Gifted Matters: April 2013

Welcome to the April 2013 edition of Gifted Matters. Even though the school year is beginning to wind down, we have an action-packed few months ahead of us. For student entering grades 4-8 in fall 2013, our MOSAIC summer enrichment courses offer a variety of learning opportunities that cater to your budding artist, author, lawyer, engineer or techie. It is not too late to register. Be sure to click on the link above to see a complete listing of courses and pre-requisites. This month, our Summer Mosaic Spotlight is on our new-this-year and completely unique class “Natural Disaster Response”, conducted by NTH@C Campus Teacher of the Year Wes Vanicek. Be sure to check it out. You never know when you will need to Be Ready!!

Do you have a young student who absolutely loves science? Join us for an evening of Physics on April 25, 2013. Learn about gravity, inertia and motion in a fun, interactive and hands-on session Newton in a Nutshell.  Open for students in grades 2-5.  Registration is required.

On April 30,2013, our CGA Speaker Series presents “Understanding and Influencing the Brain“, a presentation that will provide parents with an overview of the basic physiology of the brain, stages of development and some principles of how the brain learns. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan to attend this special CGA event.

A common complaint among parents of gifted children is that the child who has already mastered the curriculum is bored while waiting for other students to catch up. One option to address this situation is academic acceleration. The article Understanding Academic Acceleration, Part 1, is essentially a primer on academic accceleration; part 2 of the article (planned for our May issue) will address considerations in whether to pursue acceleration.

The Texas legislature, in response to a revolt against high stakes testing, is considering legislation that modifies the current accountability system and will result in signficant changes in education.  HB 5 affects every public school in Texas, and HB 2824 specifically addresses Coppell and the schools of the High Performance School Consortium. Get up to date on the latest in high stakes testing in the article Standardized testing reform update.

Camp Invention is bringing its new program, GEO-QUEST, to Coppell on July 15-19, 2013.  Students entering grades 1-6 in fall 2013 are invited to explore the earthly realms of sky, sea, land and underground. Get all the details about registration dates and discounts here.

For the child who is always tapping time with their hands, or beating pans with their spoons, Camp Zimma Rimba (Aug 5th- 9th at Pinkerton Elementary) provides a unique outlet. Your student will develop a passion for music, while learning to play African Music on Marimbas and Drums. Learn more about this non-traditional music class here. 

Are you looking at supporting gifted students in Coppell ISD and beyond? Would you be interested in a more active role in CGA? If you would like to serve on the Executive Board or be a part of CGA in any way, the post 2013-14 CGA Volunteer Opportunities provides a listing of several open positions. We hope you will consider being a part of our team.

We hope that you will enjoy the information included in this newsletter and find it useful.  We’d love to have your feedback on how we are doing, and what you’d like to read about in the future.

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