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Have a gifted middle or high school student or know someone who does? Guilford County PAGE is sponsoring two free webinar opportunities to help parents, educators and guidance counselors of academically gifted students identify and secure merit scholarships for college.
The one-hour webinars will be available on February 4, 2016, 12-1 p.m. (EST) and February 7, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (EST). Registration is free and open to the public. REGISTER NOW.
Webinar presenter Susan Goodkin from the California Learning Strategies Center is a graduate of Harvard University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Goodkin's student clients have been accepted to Harvard, Yale,Stanford, MIT, Brown, Duke, Columbia and many others.
The webinar will address the following topics:
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Why parents should start thinking about scholarships when their child is in middle school
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What to do before you start looking to search most efficiently
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Why GPA is less important than you think for many scholarships
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Merit scholarships awarded by colleges
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Great colleges that offer big scholarships (full tuition or more)
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National Merit Scholarship competition
- Tips from students who have won scholarships
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 Nurturing “Exceptional” Gifted Children (and Adults!)
With the NCAGT Annual Conference on March 3-4, 2016 focusing on exceptionality in mind, Guilford County PAGE has cultivated content on ways to address diverse characteristics of gifted students. Whether your child has dyslexia or ADHD, is highly sensitive or bores easily, we have cherry-picked resources from a range of experts to provide you with helpful insights and options.
Nurturing Giftedness: What do networking, confidence, and aspiration have in common? Read Creating Curriculum for Gifted Children’s blog post on “6 Important Ways for Parents to Nurture a Gifted Child.”
Twice Exceptional: Whether your gifted child bores easily, is twice exceptional, has sensory issues or other characteristics, check out “100 Ways to Meet the Needs of Your Gifted Child.”
Learning Disabilities and Giftedness: Some current US research suggests 14% of children who are identified as being intellectually gifted may also have a learning disability. This is compared to about 4% of children in the general population. Learn more about gifted students with learning differences.
Highly Sensitive: For those who are highly sensitive and gifted, it may be especially important to have a supportive, nurturing environment and time to decompress. Learn more about the connection between being highly sensitive and creativity from Dr. Elaine Aron, who wrote the book The Highly Sensitive Person.
Simply Bored or Dissatisfied?: Why are pat answers and jumping to quick conclusions not so satisfying for some? Learn why curiosity is paramount and how “insightful ignorance” drives science.
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Gifted Children's Bill of Rights
You have a right to:
- know about your giftedness.
- learn something new everyday.
- be passionate about your talent area without apologies.
- have an identity beyond your talent area.
- feel good about your accomplishments.
- make mistakes.
- seek guidance in the development of your talent.
- have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends.
- choose which of your talent areas you wish to pursue.
- not to be gifted at everything.
Written by Del Siegle, NAGC President, 2007-2009
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Get Involved with PAGE
Guilford County PAGE is proud to welcome Erica O’Neal to our board as Membership Chair. Originally from Savannah, GA, Erica has a degree in health care management and works for a Triad mental health agency. Her son attends Northern Middle School.
Katherine Humphreys, who has served as AG Department Liaison since helping to restart the chapter, is now serving as Guilford Parent Academy liaison as well.
Learn more about your chapter’s board members.
As we embark on 2016, we are seeking two adult volunteers to fill two remaining board positions through at least the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. To learn more, please contact Holly Stewart.
Adult Programming Chair: Develop programs of interest and enrichment for adults
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Identify areas of interest for parents/educators/adult supporters of gifted education to develop programming/events
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Plan and lead coordination of at least 2 programs per school/membership year
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Attend board meetings
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Time commitment: Average 2 hours per month
Sponsorship Chair: Manage community relations, donations and grants
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Identify and secure funding, grants or in-kind donations to support chapter initiatives
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Develop strategic relationships with educationally-minded community organizations in Guilford County
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Attend board meetings
- Time commitment: Varies, 1-4 hours per month
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 Stuck in the Middle
Sometimes it can feel like academically gifted middle school students are stuck in the middle (or in their iPhone or iPad). For sixth graders transitioning to middle school and eighth graders on the cusp of high school, it can be a tough time for both students and parents. Encouraging middle schoolers to follow their curiosities, cultivate passions and try something new can be tough with increasing school workloads, peer pressure and former pursuits that may seem too young.
Here are 8 ideas to spark your middle schooler’s (and your family’s) imagination:
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The free KLRN Virtual Classroom (a PBS partnership) serves up its signature programming, using the ovee platform, which allows for real-time chats with expert moderators from NASA and more. The current series, created with 4th through 8th graders in mind, wraps up with “Curious Crew” episodes on thermal energy and density on February 3 and 10, 2016 at noon and 4:30 p.m. (EST). In addition, moderated SciGirls episodes are offered as well.
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Help your middle schooler find pleasure books outside of the classroom that expose them to new ways of thinking, thought-provoking content or new genres, authors and subject matter. A contributor to Education Week suggests books with ambiguous endings, challenging structures, and gifted protagonists.
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While your middle schooler may have outgrown youthful summer programs, look for options that keep them engaged and inspired, such as programs from Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program) or UNCG’s All Arts, Science and Technology Camps.
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Take in more sophisticated museums, cultural offerings and outings as a family. Visit the NC Museum of History this May to explore the Shakespeare Folger Theatre traveling exhibit of Shakespeare’s First Folio. This March, get tickets for the Peking Acrobats at Carolina Theatre.
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Encourage your middle schooler to expand his or her palette beyond burgers, pizza and the occasional hummus dip. Enjoy multi-cultural food at Crafted: Art of Street Food, one of the many new ethnic restaurants in the Triad, or channel the Food Network and make your own ethnic dishes at home after visiting local speciality grocers.
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Give your middle schoolers their wings….literally. Students aged 12 - 16 can sign up for the summer 2016 AeroCamp at Triad Aviation. Your middle schooler will learn about flight dynamics, careers in aviation, go behind the scenes at Piedmont Triad Airport and can fly an aircraft if they choose. Living in the state known for being the first in flight may have its perks!
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Music is more than Maroon 5 or Taylor Swift. Cultivate the world’s next concert pianist or maestro through the sound of music. The UNCG Music Camp offers an excellent summer camp for grades 6th through 12th, and the Eastern Music Festival often brings a who’s who of the music world to Guilford College (think Yo-Yo Ma).
Be geek chic at Geeksboro Coffeehouse, Tate Street Coffeehouse or Scuppernong Books. You can pick up a latte or have a glass of wine while your middle schooler relishes the ambiance of hipster cool, peruses the stacks, plays giant Jenga or takes in an acoustic act not much older than they are. |
GCS AG Services: Public Feedback Invited on Proposed AG Plan
Guilford County Schools needs your feedback. The Guilford County Schools’ AG Plan is under revision and review, which is required by the North Carolina State Board of Education every 3 years. Your input is very important to the future of the county’s AG services. For best consideration, provide your feedback by Feb. 19, 2016.
“Your participation will help communicate the need for continued focus on providing the best learning opportunities possible for advanced students,” said Katherine Humphreys, Guilford County PAGE AG Department Liaison.
“This is a great way to advocate for gifted students in our county,” added Jessica Hortman, Guilford County PAGE Advocacy Chair.
To make the official document easier to navigate, each section has a short description and links.
“In particular, the GCS AG Department would like you to propose changes as well as comment on positive aspects of the plan you’d like maintained in the future,” suggested Humphreys.
The six AG standards and their respective practices are specified by the State Board of Education. Each county must state how they will accomplish each practice and how it will be measured and supported. Each practice in the plan is either a maintained or a focused practice. Simply put, maintained means it didn’t change much from the previous plan, and focused means the plan undertook a new initiative during the current three year cycle.
You can participate in two ways:
To participate in person, attend the open public forum on Wed., Feb. 10, 2016 from 6-7:30 p.m. at either Page High School or Ragsdale High School.
To provide written feedback on specific sections of the plan, please review the Guilford County Schools’ AG Plan, the brief summary of each standard below and click on the provided online survey feedback forms aligned to each section of the plan:
- Standard 1 is Identification - what measures are used to identify students who need AG services
- Standard 2 is Differentiated Curriculum - how will the Standard Course of Study be accelerated, extended and/or enriched for AG students
- Standard 3 is AG Personnel – what specific training or credentials are AG teachers required to have and what professional development is provided for them
- Standard 4 is Total County Comprehensive Programming – what are the services available to AG students throughout their K-12 school experience
- Standard 5 is Partnerships – how is information communicated to and from parents and how are community organizations and businesses participating in the lives of AG students
- Standard 6 is Program Accountability - how the plan is communicated, gets feedback, and is evaluated so future improvements can be made.
If you have questions, please contact the GCS AG Department.
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