Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

We had a great tour to Macalester today. I hope you'll ask your student about what they learned and to start discussing as a family what your student is looking for in a college: -big versus small school -urban versus rural -close to home versus far -public versus private Next year as juniors we recommend that students start thinking about colleges and start investigating so that they can get their applications in the fall of their senior year.

I wanted to take this time to tell you that I have stepped down as the high school gifted and talented coordinator for next fall. I have worked with the GT dept since 2012 and I have loved growing as a teacher by working with this departement, GT students and their families. I am really excited that I was a part of expanding our program to both high schools and to junior year. This pandemic has been hard on all of us and I have decided to return to the classroom full time next year. I will continue to teach the DA 9 and 10 social studies classes at Kennedy. Your students will be in great hands! Lisa Kiner, who is a DA teacher at OGMS, will be our new high school GT coordinator. She has a lot of experience as a teacher and as a parent which will help her serve our students well! Please welcome Lisa in the fall into this new role. I will just be an email away so please always feel like you can reach out! I hope your school year is wrapping up well and that you'll have a...

ON May 23rd 41 Dimensions Academy 9th graders (from both the STEM and Humanities programs) went on a campus visit and tour to the University of MN Twin Cities. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and to start thinking about what they want in a college and in what colleges are looking for in applicants. I will take the sophomores to Macalester in June. We have historically done campus visits but because of COVID this was our first one in a long time!

In May I'll be taking DA students to the U of M and to Macalester. One of my goals is to help them think about what types of questions to ask on a tour. I thought this article was helpful: https://grownandflown.com/14-best-questions-to-ask-on-campus-tours/?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2nnhj6RsZ34zZU-Cq2RtSY9iKUpIO2wweCl4-4pOhpku7Q_mkh5Yh3iq8

A lot of juniors are thinking about upcoming college visits and seniors are in the process of deciding their plans for next year. I found think article very interesting: https://grownandflown.com/what-students-should-look-for-choosing-college/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR3V-uf1Kgqn-hQhg04yhUISlxyoILpIPBSfgIKQvK7uYjF31vwzij1zJlM

I am taking the DA 10th graders to Macalester College for a campus tour and visit on June 3rd .  I will give out the permission slips this week.  The GT dept asks for $7 to cover transportation but no one will be required to pay.  But I DO need the permission slip signed by a parent or guardian.  Students will need to bring money for lunch or their own lunch because we will also have lunch on campus.  My expectation is that students will miss periods 1-4 that day.  Thanks.  Meredith

DA 9 Humanities On March 17th students in AP Comparative Politics did a conflict in Ukraine role play. As a part of the course we are covering Russian, Chinese, and British politics. In the role play they discussed the current conflict in Ukraine from the perspectives of Sergey Lavrov (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation), Sergiy Kyslytsya (Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador), Anthony Blinken (US Secretary of State), Jens Stoltenberg (NATO Secretary General), Wang Yi (Chinese Foreign Minister), and António Guterres (UN Secretary-General). It was an interactive and engaging way for students to see how the different points of view on the conflict make it challenging to resolve.

Our DA 10th graders in DA History (AP World and AP European history) had a great meeting with Tsione Wolde-Michael on Zoom on 2/17. She talked with our cohort about her work as a professional historian. She was a part of building the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture from the ground up and talked about how they collected artifacts and oral histories to build exhibits for this important museum. She is now at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History where she is the director and curator of the Center for Restorative History. Her slideshow is here if you want to see what was talked about with your student. I hope you'll ask your student about what they learned about being a professional historian. ;)

Congratulations to Bloomington's National Merit Finalists. We are particularly proud that they are all DA students! Kennedy: Isaac Stein Jefferson: Alex Kiner Jamie Melville Joseph Shetaye

Registration is open for the Supporting Gifted Children During Stress event on March 5th in Bloomington. We are excited to announce that the Bloomington Chapter will cover the registration fees for MCGT Bloomington Chapter Members (and Bloomington staff) to attend the Parent and Children Programs for FREE. Join MCGT online now and choose Bloomington as your chapter. Then, contact info@mct.net or bloomington@mcgt.net to receive an email with the code and instructions to register for FREE. Supporting Gifted Children During Stress Co-Sponsored by Bloomington Public Schools, Bloomington Chapter of the Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented, Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented March 5, 2022, 9-11am with Teresa Argo Boatman, Ph.D Virtual and In-Person Parent Presentation Gifted children and their parents have been experiencing the rise of stress and anxiety during the COVID 19 pandemic. Expand your knowledge of anxiety and gifted children, strategies to help, and how to ...

Dear DA 10th graders and parents/guardians, Our current DA sophomores will have access to a 3rd year of DA which is a new feature of our program.  We designed this because of parent and student feedback that PSEO and current BPS courses were not meeting the academic and social emotional needs of our gifted students.   I have had some parents ask about the difference between DA and PSEO so I'm sharing this slideshow with you.  I am also willing to answer questions if that's not helpful enough.   Our hope is that your student will choose to continue in the DA program but we also understand that we cannot possibly design a program that is a perfect fit for all our high ability students.   If you are planning on sending your student PSEO next year BPS will still make you register this month as if you aren't because that decision will happen later but the college.  However, for our purposes the GT dept would like to know how many students will not be continuing so I can try to ...

February 7, 2022 Dear Parents/guardians and advanced 8th grade learners, Thank you for applying to Dimensions Academy High School! On Monday, February 21st the Gifted and Talented Department will conduct PreACT testing for Dimensions Academy High School applicants at Kennedy High School. We will use your student’s PreACT score as one of our data points in our selection process for DAHS. Additionally, the test results will be helpful to your family in selecting courses for your student as they go to KHS and JHS. Lastly, research shows that practice taking high-stakes tests helps students go into their junior year more prepared for tests like the ACT and the SAT, which results in higher scores. The PreACT will be given on paper and include multiple choice tests in English, math, reading, and science. Please drop off your student at Kennedy High School, 9701 Nicollet Ave in Bloomington, by 8am and pick them up around noon. We will be in the cafeteria starting at 7:30 am. Stude...

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/06/1061925009/creative-rut-burnout-getting-out