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January/February 2014 Issue 107 
 
In This Issue
When Early College is Not the Answer
Digital Feet in Global Soil
Best Source of Support for Day-to-Day Issues
Feature Article
100 Words of Wisdom: Norma Hafenstein
 
SENGinar Logo with box

Upcoming SENGinars

February 20, 2014   

Presenters: Susan and Morgan Guess 

 

March 11, 2014
Finding, Creating, and Building Meaningful Work [part of the 2014 Gifted Adult Series]
Presenter: Paula Prober, MS, MEd   

  



Keynote Speakers Announced! 

Dr. Dan Peters
2e 360: Lessons Learned From Working With 2e Youth, Raising 2e Kids, and Living 2e

   

 

Rose Blackett Conceptualizing Global Giftedness

 

 

Read More About Our Keynote Speakers... 
 
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Sponsorship, Exhibitor & Advertising Opportunities: Reserve your space now. More information is available online. Please direct questions about sponsorship, exhibitor, and advertising opportunities to SENG Executive Director Liz Campbell  at (845) 797-5054.
 
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Registration for the 2014 SENG Annual Conference will open late February. Check the website for updated information about our location, booking your room and more!

 Parent Support Group Updates
 
New SENG Model Parent Support Group (SMPG) Facilitator Training Announced!

March 27-28, 2014 
The Roeper School
Bloomfield Hills, MI

Read more and register online

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New Online Parent Support Group Forming!

Join with other parents of gifted children online for an insightful and supportive eight-week discussion group, facilitated by Molly Isaacs-McLeod.  

 

Meet for 8 Tuesdays in March and April, 2014 (March 4, 11, 18 and 25 and April 1, 8, 15 and 22) from 8-9 PM EST. 

 
In The News...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Terry Friedrichs Honored with 2013 Leadership in Diversity Award

Spot a SENG Speaker  
in Your Area  
February 20-21, 2014:
Gifted 101, Keynote, and more
presented by Carolyn Kottmeyer and hosted by Nebraska Association for the Gifted 

Are you presenting on the social/emotional needs of the gifted at an upcoming event? Please provide us with the details. 

Support SENG with a 
Tax-Deductible Contribution 

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Dear SENG Friends,    

 

My name is Tiombe Bisa Kendrick, and I am honored to serve as SENG's Board President. Our immediate Past President Lori Comallie-Caplan has left huge shoes for me to fill! I would like to personally thank Lori for her many years of commitment to SENG. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity during the past four years to learn from Lori, presidents preceding Lori, as well all the other board members with whom I have served. 

 

I also want to thank outgoing board members Dr. Marianne Kuzujanakis and Dr. Vidisha Patel for their dedication and service to SENG. 

 

I want to welcome the newest board members to our family: Kate Bachtel, Norma Hafenstein, and Evelyn Metcalf. Kate comes to us from Boulder, Colorado where she serves as the Director of Gifted Education and Outreach at a K-8 school for gifted children and is Co-Founder of SeedSpark Institute. Kate has previously worked as a Talented and Gifted Education Advisor in Boulder Valley School District and is also a SENG Model Parent Group Facilitator.

 

Dr. Norma Hafenstein resides in Denver, Colorado. During her doctoral work in 1984, Norma founded the University Center for Gifted Young Children, which subsequently became the Ricks Center for Gifted Children. Norma directed the school for 29 years and in 1997 founded the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, which she continues to direct. She is currently the Ricks Endowed Chair for Gifted Education in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver where she teaches graduate courses in gifted education. Her research in the areas of young gifted children, gifted girls, and cognitive processing has led to multiple publications and honors.

 

Evelyn Metcalf lives in Huntersville, North Carolina. Previously the third grade teacher at the Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, a school for the highly gifted, Evelyn now teaches second grade at the Barringer Academic Center. She has taught in regular and gifted education for the past 20 years in both Ohio and North Carolina. Evelyn is a facilitator for SENG Model Parent Groups and represents SENG as North Carolina's state liaison.  

 

I want to personally thank each of you for choosing to make a commitment to SENG for the next three years. I look forward to working with each of you on this journey.

 

I have served on the SENG Board since 2009 and have held positions of Secretary and President-Elect. I have been a practicing school psychologist in the state of Florida since 2005. I currently hold a national certification in school psychology and a license to practice school psychology in Florida. In 2006, I began to develop an interest in gifted students. It was in the midst of this incredible time of learning and knowledge-seeking that I found SENG. Finding SENG has been extremely beneficial for both my personal and professional development, but most importantly to the gifted students and families I serve. Prior to my introduction to SENG, I can honestly say as a mental health professional, I lacked significant knowledge about gifted students outside of administering cognitive assessments.

 

As the new President of the SENG Board, I look forward to working with the board and staff to increase SENG's reach nationally and internationally. SENG is the only non-profit organization offering education and services tailored to the unique social and emotional needs of gifted and talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds. 

 

Best wishes,

Tiombe Bisa Kendrick

President, SENG Board of Directors 

 

Molly McLeod When early college is not the answer...

by Molly Isaacs-McLeod

 

Part of my work involves helping parents find the most appropriate educational options for their children given parameters of goals, interests, location, budget, and family situation. On occasion I have the privilege of encountering a high school student (more rarely a middle school student) who has exhausted most of the course work offered at the high school level, but who does not opt for early college. So what constructive suggestions are there for a young person who finds himself in this position? Read More... 

 
Talking Circles 
 
 
Digital Feet in Global Soil: How to help your gifted learner safely navigate the internet 
 

by Stacia Taylor and Krissy Venosdale

Our children live in an ever-changing digital world, and their digital footprint will move with them throughout their lives. They have access to most of the world's knowledge at their fingertips. Our children are creating friendships with people from around the globe whom they are unlikely to ever meet in person. Read More... 

 

Molly McLeod

Best source of support for day-to-day issues? Other parents of gifted children! 

by Molly Isaacs-McLeod

A cornerstone of the SMPG program is the idea that parents of gifted children are often the best support and resource for parents of gifted children. It is a simple idea with a lot of power. While each child and every family is unique, there are common themes that play out in many families raising gifted children. Families encounter issues related to intensity, depression, underachievement, perfectionism, etc. Many gifted families struggle with interaction with extended family, and sometimes with longtime friends. It is with these issues that other parents are uniquely equipped to offer support. Read More...
 

There are a number of myths in the gifted field, as there are in all fields. And these myths influence how we view bright kids as parents and as educators. Gifted Child Quarterly twice has published special issues on myths in the gifted field. Read More...
 
100 Words of Wisdom: Norma Hafenstein

In approximately 100 words, experts from around the world offer their perspective on some aspect of giftedness. View and share the online version. 
  

Giftedness follows us throughout our lifetime. As parents we work to support the intensities, sensitivities, and unique perspective of our children. To be effective, however, we must acknowledge these characteristics in ourselves. These characteristics require nurturance of self. Allow those feelings that come so quickly. Perhaps channel them into an act of compassion or just feel the tear drops. Recognize intensity in ourselves! Sing out from your very soul! Share the joy or stand beside another in grief. Yes, our very actions are our children's greatest teacher, and the greatest gift we can give them is to take care of ourselves.

 

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Dr. Norma Hafenstein resides in Denver, Colorado. During her doctoral work in 1984, Norma founded the University Center for Gifted Young Children, which subsequently became the Ricks Center for Gifted Children. Norma directed the school for 29 years and in 1997 founded the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, which she continues to direct. She is currently the Ricks Endowed Chair for Gifted Education in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver where she teaches graduate courses in gifted education. Her research in the areas of young gifted children, gifted girls, and cognitive processing has led to multiple publications and honors.
 
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Copyright � 2014 SENG / Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted

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The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect SENG's position. 

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