The Magic Starts at the Top

Moira Kelly
Executive Director + President
Moira Kelly was appointed Executive Director and President of Explo in 2007. During the summer, she is a familiar face at all Explo programs. Since 1985, Moira has held numerous positions at Explo, and in 1994 became the founding Head of Explo at St. Mark’s. Prior to joining Explo full time, Moira worked at the Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH) in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. There, she served as a dean, a senior member of the Admission Department, and House Director.

She has worked in residential life at Simmons College, taught in the Maine public schools, and worked at the Bowdoin College Upward Bound Program. An honors graduate of Bowdoin College, Moira earned her J.D. at Boston University School of Law, and earned first class honors in law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. In addition, she was a Rotary Foundation Fellow at the University of Nottingham, England, and a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellow.

Moira is a longtime chair of an alumni interviewing committee for Bowdoin College admissions, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Independent Schools in New England. In 2008, Moira served as an Associate Producer for the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan entity responsible for producing the general election presidential and vice-presidential debates. She was also a member of the Commission's production teams in 2000 and 2004 and was recently named the Commission’s Director of Education and Outreach.

David Torcoletti
Head of Programs, Explo at St. Mark’s
David is perhaps best known as the wise, kind, and witty mentor of legions of students and young educational professionals. David began his education career at Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH), where he taught photography, lived in a dormitory, and coached. He went on to become a House Director, Campus Dean, and eventually, School Dean. While there, he was twice honored with the faculty residential life award. David then moved to Milton Academy where he was a teacher and Dean of Students. In addition to leading Explo at St. Mark’s, David consults with and advises independent schools, and presents at professional conferences on student life issues. David is a summa cum laude graduate of Ohio University and earned his M.F.A. at Bard College as a Milton Avery Scholar. He has worked at Explo at St. Mark’s since 1998, and each summer moves to the St. Mark's campus, bringing with him his family and two dogs, Sophie and Kirby.

Elliot Targum
Head of Programs, Explo at Wellesley
Elliot is known as an "idea factory" and has been developing ideas for Explo since 1997. Prior to becoming the Head of Programs at Explo at Wellesley, Elliot held many positions within the organization, including Residence Director, Programming Director, and Dean of Day Students. Outside of Explo, Elliot was a founding teacher at a Boston charter school and taught math and science in the Cambridge, Massachusetts public school system. One public school teaching colleague described him as "the most progressive teacher in the district." Elliot's interests and talents are broad. He was a math correlation specialist at Riverdeep, Inc., working on interactive mathematics software, and he worked with Games-To-Teach, a partnership between MIT and Microsoft's iCampus. In addition, he is the founder of EB Tutoring. In the summer, you will see him juggling flaming torches on campus. Elliot is a graduate of Haverford College, and he earned his Masters in Education with a concentration in technology and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Brent Ruter
Head of Programs, Explo at Yale
Down-to-earth, curious, quick to laugh, and imbued with common sense, Brent Ruter has taken to heart Explo’s mission of "learning about the world of people and ideas." Since 1996, Brent has worked at Explo in various positions, including teacher, Director of Curriculum, Dean of Students, and Assistant Head. After graduating with honors from Bowdoin College, Brent went on to teach earth science, chemistry, and biology at public secondary schools in Massachusetts and Minnesota. He earned his Masters in Public Policy with distinction at the University of Minnesota. As a doctoral candidate in Comparative and International Development Education (University of Minnesota), Brent has worked with faculty at Mwenge University Teachers College (Moshi, Tanzania) on inquiry-based learning. He has also led training sessions for secondary school teachers in the region. In addition, he has worked for CARE-Bangladesh on assessing girls' education initiatives across eight countries.

Sarah Ruter
Head of Programs, Explo at Yale
Sarah Ruter is a singing-dancing-English teacher who detoured into practicing law before returning to her first love: education. Sarah started her education career at Explo in 1996, where she has held numerous positions including teacher, residential advisor, admissions officer, residence director, and Dean of Students. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin—Madison, where she was a Robert C. Byrd Scholar. For years, she taught high school writing, public speaking, and literature at a public school in Massachusetts. She also headed the school's Theater Society, where she directed three plays per year for the 100-member drama organization. Sarah attended the University of Minnesota Law School, where she earned her J.D. cum laude. She practiced general, commercial, and employment law with regular appearances in state and federal court. Minnesota Law and Politics called her a "Rising Star" and Minnesota Lawyer named her to their list of "Up and Coming Attorneys."

Barbara Trainor
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Explo is one of the few summer programs in the country with a year-round curriculum department committed to creating innovative curriculum and staying abreast of the latest developments in learning and teaching. With many years of teaching experience for a variety of age groups, Barb brings a passion for hands-on, creative, and interactive learning to her work at Explo. During her tenure at public schools in New Hampshire, Barb developed and implemented multi-disciplinary curricula, created a district-wide staff mentor program, and started a student peer tutor program. Through Illinois State University, Barb piloted new math and science curricula with a focus on integrating technology into the classroom. She has taught teacher workshops and was a staff development instructor at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference, New England College, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Barb earned her B.S. in Biology at Cornell University and her Master of Arts in Education, with a concentration in mathematics, at New England College.