Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

I had the opportunity to see DA STEM 10th graders use tilt ,  seismic , and gas data from volcanos today.  It was great to see our students thinking as real geologists!   Later on I got to observe our new DA Honors 9 English class where they worked at stations to analyze short stories for illusion, personification, symbolism, irony, conflict, imagery, and characterization.  They did a great job applying these concepts in their small group discussions and digging into the texts! I look forward to more opportunities to see our students learning.  

I co-lead this trip 2 years ago and I loved it!  I highly recommend seeing their presentations!   From Cory Elsmore - Hello! This summer, 7 Bloomington students (2 from Jefferson, 5 from Kennedy), travelled to Costa Rica to conduct research. This trip was facilitated by the organization Seeds of Change. Our students worked in partnership with Dr. Adrian Pinto of the University of Costa Rica, and performed research on leaf cutter ants. I could not be prouder of these students. Students had to create their own unique research proposal. Their proposals were vetted by Dr. Pinto and his team with all the very direct criticism that is expected in university level research. They were expected to document their work using the same standards expected at the University level. Finally, they needed to analyze and present their findings as any research major would be expected to do. The students rolled with all of this and performed admirably. You are invited to come and see the stud

So glad that today we had a great turnout for Dartmouth at Kennedy today!  

The College Board Advanced Placement (AP) program has recognized 12 National AP Scholars, 40 AP Scholars with Distinction, 34 AP Scholars with Honor and 122 AP Scholars from Bloomington Jefferson and Kennedy high schools. National AP Scholars  are students with an average score of at least four on all AP exams and scores of four or higher on eight or more exams. National AP Scholars: Alexandra Janey, Abigail Larson, Neython Lec Streitz, Colden Longley, Charles Maki, Ryan Martz, Ryan Meany, Amelia Miller, Tomas Panvica, Isabella Phan, Jordan Thomson and Amy Wang. AP Scholars with Distinction  are students with an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on five or more exams.  AP Scholars with Distinction: Ingrid Anderson, Jacob Bechtold, Promise Benson, Katelynn Brandwick, Hannah Butala, Jillayne Clarke, Ruth Claycomb, Elyse Cooke, Willa Countryman, Peyton Crombie, David Elliot, Jessica Greymont, Kaija Johnson, Ella Jones, Lucas Kramarczuk,

Hello Again! We’re up to  40 families  who have expressed interest in the  2020 China trip  and 80 people attending our two meetings collectively next week!   If you haven’t already, please be sure to RSVP so we can plan accordingly for next week. Kennedy 9/17 meeting RSVP :  https://rsvp.eftours.com/ 6ek444u Jefferson 9/19 meeting RSVP :  https://rsvp.eftours.com/ t5efygm See you in China!   Meredith

Gifted advocacy is an education 9/9/2019 (to see the original post click the link above) Gifted advocacy is a mixed bag. It is also an education. Advocacy, that unexpected, uninvited guest in the lives of a gifted child's family, is thrust upon them with little warning. Parents of gifted children find that they must educate themselves about giftedness -  and that   it falls upon them  to speak up for their child's needs. They must grasp the enormity of their child's intellectual and social/emotional needs (and sometimes,  twice-exceptional  challenges); assess the local school's limitations, the community's resources, and the state's gifted ed regulations and laws; and decide how to proceed with their child's schooling. Parents of gifted children receive a fast-track education into the world of giftedness and quickly develop a surprising level of expertise. They never bargained for this, yet find that they must assume the role of advocate. Frustrati

PSAT Registration is now open .  The PSAT will be given during the school day on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. The test will run from approximately 7:50 am-12:00 pm. The cost is $30 and the test is optional.  The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a program co-sponsored by the College Board and  National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) . It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT®. It also gives juniors a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. The most common reasons for taking the PSAT/NMSQT are to: Receive feedback on your strengths and weaknesses on skills necessary for college study. You can then focus your preparation on those areas that could most benefit from additional study or practice. See how your performance on an admissions test might compare with that of others applying to college. Enter the competition for scholarships from NMSC

Congratulations to the following students from Jefferson and Kennedy High Schools for making it to semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition! Katelynn Brandwick & Jillayne Clark &* Colden Longley &* Christopher Melville* Jordan Thomson* Charles Weismann &* Henry Weismann &* Congrats also to the following students from Jefferson for qualifying as commended scholars. Ingrid Anderson Wyatt Doppmann* Timothy Lueth* Ashley Marker Thomas Quiggle These awards are based on student PSAT scores during their junior year of high school. * - indicates Dimensions Academy High School graduate  & - indicates was in the GT pilot of AP US Government for 9th graders at Jefferson Photo is from Jefferson High School 

This weekend I went to the  2019  Sept   Mini -Conference: GT & 2e Students, Schools, & Advanced Learning co-sponsored by  MCGT, MEGT, and MDE .   I enjoyed hearing about how grade and content acceleration both serve gifted kids!