Dianne Draze holds both a bachelor's degree in education with a major in mathematics and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction. Beginning her tenure in the field of education in 1968, she has found many ways to enrich the educational experiences of children. She taught upper elementary grades, junior high mathematics, English and history, gifted programs for grades 1-8, and education classes at the university level.
Draze founded Dandy Lion Publications in 1977, creating a publishing house that specialized in curriculum materials that were appropriate for able learners and gifted students, that combined motivating content with challenging activities, and that were easy for teachers to use. In the capacity of owner and editor, she wrote more than 50 books and edited an additional 119 books. Her goal, whether writing or editing, was to create materials that would engage students in thinking, creating, making new discoveries, and applying what they learned to new situations. A person with a great curiosity, she has written curriculum guides on many topics and is always interested in whatever topic she is currently researching or editing.
Draze has retired from full-time involvement in Dandy Lion Publications and currently consults, writes, and edits on a part-time basis.
Judy Leimbach received her master's degree in Instructional Strategies in Gifted Education from National-Louis University. She has 14 years of experience teaching in regular classrooms, kindergarten through fifth grade, and 14 years experience teaching gifted students in grades 1-5. In addition, she has spent 5 years supervising groups of student teachers at Wheaton College.
When she first started teaching in a gifted program, there were few materials available for gifted students in primary grades, so Leimbach began writing her own and had several books published. Having previously taught in the regular classroom, she also was very aware of the need for high quality, easy-to-use materials for regular classroom teachers to use for their gifted students in both primary and intermediate grades. She began working with other teachers, including her daughter, a middle school math teacher, to develop materials to meet that need.
