Gifted Education Advisory Council

Serving the LWSD Quest and Accelerated Learning Programs Community
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  • Lake Washington School District Quest Program for official information on Lake Washington School District's Quest program, click here for their official website, as well as:  LWSD Quest Program
 
  • Washington Association of Educators for Talented and Gifted  (WAETAG) is the cornerstone of three organizations whose main focus is gifted education in Washington State. (Northwest Association of Educators for Talented and Gifted, Northwest Gifted Child Association and Washington Coalition for Gifted Education. www.waetag.net
 

 

 

  • Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG).  GEAC hosts a series of classes based on the SENG model.  www.sengifted.org

 

  • Raising The Gifted Child - Local (Washington State) information about gifted programs and other gifted resources throughout the state and beyond.  
    www.raisingthegifted.com
     
  • 2enewsletter - for parents of twice-exceptional children. They're exceptional because they’re gifted and exceptional because they have learning disabilities, learning disorders, attention difficulties, or just plain learning differences.  http://www.2enewsletter.com/welcome%20page.htm
  
  • Basic Education Task Force

The Legislature hasn’t addressed the definition of “basic education” in 30 years. In the interim, PTA members have argued for tougher graduation requirements, better diagnostic assessment, stronger math and science curriculum, and more funding for facilities. The PTA position is we need to make schools better for all students. We need to re-evaluate the state’s definition of “basic.”

The Basic Education Finance Task Force proposal opens the door to reform, but whether any happens is far from certain.

Many ideas in the preliminary proposals tie in with Washington PTA’s advocacy platform: 1) Redefine and fully fund basic education.  2) Strengthen math and science education.  3) Improve the Washington State Assessment System.  4) Support CORE 24 (more rigorous graduation standards).  5) Support rational approaches to teacher compensation.

 

How to get involved

·          Send comments on the proposals to: bef@wsipp.wa.gov

·          Contact your legislator: http://capwiz.com/npta2/wa/home/

·          Read a summary of proposals: http://www.wastatepta.org/leg/FUNDING_COMMITTEE/BEF_proposal_sum.pdf

·          Read the full proposals or get background info: http://www.leg.wa.gov/joint/committees/bef/

·          Review WSPTA testimony: http://www.wastatepta.org/leg/BEF_July_2008.pdf

 
  • Quest Classroom Websites
Neal Manegold
Mark Blomquist  
  • First Lego League Robotics Competition 
If you are interested in registering, go to www.register4fll.com Registration is typically due in September of each year.  Competitions tend to be held in late November/early December. Available slots are filling quickly!
 
click here for a Powerpoint presentation from GEAC sponsored BrainSports night with some details of past Robotics events. 
  • Summer Programs at the University of Washington. 
The Robinson Center for Young Scholars offers the Summer Challenge and Summer Stretch programs:
http://depts.washington.edu/cscy/programs/summer


The UW also offers Summer Youth programs for all ages. They are not specifically for highly capable but they are very educational and fun.
http://www.summeryouth.washington.edu/syp 
 
  • Summer Internship at Stanford University (high school juniors and seniors only; deadline Feb 24, 2010)
 SIMR 2009 (Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program) applications due Feb 24. – Open to high school students class of 2010 or 2011 who are US Citizens or Resident Aliens.  An 8 week summer internship for high school juniors and seniors interested in medical research consisting of hands-on research under the guidance of a one-on-one mentor in one of Stanford’s University’s medical research labs.  Applications can be found on simr.stanford.edu.