Ask the MSDE Social Studies Team

Marcie Taylor-Thoma

Dr. Taylor-Thoma is the Coordinator for Social Studies at the Maryland State Department of Education. She holds advanced degrees in education, administrative policy, curriculum development, and TESOL and has just recently completed her doctoral studies at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. She has teaching experience at a variety of levels from elementary through college. She has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Maryland, Towson University and Salisbury University. Ms. Thoma presents nationally and internationally and has held leadership positions in numerous professional organizations, including the Maryland Council for Social Studies, Middle States Social Studies Council, Maryland Geographic Alliance, National Council for Social Studies and the Council for State Social Studies Supervisors. Ms. Thoma coordinates the Center for Civic Education's The Citizen and the Constitution…We the People, Project Citizen and Russia@Civitas programs in Maryland. She also is regional coordinator of Civics Mosaic I and II partnering with Russia and Armenia.

Kevin Jenkins

Kevin Jenkins is the Social Studies Specialist who leads the work with the Government High School Assessment. Before joining the Maryland State Department of Education, Kevin worked for Baltimore City Public Schools, first as a social studies teacher and then as Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Specialist. As a specialist, Kevin worked with instructional leaders and classroom teachers to develop Baltimore City's web-based curricular infrastructure for middle and high schools. He also implemented numerous professional development experiences for the district's teachers and administrators as well as providing oversight and leadership for two Teaching American History grant programs. Kevin was also active at the State level, assisting with the development of the State Curriculum and the Bridge Plan for Academic Validation program as well as serving as a member of the Social Studies Content Coordinating Team and participating in the HSA range-finding process.

Donna Olszewski

Donna Olszewski is a Social Studies Specialist. Prior to joining MSDE in January of 2005, Donna worked in the Baltimore City Schools for 32 years as a classroom teacher, reading teacher, Instructional Support Teacher and Elementary Social Studies Specialist. She participated in numerous curriculum-writing projects for Baltimore City. She was one of the original writers for the Social Studies State Curriculum for MSDE. As a Social Studies Specialist at MSDE, Donna continues to work on the development of the State Curriculum and leads a team of writers in the creation of the ToolKit, a resource for teachers of social studies. She is also a District Coordinator for the We The People Program.