National Writing Project, 1993), and is the author of several short stories used by the Mississippi PREPS consortium. She is currently a freshman English teacher, and English department chair at Oxford High School.

West lives in Water Valley , is married, and has two grown sons. She is an avid reader, enjoys gourmet cooking, and likes working with new computer technologies and software.

Carolyn Sparks

Executive Secretary

Carolyn Sparks worked with Dr. Linda Chidester for 26 years as the office manager. In addition to her office duties, she helped fund and run after school programs for abused and neglected children and taught parenting skills. She has been the wife of a Methodist minister for 37 years, building youth programs in North Mississippi churches.

Carolyn went to school at Northeast Community College and is now serving at the Verona Methodist Church. She has one daughter who teaches school and a son-in-law who is a the music director at Verona Methodist Church. She enjoys two beautiful grandchildren and readily admits they are the joy of her life.