2015 SENG Conference Registration is Now Open!
SOAR with SENG from
July 24-26, 2015
at the Denver Marriott Tech Center
Denver, Colorado
Adult registrations are now live. Register as a member or non-member attendee (if you're not a member, now is a perfect time to
become one!), sponsor, speaker, or a SENG Ambassador (see information below).
************************ Reserve your spot now for a 2015 Conference Sponsorship Opportunity We anticipate at least 450 attendees at this year's conference, making it an intimate setting for sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers. Attendees include families, educators, gifted adults, and medical professionals (including mental health professionals) from across the U.S. and other countries.
Reserve by May 15 to ensure you receive ALL benefits!
Announcing the new 2015 SENG Conference Children and Teen Programs!
We know you've all been waiting to hear what SENG has in store for your kids at this year's conference... and we promise it was worth the wait!
Youth ages 5-17 will participate in a program to take place at the University of Denver. It will be a summer adventure designed to meet the needs and desires of gifted learners. Designed and facilitated by a coordinator with a degree in Gifted Education and over fifteen years of experience in the field.
The bulk of the 5-12 year old participants will be participating in classes that are S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Math) inspired and center around the idea of innovation, while the middle and high school students will be having their own adventures unique to Colorado.
Watch your inbox and our website for more details and registration information AND an the 2015 James T. Webb Scholarship Application. |
2015 SENG Diversity Series, Part I
April 30, 2015
Families and their Gifted Children:
Developing Talent and Advocating for their Own
Presented by Dr. Joy Lawson Davis
This webinar will provide an overview of research and exemplary practices as related to family engagement with gifted learners. A special emphasis will be placed on the talent development and advocacy strategies of culturally diverse families who have raised successful gifted children. Focus on culturally relevant strategies as well as improving the connections between schools and families will be discussed.
Click below to register or learn more about this event...
May 12, 2015
Stealth Dyslexia: Flying Under the Radar
Presented by Dr. Dan Peters
In an educational era that promotes "meeting expected grade requirements," gifted children with learning disabilities are most often missed, and stealth dyslexia
has
become a primary culprit. Due to their advanced thinking and compensatory strategies, many gifted students with dyslexia exhibit "average" performance, while still struggling to sound out words, read fluently, spell, and write.
Registration coming soon!
Don't forget, members receive a SENGinar discount on all live SENGinars (excludes CE courses).
Become a member today!
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| Dear SENG Friends, 
Welcome to the April Edition of The SENGVine Newsletter! This is a very exciting time of year. Spring is finally here and spring breakers are enjoying time off from schools and colleges all over the country. Future college students are receiving acceptance letters and school-aged students are wrapping up their applications for summer enrichment programs. We are particularly excited during Spring to announce that registration for SENG's annual conference is underway; please visit the SENG website to learn more about conference details and register today! SENG's 2015 conference will be held in Denver Colorado from July 24-26, 2015. Watch carefully because our children's program will be posted any day. In the last edition of the SENGVine I informed readers about SENG's transition. The SENG board recently approved the hiring of a new Interim Administrator to assist SENG with daily operations. This individual will be introduced to SENGVine readers in the May edition of the newsletter, but you might see something sooner if you follow us on social media. In addition to introducing SENG's new Interim Administrator in May, I look forward to acquainting readers with SENG's staff and contract workers who are largely responsible for the magic SENG produces on a daily basis for it's dedicated and loyal constituents. SENG truly has a group of talented, dedicated, and very hard-working staff and contract workers and I want to make sure they are properly acknowledged! I also want to thank Board Member, Kate Bachtel, for stepping up as the new champion for our SENG Model Parent Groups. As the new SMPG Committee Chair, you can look forward to many of her great initiatives, and a return of the SMPG: The Heart of SENG column in upcoming SENGVine editions. So don't miss my welcome letter in next month's SENGVine to learn more about SENG's talented board, staff, and contract workers! Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn, SSP, NCSP
SENG Board President |
Oxygen
By Evelyn King Metcalf
It's times like these, after a day in the trenches of teaching gifted eight-year-olds to write a paragraph, in the midst of "be nice," "listen," "use your 'I' statements" or "you've got a FISH in your pencil sharpener??" (this was discovered as water was leaking all over the student's desk), that I come home to my own family thinking: "What about ME?" "When do MY needs get met?" The metaphor of the 'oxygen mask on airplanes' comes to mind. I need to breathe that metaphor in.
I recently started meditating (again). My friend who is guiding me is an assistant at my school. Once we sat in my classroom, after a typical tornado of a day, and everything went still. I just focused on my heart. I NEED this. Life is too fast. Kids have so many needs. Families have so many requirements. I crave things like knitting. Slowness. A rocking chair, a breeze, a sunset. Katydids. Still. Read More...
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The SENG Professional Advisory Committee - Perhaps More Important Today Than Ever
by Marianne Kuzujanakis
It was with wisdom that SENG's founding members, along with Dr. James T. Webb, established a SENG Professional Advisory Committee shortly after incorporation as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2000. SENG's mission has always been unique:
"To empower families and communities to guide gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals: intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually."
It is in this defined
empowerment of diverse communities of peoples with the sole goal of supporting gifted and creative individuals that the SENG Professional Advisory Committee holds a key SENG role.
Read More...
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You Aren't Going to Get There Paddling That Old Boat: Why we cannot and will not adequately meet diversity goals in gifted education with the same old system
by Kathleen Casper
There are some problems that we need to address and it is critical that we find new answers. Specifically we have a problem with gifted education programs in our states not doing enough of what we need them to do to identify and serve all gifted children.
Here are some of the issues that we need to deal with as quickly and thoroughly as possible:
- We use IQ tests that were historically used to highlight the "superiority" of Caucasians, in order to determine giftedness in many states. This started in the early 1900's and the arguments continue even into the 21st Century. Read More...
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100 Words of Wisdom:
Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn
In approximately 100 words, experts from
around the world offer their perspective on some aspect of giftedness. V
iew and share the online version.
Mental health professionals (psychologists, counselors, social workers, and psychiatrists) work in both public and private settings. These professional's graduate education includes an abundance of knowledge relating to pathology and related treatments, but lacks the same for gifted and talented individuals. As a society, we must advocate strongly for a major revision and paradigm shift in how programs responsible for training mental health professionals teach the classification and treatment of these individuals. Unless a major shift occurs, they will continue to be misdiagnosed and at high risk for inappropriate treatment, which can cause irreparable harm. The mental health of each gifted and talented individual is extremely important and all mental health professionals must be cognizant of this fact!
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Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn, SSP, NCSP is a nationally certified school psychologist and is licensed to practice school psychology in the state of Florida. She has been employed with the Miami-Dade County Public School District as a school psychologist since 2005. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn is the current Board President of SENG.
Ms. Kendrick-Dunn has a very strong passion for addressing the needs of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations and has been instrumental in significantly increasing the numbers of culturally diverse students participating in the Gifted Program at her schools. In addition, she has many helped parents find services outside the school district to help address the needs of their gifted children. In 2006, Ms. Kendrick-Dunn was a member of Miami-Dade Public Schools Gifted Task Force Committee and was also awarded the Mary Frasier Scholarship sponsored by the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC). In 2007, she was both appointed to the NAGC Diversity/Equity Committee and was awarded a grant by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Children Fund Inc to establish a resource center specifically designed for gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn completed her undergraduate work at Miami Dade College and Florida State University and her graduate work at Barry University. Ms. Kendrick-Dunn has presented at numerous professional conventions on the topic of gifted children.
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