Jaime Smith
Jaime Smith has been teaching English to children and adults since 1997, when she began teaching 5th and 6th grade Language Arts at The Harker School in San Jose after earning a B.A. in Linguistics from U.C. Berkeley. Since then, Jaime has earned an M.A. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and an M.S. Education with an emphasis in online teaching and learning. She has taught for institutions such as San Jose State University, Cal State East Bay, Englishtown.com, and the Art Institute Online, and has trained teachers both locally and internationally. A lifelong learner, Jaime decided to continue her education by earning a college counseling certificate at U.C. San Diego, and has recently opened a small educational consulting practice. She has helped students pursue traditional freshman and transfer admissions, research community college options, and consider alternative paths via GED or CHSPE tests. Jaime is proud to be listed on the SENG Honor Roll of Outstanding Educators.
At OnlineG3.com, Jaime is known to her students as Headmistress Guinevere. She teaches language and literature classes at G3. She is also the President and CEO of Online G3, Inc.
Benjamin Smith
Ben Smith has been hiding from all adult responsibility since 1999, when he joined Electronic Arts as a Customer Support Representative. Unfortunately, while lying low in Redwood City Ben stumbled into a real career, eventually spending 9 years guiding externally produced games to market within the EA Partners team. In 2014, Ben decided it was time to join Guinevere at OnlineG3 and left the corporate world. All that video game stuff has, after all, been a real departure from Ben’s scholarly training at U.C, Berkeley, where he had earned a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology (Genetics emphasis) and a Minor in Education, while just narrowly missing a double major in History by a single course. After a 15-year hiatus from education, Ben is delighted to now be the principal history and science teacher at Online G3, continuing to expand our multidisciplinary offerings. Forced to abandon his outside-the-house hobbies during the pandemic, he decided to go back to school, earning a Master’s degree from Gettysburg College in American History in December of 2023.
At OnlineG3.com, Ben is known to his students as Headmaster Galahad. He teaches history, science, and business classes at G3. He is also the Vice President and COO of Online G3, Inc.
Tara Johnson
Tara Johnson has a passion for learning, and for facilitating learning for others. She has been involved with gifted education since she was a child, and has re-immersed herself throughout the educational journeys of her children, and now grandchildren. She has taught writing and editing at the college level, as well as here at G3, and taught preschool. She worked in public relations and advertising, first for a major food company, and later for an advertising agency, as well as running a freelance business, writing for clients that ranged from non-profits to pet food companies. She has a BA in English from the University of Puget Sound and completed graduate work in Rhetoric/Composition at The Ohio State University.
At OnlineG3.com, Tara is known to the students as Iris, messenger of the gods. She joined G3 in 2015 to help facilitate communication and all the behind-the-scenes processes that are needed to run a vibrant, online learning community.
Kaytlin Smith
Kaytlin Smith, the original Online G3 student, holds a B.A. in English from the University of California at Davis. She has been involved with Online G3 since its invention– thanks to having Headmistress Guinevere for a mom– taking classes as part of her homeschool curriculum until passing the California High School Proficiency Exam at the age of 13. Two college degrees later, Kaytlin now works as Online G3’s administrative assistant to ensure every course runs smoothly. She is currently working on an MA in English at the University of Wyoming, with eventual goals to write professionally. In the meantime, she has written several of Online G3’s blog posts, writes and produces a podcast, and will take any chance to brag about her B.A. thesis about The Haunting of Hill House. Kaytlin also enjoys a mass variety of hobbies, including ballet, figure skating, cosplay, and competing in pageants. She is always happy to recommend a horror novel or two, provide writing advice, or talk about the latest Marvel film release.
Who is Guinevere?
The idea of Guinevere’s Gifted Group was born in 2008, when Jaime Smith began teaching a writing class for her daughter’s homeschool co-op. She chose to use a little-known program from Prufrock Press called King Arthur’s Academy. The children quickly took to the fanciful plots and imagined themselves as students in a magical boarding school, with Headmistress Guinevere as their instructor. The live co-op then evolved into an online literature group, and now into Online G3.