Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

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!

Today we had Bloomington graduates speak to our DA STEM students via Zoom: Jordan Thomson Washington University, St. Louis Kennedy grad - class of 2020 electric engineering & computer science major Jillayne Clarke Johns Hopkins University Jefferson grad - class of 2020 applied math & computer science major with a minor in linguistics They spoke to our students about: · what types of activities they were involved with in high school · what they were looking for in a college & why they chose the one they are at · whether they like the college they go to & why · what they are majoring in & if they've changed majors · what advice you have have for these DA students This panel is a part of a college planning series I do with students. The day before we talked through the roadmap to highly selective colleges and we discussed an article titled "9 ways to show college admissions you're a winner" to get them thinking about what they'd want ...

Today in AP Physics we had a great conversation with about STEM careers and her path in Physics. Dr. Peterson is a former student of mine and graduated from Jefferson in 2005.  She is a science policy reporter for the American Institute of Physics. Previously, she was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the Department of Energy’s Office of High Energy Physics, where she worked on science writing and advocacy projects. She holds a Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an A.B. in physics and mathematics from Harvard University. She lives near Washington, DC.  Here is the slideshow she used.  I encourage you to ask your student about class today!   11/19/2021

Dear DA 10 STEM cohort and their parents, Mr. Kersten is going to have surgery next week so I will be subbing in for him for period 2 from Nov 18-23. One day I will administer a test for him. However, the other days I am organizing some speakers for our students. On 11/19 we will Zoom in Andrea Peterson who graduated from Jefferson and works at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory . She went to the U of W Madison and Harvard and will talk about her process of choosing her STEM career path. On 11/23 we will do a college panel with: -Jordan Thomson, Washington University, St. Louis - Kennedy grad -Tuan Dinh, Princeton University -Kennedy grad -Jillayne Clarke, Johns Hopkins University -Jefferson grad All the speakers will be on Zoom so students will need to bring their Chromebooks and headphones those days. Sincerely, Meredith

November 4, 2021 Dear Parents and Guardians of DA 10 cohort, We have noticed that this semester is significantly more difficult for some of our DAHS students than previous years. We appreciate that many of you answered the survey the GT department sent out. The data demonstrated what we are seeing in class - we have a wide range of experiences right now in the DA STEM program and some of our students are very stressed. What we are seeing in Bloomington is similar to the experiences of educators (including other AP teachers and gifted advocates) across the country. Many of our students are struggling in ways which hadn’t manifested in pre-pandemic times. We are now seeing many members of our cohort struggle with self-regulation, the ability to focus on their work, their ability to ask questions, their ability to work with peers on an academic task, and are struggling with issues of depression and anxiety. We want to be responsive and support our gifted learners. I have met wit...

Dimensions Academy High School Graduation This year we have two cohorts completing our program for the first time! Congratulations to our DA STEM graduates who completed 34 college credits during a global pandemic! These students have been doing online learning since last March and continued to complete their program at Normandale Community College. Kennedy: Ahmed Dualeh Malachi Martichuski Jefferson: Elias Caspari Isabelle Janey Olivia Knight Amelia Lodwick Ben Lodwick Adam Lueth Snezhanna Medvedovski Abigail Pearson Arielle Swanson Tiffany Tian Abigail Valladolid Thy Bao Vu Congratulations to our DA Humanities graduates who completed 3 college writing and literature classes and 4 AP classes during a global pandemic. This was our first cohort to go through our program and we are very proud of what these students were able to accomplish! Jefferson: Olivia Busch Autumn Fuller Isabelle Janey Olivia Knight Abigail Pearson Arielle Swanson Tiffany Tian Abigail Valladolid Thy ...

Dear DA students, I hope your finals week at NCC is going well.  You have successfully completed two years of calculus this year.  Congrats!  If you are taking the AP Calc BC exam I recommend getting some tutoring so that you can be ready for the exam.  While you have learned a lot of content you haven't learned the nuances of the exam and what the College Board is looking for.  Therefore I have recruited Ben Harste to help get you ready for the AP Calc BC exam.   The exam is on Monday, May 24th.   Mr. Harste will tutor you from 7:50 - 9am on Tuesday 5/18 and Thursday 5/20 on Zoom.   On Monday 5/17 I will give some example Free Response Questions for you to work on so that you can practice with the College Board  format and have that experience when you meet with Ben.  On Wednesday 5/19 I will give you a previously released multiple choice exam.  I have reserved the red flex space at Jefferson for us each morning.  You can participate in the tutoring and FRQ practice online or in ...

In February students will be asked to register for next year. If you were not able to come to this morning's meeting I encourage you to watch the video. I'm including links to the resources I used: Video from today's Post DA Planning Meeting - https://youtu.be/2FmnXmsSvXg My PSEO planning guide document - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YkEVqdHSB_JR_2Z1ofjscKp7VGv6-xQ1mGmWnyKItkg/edit?usp=sharing The slideshow I used - https://tinyurl.com/yd9epeuu After the meeting Carl Pearson and I found this list: https://www.mnmsa.org/files/8013/1723/8071/PSEO_College_List.pdf Take care, Meredith

High School Outreach Meetings for the Bloomington Gifted and Talented Department Bloomington has two programs for gifted students at the high school level, Dimensions Academy and Nobel. Dimensions Academy Dimensions Academy High School (DAHS) is an innovative approach to gifted education at the high school level. Students can apply for the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and /or the Humanities (English and social studies) strand. Advanced learners have the opportunity to participate in a cohort taking college-level courses at college pacing. Courses are taught by high school teachers with specific training in teaching advanced learners, with support from Gifted and Talented team specialists. We use a dual-campus model in order for students at both high schools to access either or both programs. A shuttle will be provided for transportation between the high schools. Students must apply for DAHS regardless of past participation in gifted and talented programs in e...

Dear DA 9 parents, Your student is now a month into DA! Some students are doing a great job of developing their self advocacy skills and are checking in with their teachers via email when they are absent or have questions.  Please encourage your student to work on this skill.  It is probably the most important college skill they will learn all year!  Also please check in with your student to see how often they are checking Canvas, the Hub and their school email account.  Please sit down with them and look at Infinite Campus to have them show you their grade. We are approaching mid tri and patterns are starting to develop. I met with Ms. Woods last week and am meeting with Mr. Carufel this week so I will soon be following up with parents if we see concerning patterns developing. If students need help studying for their DA classes please encourage them to talk to me about getting an appropriate tutor.  Additionally, as I said in our intro meeting this fall, please keep an eye on your ...

  If you or your student missed the orientation tonight it is linked   here .  Start the video at 8 minutes in.   Please let me know if I can help you or your student as we get this school year started.  

  Dear DA 10 STEM students, You have now completed 2 weeks of college.  You are hopefully feeling like you've got Distance Learning at NCC under control and feeling like you can add on your JHS/KHS classes.  If not, lets work on that together.  I want to help you be successful! If you are missing a Chemistry, Calc, Geology or Chem set for your NCC class please let me know ASAP so I can get one to your high school so you can get it on Wednesday for materials pick.   Some folks have asked me for the details about pictures and school materials pick up and that info is in the Return to Learn info from your principal.  I'm including those links below.   Kennedy Return to School Info  Jefferson Return to School Info  I read this article today and I think that it has a lot of info that is applicable to being a successful DA student too.   How college students can make the most of remote learning ​ Good luck this we...

  Dear DA 9 families, Several of you have asked for help with compiling the schedule and class links together.  This link will take you to a google doc you can copy and then edit for yourself.  The first schedule has the links and times for DA STEM and the second one has that for DA Humanities.  Many of you have asked me for the details about pictures and school materials pick up and that info is in the Return to Learn info from your principal.  I'm including those links below.  If you are in DA Humanities and weren't able to get your materials from me last week then be sure to mention you need your DA bag from me at pick up. Kennedy Return to School Info  Jefferson Return to School Info  If you are in my DA 9 Social Studies class I made some changes to my schedule for week one so please use this one .   I read this article today and I think that it has a lot of info that is applicable to being a successful DA s...

  Dear DA 10 families, The BPS School Board voted unanimously on Monday to begin the school year using the distance learning (DL) model for students. If you registered for hybrid or hybrid flex your student will be placed in the classes they registered for originally and will take them distance for the start of the year.  The school board did not decide for how long we would stay in distance learning for the 2020-21 school year.  What’s good about this decision for our program is that GT students in humanities will get to stay with their cohort.   If you registered for the Bloomington Online School you will be guaranteed online instruction all year.  However, both high school principals have informed me that they are not staffing any AP or honors courses through BOS.  Therefore if you are in DA Humanities and you also wanted your student to be in honors math and science you should register for DL.  Similarly if you are in DA STEM and you also want...

  Dear DA 9 families, The BPS School Board voted unanimously on Monday to begin the school year using the distance learning (DL) model for students. If you registered for hybrid or hybrid flex your student will be placed in the classes they registered for originally and will take them distance for the start of the year.  The school board did not decide for how long we would stay in distance learning for the 2020-21 school year.  What’s good about this decision for our program is that GT students in both humanities and STEM will get to stay with their cohorts.   If you registered for the Bloomington Online School you will be guaranteed online instruction all year.  However, both high school principals have informed me that they are not staffing any AP or honors courses through BOS.  Therefore if you are in DA Humanities and you also wanted your student to be in honors math and science you should register for DL.  Similarly if you are in DA STEM and...

May 18, 2020 Dear DA STEM 9th and 10th graders and their parents/guardians, Congratulations on completing spring semester at Normandale in the Dimensions Academy STEM program.  You excelled in your college coursework - during a pandemic and when all instruction was moved online!  Roger and I were very impressed with how hard you worked under these new learning conditions. Additionally, we were thrilled to see how well the Normandale professors adjusted their teaching to online.  We were happy with the level of rigor they were able to maintain.   Grades:   I am pleased to announce that everyone in both cohorts earned As and Bs in their college classes this semester.  Normandale is offering their students the opportunity to take their classes pass/fail but my recommendation for you is to take your grade.  There are 2 benefits to taking your grade:  1.  It is doubtful that 4 years from now colleges will give you credit for ...

I am proud that we are graduating another class of Dimensions Academy students.  These students took 2 years of college science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes at Normandale Community College.  The following 17 students have completed our rigorous program: Andrew Barton Jonathan Busch Robert Holzman Grace Jarvis Zach Jensen Alexander Kiner Clare Koll Anne Louise Kolstad Preston Le Gabriel Meier Ethan Nguyen Hoang Nguyen Josephy Shetaye Isaac Stein Zach Studdiford Christina Timm Walter Van Dyke The following students are being recognized for excellence in a particular class.  They were chosen by a committee of NCC professors: College Algebra:  Clare Koll Trigonometry:  Zach Studdiford Computer Science:  Isaac Stein College Physics:  Grace Jarvis Geology:  Robbie Holzman Chemistry:  Preston Le Calculus I:  Gabe Meier Calculus II:  Joseph Shetaye...

Congratulations to Robbie Holzman  for placing 2nd place in the  American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC) Student Mathematics League competition at Normandale Community College.  Dimensions Academy High School alum Colden Longley  also placed 1st!  Robbie is a sophomore and Colden is a senior at Jefferson High School.  

Dear DA STEM students and parents/guardians,  Normandale has decided to offer students a Pass / No Credit option for spring semester.   Because this is a DA class, if you choose to get a letter grade your grade would be based on the usual scale and weighted in your GPA at Jefferson or Kennedy.  In NCC’s pass/fail system, in order to earn a pass, students will need to be earning 70% at the end of the semester (which is not howP/F is being done at BPS right now). You do not need to decide today which type of grade you would like.  I spoke with Cary Komoto, the NCC STEM Dean, today and he agrees that you will get to choose the P/F option by notifying me after you have had the opportunity to see your final grade from NCC.  I will then communicate whether you chose the  grade or P/F option to BPS and to NCC.   You can choose to take a grade in one class and a Pass/Fail in another.   If you earn an A or B in your NCC courses this spr...

We had a practice session today for Calc II today and Professor Fingerson introduced us to Zoom.  IT was great.  He can do problems using the computer and even put us into break out groups to work on problems.  He also talked with the students about the upcoming schedule.  Classes resume at NCC on Monday just like at BPS.  He's planning on recording classes on Zoom for students to have access afterwards and will post them on D2L.  He is also available after class for questions using Zoom.  Lastly, he has set up a google voice account at 612-405-3058 so you can text him if you want too.