Meet Our Team
Kimberly Mecham, Director
Kimberly Mecham joined St. Thomas School as the Director of Information and Communication Technology in July of 2006. After 10 years of developing a nationally recognized Education Technology program, Kimberly took on building a Center for Leadership and Innovation for our students and teachers, as well as educators around the world.
She started her career as a Software Test Engineer at Safeco Insurance, and later went to Microsoft as an IT Product Manager, where she worked on leading edge and award-winning software solutions for Human Resources. She is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, and the school's liaison to the Microsoft Showcase Schools program. She is a past World Affairs Council Fellow.
Kimberly went to college at the University of the Pacific in California where she received a B.A. in Mathematics. She also holds a certificate in Product Management from the University of Washington.
Active in the community, Kimberly is past president and co-founder of the We Believe Guild, a top 10 Seattle Children’s Hospital guild supporting Uncompensated Care. She is most proud of her work as a Board Member and technical advisor to the Rwanda Girls Initiative, where she planned, implemented and maintains the technology infrastructure and strategy for their girl’s boarding school in Rwanda. The school was named as the first and only Microsoft Showcase School in November of 2016. Kimberly was named an "Inspired Leader" by Microsoft Alumni Network in 2017 for her accomplishments.
Alice Baggett, Coordinator
Alice Baggett has been an educator for three decades. She has a Bachelor of Arts in archaeology from Oberlin College, and a master’s in education from Florida International University. After starting as a Teach for America corps member in New Orleans, she never looked back. Alice’s educational passions are tinkering and problem solving. She’s the author of the book, The Invent to Learn Guide to Making in the K-3 Classroom: Why, How, and WOW, which details the pedagogical advantages of cultivating a tinkerer’s mindset in young children. Alice is a devotee of creating with googly eyes and recyclables, and she enthusiastically champions the tinkering process. Alice delights in the ideas of children, and she is charmed daily by their amazing senses of humor.
Alice has worked at several area independent schools. She has been a homeroom teacher, a technology specialist, a school administrator, an environmental educator, and a wilderness trip leader.
Alice loves hiking, backpacking, walking her dog, Peaches, visiting libraries, looking for old mechanical toys in antique stores, typewriters, making mixed-media art projects, and, most of all, hanging out with her husband and young adult son.
Maria DiGiovanni, Coordinator
Maria DiGiovanni is a passionate educator with a rich background in Maker and Computer Science education. She champions the idea that a safe place to fail is crucial for learning and growth. Maria encourages her students to view technology through a critical lens, understanding both its potential for liberation and its potential for harm. She firmly believes that computer science, engineering, and making are not only excellent ways to develop technical skills but also invaluable for learning and practicing social-emotional skills. Through her innovative teaching methods, Maria inspires her students to become thoughtful, resilient, and well-rounded individuals.
Ryan MacLeod, Coordinator
Ryan MacLeod teaches technology and is also a coordinator in the Center for Leadership and Innovation. He has a passion for developing students’ interest in technology and design thinking. Growing student curiosity in STEAM through project-based learning has been his mission.
Ryan graduated from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, with a bachelor's degree in group social studies and education. He later earned his master's degree in educational technology from Michigan State University in Lansing. Ryan has taught at a private school in Chicago for two years and Chicago public schools for one year before moving to Seattle.
Ryan enjoys everything the Seattle area has to offer and is excited to continue exploring with his wife, Ann and newly rescued dog, Yara. Ryan also enjoys running, music, soccer, and technology.
Doug Manning, Director of IT
Doug Manning joined St Thomas School as the ICT Support Analyst in 2012. After obtaining his BA in Software Engineering, Doug started his career working as a programmer for several large companies. Changing his career, he returned to university to become a teacher. He taught Math for four years in an inner city London school, before meeting his wife and moving to Germany. With his CELTA qualification, Doug taught ESL to adults and businesses in the Nuremberg area of Germany before joining the local international school as an ICT and Math educator, teaching kindergarten through high school.
In 2010, Doug and his wife took the opportunity to move to the United States. Doug became Director of IT and ESL coordinator at a small international school in Wisconsin, continuing to teach Math and ICT to all ages.
Doug relocated to Seattle with his wife and cat in the summer of 2012, and currently lives in the international district of downtown Seattle. He is looking forward to cool summers and drizzly winters, and plans to continue exploring this vast country.
Kristyn Mininni, Coordinator
As a coordinator at the Center for Leadership and Innovation, Kristyn Mininni helps educators and students to develop their skills and mindsets for creating positive change in the world.
She has a passion for developing inquiry-based units that allow students to view themselves as local or global influencers, and to apply design thinking, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and leadership principles to real-world challenges. In addition, she designs middle school classes on human-centered design that guide students to empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test solutions in real-world scenarios to enact change. One of her focus areas is developing a service-learning program that helps students to learn about local and global issues, design projects that will make a difference in the community, and apply their ability to work together as a class to create different jobs that will make the campaign or initiative a success.
Kristyn believes that every student has the potential to be a leader and an innovator, and she strives to inspire them to pursue their passions and make a positive impact on the world.
Monica Reese, Program Manager
Monica Reese joined the St. Thomas School team in 2007, where she has enjoyed many roles from assistant to webmaster to Program Manager at the CLI.
Monica is always willing to take on projects or bridge gaps in staffing to ensure continuity and minimal disruption.
Her focus as Program Manager is to facilitate the background structures that minimize errors, redundancies, and inefficiencies. She values community and providing space for all to try, grow, and improve.