August Newsletter

August Newsletter Topics

New Leadership for NWGCA & Listening Tour
SENG facilitator training Oct 12-13
WAETAG Conference Oct 17-18
ESD training sessions scheduled
Enrichment Programs
Getting ready for our yearly "Connections" conference
Recent Articles

New Leadership for NWGCA

After many years of tireless dedication, Marcia Holland has decided to step down as President of NWGCA. Thank you to Marcia for her huge and
continuing  contributions in our state!

Please welcome our new leadership team:
Austina De Bonte, President
Tawna Eggert, Vice President
Marcia Holland, Secretary, Past President
Pauline Bowie, Treasurer

Listening Tour

We are conducting a 3-phase Listening Tour this fall to better understand and shape our future organization around the needs of  our community. For Phase 1 we are looking for:
 * Families with elementary or middle school-aged gifted children who are willing to do a short phone interview with a board  member. 
 * Names and contact info for current leaders (formal or  informal) of gifted parent groups in towns, cities, and school districts across  the state. We are planning to hold a meeting with these leaders in September.  
  
Can you help? Do you have ideas or suggestions for   Phase 2 of our Listening Tour? Please email us.  

SENG Facilitator Training - Oct 12-13

Want to learn how to be a facilitator for SENG Model Parent Groups (SMPGs)? Now is your chance to become a certified facilitator here in our own backyard! We are especially lucky to have the president of SENG, Lori  Comallie-Caplan, and her colleague, Sheri Plybon, coming to do this training for us personally. This opportunity won't happen again in WA state for a  long, long while--only a few facilitator trainings are held nationwide each year. No previous experience required--just a passion for helping families come together to discuss topics around raising gifted children, particularly around their social and emotional needs. If you have any questions about SMPGs or
about  becoming a facilitator, please email David Berg. Special thanks to the Seabury School for hosting
this  session!
Registration & More Info 

"Oh, They'll Be Fine:" Addressing the Legitimate Needs of Highly Capable   Children

October 18-19, 2013
 Hotel Murano, Tacoma 
 
WAETAG's  annual  conference is coming soon, and is looking to be the best one yet, with a  topic  that is particularly relevant to parents as well as educators. The keynote  speaker is Linda Silverman from the Gifted Development Center in Colorado--families fly to Colorado just to have their kids tested and assessed   by Linda, she is that amazing.

There is also a pre-conference day specifically for administrators with everything they need to know to get in compliance with the new laws--please spread the word to your school district's gifted coordinator!
 
Conference Flyer 
Pre-Conference Administration Day Flyer 
Registration

ESD Training Sessions Scheduled

WAETAG trained 20+ people  from each of the WA state Educational Service Districts (ESDs) over the summer  to be able to give short courses on three topics:

• Nature and Needs of
  Gifted  Learners 
  
• Differentiation
  
• Critical and Creative
    Thinking

Courses are intended for teachers and  school administrators, but several sites said they would allow parents as well.  Please encourage your teachers and school district coordinators to attend. Note  that these classes are appropriate for regular program teachers who need to  differentiate for a few gifted learners in
their classrooms. These courses are  already scheduled, more coming soon:
ESD 112 (Vancouver)  - Oct 24+     
ESD 101 (Spokane)  - Sep 25+ 
ESD 189 (Anacortes)  - Nov 2 
ESD 123 (Pasco/Yakima)- Oct 17+      

To look up other ESDs, and for the full  list of ESD training contacts, go to www.waetag.net   

Enrichment Programs

Looking for school year enrichment programs? Here are some to check out: 
Prime Factor Math Circles in  Bellevue - weekly sessions for grades 3-10   
Challenge Math Online is a 20-week  long practice program that helps young students develop problem solving and  logical reasoning skills.  
CTY Online academic classes for  grades preK-12, in a
wide variety of subjects.   
Stanford EPGY academic classes for  kindergarten to university level for gifted youth    
Gifted Homeschoolers Forum whose  blog, facebook page, and group purchase discounts for members are useful even  for non homeschoolers.  
New! CTY Cogito Research Awards for  students ages 13-18 to support pre-college STEM research. 

Getting Ready for Our Conference

We are in the early stages of  planning our yearly Connections conference, that seeks to bring together  families of gifted kids in Western WA. This year we are looking into a full day  format, and including a kids track as well as sessions for adults. If you have  ideas for this year's conference, have a recommendation of a great place to hold  the event, a speaker we should invite, or any other ideas, please email us at  [email protected]

Recent Articles

This season's theme for articles is about advocating for your child's needs at school. Remember that both public and private programs take applications for next year in the fall, so it's not too late to start thinking about next school year!

13 tips for advocating for your child (or how to become  "that parent")

'Same' and 'Equal' are not congruent  terms

I'm an advocate and so are you

Should you let your child decide?
  
Appealing your child's gifted placement  decision