Academic Booster Club

Received from the National Association for Gifted Children:

Javits Funding in Peril in Senate:  Help Needed with Senate Appropriations Committee

The Senate appropriations subcommittee that handles education funding allotted $0 for the Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act yesterday.

We have a chance to recover Senate funding for the Javits program if a few Senators on the committee speak to Chairman Harkin personally when the full appropriations committee meets TOMORROW (Thursday) afternoon.  Because your Senator, Maria Cantwell, is on the Labor/HHS/Education appropriations subcommittee, we’re asking you to CALL her office and ask to speak with the Education staff person in an effort to get Senator Cantwell to take action in support of the Javits program at the Appropriations Committee markup tomorrow.  Please make your as soon as possible, but before Noon on Thursday.  You may have to leave a voicemail message. 

We’re working in coordination with the Council for Exceptional Children in suggesting the following points to make when your call:

My name is _______________. I am a constituent from ____________ (town/city) and I am extremely concerned that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education voted to eliminate funding for the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students program earlier this week. This program is the only federal investment in gifted education. While the Javits program is small by federal standards, funded at $7.5 million last year, it impacts thousands of students, teachers, and schools across the country.

Studies show a growing gap at the highest achievement levels between low-income students and their more advantaged peers, which is partly due to a lack of resources and teacher training to identify and serve these students. The Javits program directly addresses this issue by focusing on developing strategies to identify and serve students who traditionally have not had access to gifted education programs. Because of work done through the Javits program, teachers have been trained to better understand how to identify high ability in students and modify curriculum to meet their needs.  Elimination of funding for the Javits program would also result in closure of the National Research Center on the Gifted & Talented, which would be a tremendous loss to classroom teachers and school leaders who depend on the best practices information produced and disseminated by the Center to improve instruction.

I understand that the full Appropriations Committee will review the bill on Thursday afternoon.  I urge the Senator to do everything possible to reverse the earlier decision made by the education subcommittee and fund the Javits program at at least the $7.5 million funding level it received this year.

If you have any examples of how how your state or school district has benefitted from the Javits program (e.g., that you use curriculum or assessments developed under a Javits grant, or if your districts have relied on information about gifted students and classroom strategies from the National Research Center), be sure to tell the staff person.  It’s important that Senators understand who has benefitted from this federal investment.

All Senate offices can be reached through the Capitol operator at 202-224-3121.  Senator Cantwell’s office is 202-224-3441.  You may also use the Council for Exceptional Children’s online action center, which will link you to your Senator’s office, at http://capwiz.com/cek/callalert/index.tt?alertid=15422516

I just called and left my message.  My phone call lasted three minutes.  Please pick up the phone right now and make the call.  Thank you for your support!

There are two great opportunities for parents of gifted children coming up this week. 

On Tuesday, July 27th, the Northwest Gifted Child Association, http://www.nwgca.org, and SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted),  http://www.sengifted.org, are hosting a free presentation, Eleven Key Parenting Issues, with Dr. James Webb, author of  A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children and other books, in the Lake Washington School District this summer.  Dr. Webb will be in town preparing for next year’s SENG Annual Symposium in Seattle in July 2011.
  
Eleven Key Parenting Issues, Presented by Dr. James Webb
 
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Redmond High School Performing Arts Center
17272 N.E. 104th Avenue, Redmond
 
This is a FREE EVENT — there is no RSVP required!!
  
Eleven issues are common concerns for parents of gifted children — from tots to teens:
           
♦ Communication and relationships
♦ Motivation and underachievement
♦ Discipline, power struggles, self-management
♦ Intensity, stress and perfectionism
♦ Acquaintances, friends and peers
♦ Siblings and only children
♦ Values, traditions and uniqueness
♦ Idealism, unhappiness, and depression
♦ Complexities of modern parenting
♦ Misdiagnosis
♦ Finding a good educational fit
 
Information will be given about each, along with how four major factors – range of ability, asynchronous development, over excitabilities, and thinking styles — influence these issues.

James T. Webb, Ph.D. has been recognized as one of the 25 most influential psychologists in gifted education. In 1981, he established
SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted), a national non-profit organization with programs that support gifted individuals and the parents, educators and health professionals that support them. He is the lead author of five books including A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children and Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults.
 
This event is sponsored by the Northwest Gifted Child Association and Social & Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), hosted by the Lake Washington School District and the Gifted Education Advisory Council (GEAC).
 
For questions, contact Pauline Bowie, 206-715-5261, Pauline@RaisingTheGifted.com

On Thursday, July 29th, Seabury School in Tacoma will be hosting Amy Price, Executive Director of SENG from 7-8:45pm at its middle school campus, 925 Court C, Tacoma, WA 98402.
 
Amy will do a general presentation on characteristics of gifted children with resources and tools for parents and educators.  This event is open to the general public.  From 8:15-8:45 we would like to give local district representatives/leaders an opportunity to talk about what is happening with gifted education in their districts.

This is going to be a unique opportunity for advocates of gifted ed in the South Sound to come together and create a stronger partnership with each other and SENG.

For more information call  253-952-5944.

Please join us at 6:30 on Thursday, June 17th at Chili Thai for our final board meeting of the 2009 – 2010 school year.  We will celebrate this year’s accomplishments and begin planning for next year.  If you’ve wanted to become more involved in ABC, but weren’t sure how to go about it, this is the perfect opportunity.  Everyone is welcome.

Please join us on Tuesday, June 1st from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Maplewood Gym for the QUEST Open House and General Membership Meeting.  ABC will be electing next year’s Board of Directors and approving next year’s budget.  Following the brief meeting, we invite you to celebrate our children’s accomplishments with us.  QUEST teachers will select some of the outstanding work completed by our students this year for display. 

All current QUEST and PAGE students and their families, as well as all new QUEST and PAGE students for 2010 – 2011 and their families are invited to attend.

Two Sisters Concessionaires will be back with Kielbasa Meals available for purchase for $7, and Hot Dog Meals for $5.  Also available for purchase will be Shave Ice (provided by the Foulon Family), cookies, and drinks.  There will also be a 30 foot long inflatable obstacle course for QUEST families to enjoy.

This year has provided us with some significant challenges as we’ve adjusted to the district’s new regional model, but we’ve had some amazing victories.  Thank you for helping us make those victories possible.  Come celebrate all we’ve accomplished this year!

Volunteers are needed between 3:15pm and 6:00pm to help with setup for the event, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm to help us keep things running smoothly, and from 8:00pm to 8:30pm to help with cleanup.  Please contact amyprez@comcast.net if you are available to volunteer.

ABC is again offering a Gift Cents fundraiser to our families.  You can purchase gift cards from a variety of merchants, and a percentage of your purchase goes to ABC to support your child’s education.  We were able to raise over $700 last fall with this program.

This is how it works.  You pay $50 for a gift card from Safeway.  You will receive a $50 gift card for Safeway to use for your groceries, and Gift Cents will donate 4% of your purchase ($2) to ABC.  Percentages vary by retailer.  You can use gift cards for your routine shopping and give to your child’s education without any extra money from your pocket.

Graduation and Father’s Day are just around the corner.  Cards also make great end-of-the-year gifts for teachers.  There are gift cards from Starbucks, Macy’s, Aeropostale, Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as lots of other merchants.  You can also buy movie tickets and gift cards for restaurants.  It’s a great way to pay for your dinner and movie dates while benefitting QUEST.  If you like to give gift cards, this is a great opportunity.  You can download a copy of the order form here.

Please return your orders on Wednesday, May 19th.  Your gift cards will be available for pickup in early June.  You can pay by cash, check, or credit card.  Please makes checks payable to ABC or Academic Booster Club.  To use a credit card, please contact our Gift Cents coordinator, Kirby Burchett at (253)435-7422.

Thank you for your support of ABC!

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, time for the next ABC Board Meeting.  Our April Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 6th, at 6:30 at the Chili Thai restaurant in Puyallup.  Chili Thai is located at 3712 9th Street Southwest, across the street from Red Robin and Olive Garden.  Everyone is welcome to attend.