Scholarship Updates: CGA Gives Away Money!

You read that right.  We have been giving away money for years through our CGA scholarship program because we believe these scholarships are the most effective way to impact the education of the gifted children in our district.  This is our way of paying it forward.

To date, in the 2011-2012 school year, 14 scholarships have been approved for teachers and administrators to attend the Texas Association for Gifted and Talented (TAGT) and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) annual conferences.  The recipients of these scholarships will attend sessions such as these:

Challenging Gifted Students in Every Elementary Classroom

Pulling It All Together: A Synthesis Model for the Instruction of the Gifted and Talented

21st Century Literature Circles

The Underachieving Gifted Student: Challenges and Solutions 

And too many more to mention!

 Here, in their own words, are our teachers’ comments that showcase the importance of attending conferences such as these:

 Anthony Smith, CMSE 7^th Grade SS teacher:

‘The TAGT conference is important to me because I believe that it can provide additional support to me as a first year gifted and talented teacher … giving me another outlook and perspective on gifted and talented differentiation …helping me create innovative products for my students to use.”

 Sonja May, Lakeside, 1^st Grade teacher:

”… I attend GT training every year for maybe a few hours at a time or a day, if I am lucky. …but nothing would be more effective for me than being fully immersed in training for three consecutive days…. The TAGT conference will bring a variety of professionals that I would otherwise not be exposed to, all to one location…”

 Melissa Warren, Lakeside, 5^th Grade teacher:

“…So often my professional development is mandated, regulated, and required in order to enhance instruction for…a particular subset of at-risk learner. Far less frequently am I presented with the opportunity, time, and resources to improve my instructional skills specifically for the gifted subset of students…”

 Todd Kettler, Director of Advanced Academics teacher:

“ I believe in quality education for all kids, and that includes gifted kids. Thus, I have spent my professional career understanding exactly what that quality education looks like for those gifted students who surprise and inspire us. I believe success as an educator includes being a tireless learner. NAGC is the best annual learning event for those committed to the education of gifted students, and I believe it is valuable to me and our district to attend. To be the best, I believe we should learn from the best.”

 Each of the recipients has agreed to share not only on CGA’s blog but to the district educator population as well. Tune into our website and our blog in early December to read about their experiences.

 The winners of our scholarships are:

 Linda Mulkey, VRE, TAGT                                Lisa Timmerman, Lakeside, TAGT

Carol Smith, Wilson, TAGT                               Kathryn McMacken, Mockingbird, TAGT

Sonya May, Lakeside, TAGT                             Kathryn Soles, CMSN, TAGT

Kimberly Pope, CMSN, TAGT                           Laila Sanguras, CMSW, TAGT

Michele Zugaro, CHS, TAGT                              Dana Deloach, CHS, TAGT

Melissa Warren, Lakeside, TAGT                    Amanda Stone, Lakeside, TAGT

Todd Kettler, Administration, NAGC              Anthony Smith, CMSE, TAGT

 If you see these passionate and dedicated individuals out and about, please be sure to share your congratulations and thanks.

And the giving isn’t over… the summer scholarship application will be available on our website after the new year and we have sent teachers to conferences on differentiation, classes in using Fathom for AP Statistics and the AP Annual Conference.