IMPACT science Saturdays at UWG
The IMPACT (Improving Motivation, Performance, Attitudes of Children and Teachers) program at the University of West Georgia has announced its fall schedule of Saturday science programs, and registration is now open.
Sessions will be held on Oct. 9, Nov. 13 and Dec. 11. Classes are offered for kids from kindergarten through 8th grade, covering a variety of topics from the water cycle to kitchen chemistry to computer animation.
We went to the kickoff session of IMPACT this weekend, and I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s a haul from anywhere in DeKalb. Just how far is it? Well, figure out how long it takes you to get to the intersection of I-20 and the west side of I-285, and then add 45 minutes to estimate your total travel time to UWG. But the price is right: just $5 for a three-hour class. And since you sign up for classes individually, you could pick one topic that really tickles your kid’s brain and make a day of it, enjoying lunch or dinner in historic downtown Carrollton.
Enrollment is limited to 24 children per class, so if you’re interested, sign up soon.
Odyssey of the Mind releases schedule for competitions and training
Georgia Odyssey of the Mind has opened its registration process for coaches’ training, team workshops and competitions for the 2010-11 season.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international organization that encourages and celebrates creative problem solving. Competitions are open to teams of children from kindergarten through college. If your school doesn’t already have a team, it’s not hard to organize one. You don’t even have to be affiliated with a school to have a team — you can form a team with your kid’s neighborhood friends, Girl Scout Troop, soccer team, or whatever. In fact, last year, the Dunwoody Homeowners Association sponsored a team that went all the way to the World Finals.
If you plan to start a new team, you’ll want to attend the coaches’ training on Oct. 23 at Trickum Middle School in Lilburn. Registration for the workshop is open until Oct. 16.
Fernbank Planetarium's new show: Many Faces of Hubble
The Fernbank Planetarium has just opened a new production about the Hubble Telescope. The show looks at the construction and use of the telescope, and includes interviews with key scientists. Officially, the program is aimed at adults and children 10 and up, but all are welcome.
The Many Faces of Hubble will run through Dec. 3, 2010, and will return from Jan. 6-29, 2011, after the planetarium runs its holiday program. Show times are:
Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.
Fridays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays at 3:00 p.m.
Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children.
Legislative alert: Federal funding for gifted research
In gifted education, it’s on the local level that the rubber meets the road. But the federal government does have one program that supports gifted ed. Sadly, that one program is in jeopardy.
The Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program sponsors research on gifted education. In the past, it’s been funded by Congress to the tune of anywhere from $7 million to $11 million per year. In the current budget passed by the U.S. Senate, however, all funding for Javits has been killed.
The U.S. House of Representatives can reverse this action by restoring funding to Javits. If you want to express your support of continuing Javits, you can contact your representative using an online form provided by the Council for Exceptional Children.
Separate from this but also related to federal support for gifted education, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. House that would provide local school districts with grants for programs aimed at closing the achievement gap for economically disadvantaged gifted and talented students. The Equity in Excellence Act (H.R. 5586) has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
If you’re interested in staying on top of legislative activity and communicating with lawmakers about the importance of gifted education, the National Association for Gifted Children has established a Legislative Action Network. Members of the network will be alerted to what’s going on in Congress and will be encouraged to keep in contact their local representatives. (Note: You don’t have to be an NAGC member to sign up.)
Classes will teach about parenting gifted kids
As parents of gifted kids, we share their struggles as they work through the social and emotional issues that can come with being gifted. These can include feelings of isolation or not fitting in with peers, as well as pressure — from themselves or others — to succeed or be perfect.
A new discussion group in the Metro Atlanta area will give parents a forum to talk about how to support gifted children’s emotional needs. The group is being formed under the auspices of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), an organization founded to help parents, teachers and others to nurture gifted individuals as they find their place in the world.
The group will meet in Roswell every Wednesday evening from Sept. 22 to Nov. 10. The class will include reading and discussion of the book A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children, by James T. Webb, Janet L. Gore, Edward R. Amend and Arlene DeVries.
The cost for the eight-week program is $150 for one person or $175 for two people attending together. For more information, contact one of the SENG-trained class leaders, Kathy Courchene or Muriel Knope.
Auditions for elite musicians and singers
The Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) is seeking the state’s best musicians and singers.
GMEA organizes a variety of groups showcasing the best musical talent in the state at the elementary-, middle- and high-school levels. These include a band, jazz band, an elementary orchestra and choral groups. District and All-State groups are formed based on fall auditions.
Deadlines to register for an audition are in September (dates vary by group); auditions will be held in October. Visit the GMEA web site for more information on these opportunities.
National conference on gifted education coming to Atlanta
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the premier advocacy organization for the educational needs of the gifted, will hold its 2010 national convention in downtown Atlanta, November 11-14.
NAGC is offering a $25 discount on convention registration until Sept. 17. Still, the convention isn’t cheap — after the discount, registration is $360 for NAGC members and $459 for non-members. And most of the 450 sessions are geared more toward teachers and administrators than parents.
My recommendation? Encourage your principal to send a few teachers to the convention. Budgets for professional development are tighter than ever, but this is a rare chance for local educators to attend this valuable conference without any travel expenses, so it’s a relative bargain.
And don’t worry — there’s something more affordable and appropriate for us parents. NAGC and its Georgia counterpart, GAGC, will present Parent Day on Saturday, Nov. 13. This full-day event will address topics such as parenting and advocacy. Registration is $65 for members of GAGC or NAGC. Non-members will pay $110, which includes a one-year membership to the national and state organizations.
Young writer's workshop at Margaret Mitchell House explores supernatural works
The Margaret Mitchell House in Midtown has just announced its fall 2010 creative writing workshop for young writers, which will focus on the macabre style of such authors as Edgar Allan Poe, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephanie Meyer and other writers of “supernatural fiction.”
The class will meet from 2:00 – 5:30 p.m. on five consecutive Sundays, beginning on Oct. 3 and ending — quite appropriately — on Halloween. An enrollment fee of $150 for members of Margaret Mitchell House or $200 for non-members includes the book The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe.
This workshop is open to kids ages 11-15. You can get more information and download a registration form from the Youth Writing Workshops page.
Teen newspaper VOX looking for new staff
If your teen enjoys writing, photography or graphic design and would like to learn the ropes of publishing a newspaper, check out VOX, a newspaper run by Atlanta teens.
Published since 1993, VOX gives teens the chance to write about issues important to them and to have their writing read by kids all over the metro Atlanta area. The organization is known for nurturing young people as writers and helping them develop as informed young adults.
VOX is now accepting applications for new staff members. Those selected must attend staff training sessions on Oct. 2 and Oct. 9. Staff members also will be expected to report to the VOX offices in downtown Atlanta at least four times each month.
If that regular commitment doesn’t fit for your child, he or she can submit articles to the paper without joining the staff, by following the paper’s writer’s guidelines.
FIRST technology competitions gearing up
The new school year means a new season for US FIRST, which organizes technology and robotics competitions for kids ages 6-18. Kids compete in four different divisions:
- Junior FIRST LEGO League, for ages 6-9 (grades K-3)
- FIRST LEGO League, for ages 9-14 (grades 4-8)
- FIRST Tech Challenge, for high school students
- FIRST Robotics Competition, for high school students
In the primary program, teams build structures from LEGO bricks. In the rest of the programs, kids design and build robots from LEGO products or kits.
Registration is open now for all but the Robotics competition by visiting the US FIRST web site. (The robotics registration will open soon.) I don’t see any teams listed on the site for the DeKalb County area, so this might be one of those cases where one or more interested parents would need to recruit members and start a team. If you know of any DeKalb teams that are accepting members, please let me know and I’ll post it here.
Gifted Atlanta 