|
|
|
|
What's New in Gifted
Education
|
Intel
International
Science and Engineering Fair – Pushing the Limits of STEM Creativity
Nearly
1,800 outstanding high school science students, representing more than 75 countries, exhibited their inventive, groundbreaking projects at the
2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
in
Los
Angeles.
Ivo Zell of Germany
(pictured, center) was awarded the top prize for for his design of a small “flying wing” drone. Amber Yang of Florida
(left)
and Valerio Pagliarino of Italy
(right)
each received the second prize:
Amber for developing a
method to predict the orbits of space junk circling Earth, and
Valerio for research addressing how to get internet service to remote areas. Source:
Society for Science & the Public (SSP) |
|
|
|
|
Symposium
to
Spotlight
Twice-Exceptionality
The
2e Center for Research and Professional Development will host its second biennial symposium on twice-exceptionality, entitled “Leadership and Vision in 2e Education," October 13-16, 2017
in Los
Angeles.
The symposium will feature keynotes, panel discussions, interactive forums and workshops. It is geared toward administrators, policy makers, advocates, researchers in the
2e field, and parents,
as well
as schools, teachers and support staff working with the 2e population.
|
|
Ranking America’s Most Challenging High Schools
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews recently released his annual rankings of
America’s Most Challenging High Schools.
Mathews also complied a list of the nation's "Top-performing schools with elite students" that included the Davidson Academy for the
seventh consecutive year. The 25 alphabetically-listed schools were excluded from the main rankings because, "despite their exceptional quality, their admission rules and standardized test scores indicate they have few or no average students." |
|
|
|
Davidson
News
|
Davidson
Academy
Online
High
School
The
Davidson
Academy
is
offering
$5,000
merit
scholarships
for the
inaugural
year of
its new
Online
High
School
to all
accepted
ninth
and 10th
graders.
Additionally,
a
full-time,
accredited
eighth
grade
online
option
will be
offered
starting
this
fall.
Every
eighth
grader
accepted
will
also receive
a $2,000
merit
scholarship.
These
merit
scholarships
are
renewable every
year the
student
attends
the
school.
Applications
are
still
being
considered
through
May 31.
For
details,
email
online@davidsonacademy.unr.edu.
Designed
to be
Different
The
Davidson
Academy
offers
two options for profoundly gifted students: the
Online
High School
for
students
living
anywhere
in the
U.S. and
a day
school
on the
University of Nevada, Reno campus.
“With
the
expansion
of the
Online
High
School,
now
profoundly
gifted
students
living
anywhere
in the
United
States
can
access
the
benefits
of the
Davidson
Academy,”
said
Academy
Director
Colleen
Harsin.
“A few
of those
benefits
include
personalized
learning
plans,
guidance
counseling,
college
planning
services,
and
courses
tailored
to their
academic
needs
that are
rich
with
opportunities
for
interaction
and
critical
discourse.”
The
2018-2019
application
for the
Davidson
Academy
Reno
school will
be
availalble
this
August. Meanwhile, please visit the
Academy's
website
for more
information. |
|
|
|
|
Davidson
Fellows
Scholarship
The Davidson Institute offers $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000
Davidson Fellows scholarships to students 18 and under whose projects have the potential to benefit society, and are at the college graduate level. Application categories are in the STEM fields, humanities and outside the box. The 2017 class of Davidson Fellows will be announced this August. |
Davidson Young Scholars
The national Davidson Young Scholars program provides FREE services designed to nurture the intellectual, social, emotional, and academic development of profoundly intelligent young people between the ages of 5 and 18 (students must be between the ages of 5 and 16 when applying). Benefits of the program include:
- Consulting Services
-
An Online Community
-
In-person Connections
-
Community Service Endeavors
-
Summer Programs (fee-based)
Read success stories to see how the Young Scholars program has helped make a difference in the lives of these students. The application deadline is the first of each month. |
|
|
|
Legislative
& Policy
News
|
NATIONAL – President Trump's full budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Education would cut funding for the
Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Education Grant (Javits) program for fiscal year 2018. Javits previously had received $12 million in funding. Sources:
Washington Post,
Committee for Education Funding (PDF)
ARIZONA
– The Scottsdale school district will launch a gifted pre-K academy for four-year-old children beginning next fall. Source:
Scottsdale Independent
KENTUCKY – Western Kentucky University is offering a new Specialist Degree in Gifted Education and Talent Development. Source:
WKU News
MISSOURI – The St. Louis school district is struggling to increase diversity in local gifted schools despite recent efforts. Source:
St. Louis Public Radio
NEW YORK – Bronx lawmakers are attempting to pass a bill that would require the education department to distribute details about the city’s gifted program in packets sent to potential pre-K students. Source:
Riverdale Press
Students enrolled in the three gifted programs in Queens District 30 will continue to automatically receive a spot at one of two local gifted middle schools through the end of the year. The Department of Education recently planned to end this automatic matriculation policy in coming years. Source:
DNAinfo
NORTH CAROLINA
– A Senate
proposal
would strip
out the
funding
needed to
run the
Governor’s
School of
North
Carolina, a
program for
gifted high
school
students, in
the 2018-19
budget year.
Source:
The News & Observer
TEXAS –
The Pine Tree school district in Longview will add science to self-contained courses offered to gifted students in grades 5-10.
Source:
Longview
News-Journal
The Temple school district is implementing a plan to improve elementary test scores for its gifted students. Source:
Temple Daily Telegram
WISCONSIN – The Jefferson school district will hire a half-time coordinator for its gifted program next year. Source:
Daily Union
WYOMING – The Cody school district approved a number of cuts to its gifted program. Source:
Cody Enterprise |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the
Spotlight
|
Surabhi Mundada - a Davidson Fellow Helping Those
with Impaired
Hand Movements
Surabhi Mundada of Olympia, Wash.
received $10,000 for her
Davidson Fellows project, "MyGlove: Assisting Hand Movements, Grip, and Tremor."
What kind of impact can your Fellows project, “MyGlove: Assisting Hand Movements, Grip, and Tremor” have on society?
Millions of people daily face problems caused by impaired hand movements. This includes involuntary hand movements, grip problems, and tremors (also known as shaky hands). The people impacted with these issues range from people that are healthy and aging to people who have Parkinson’s Disease, Cerebral Palsy, arthritis and multiple other diseases and conditions. Addressing these impairments is important as they significantly reduce the quality of one’s life; they make it challenging to accomplish everyday essential tasks like eating, drinking, and holding objects.
MyGlove does multiple things to address these issues. It assists impaired hand movements by helping open and close the hand and improves one’s grip. MyGlove also detects tremors, as well as dampens and controls tremors. The use of MyGlove will greatly lead to a higher quality lifestyle for a wide range of people impacted with these impairments. MyGlove’s concept can also be built upon to develop other wearables to solve similar problems. By working together, we can empower society and create healthcare devices for the betterment of our global community.
Please describe your academic setting and some positive experiences.
I’ve done
science
research
since fourth
grade in
fields like
environmental
sciences,
physics and
medicine.
Throughout
these years,
I’ve seen
how
combining
knowledge
from
different
fields
improves how
a problem is
approached.
From my
experiences
in
engineering
projects to
robotics and
a research
internship,
I’ve also
seen how
computer
science and
engineering
can be used
to
efficiently
and
imaginatively
solve broad
problems -
medicine to
space
exploration!
Engineering
MyGlove has
been an
especially
meaningful
experience;
it helped me
find my
passions.
Most
importantly,
hearing
people tell
me how this
could help
their family
and seeing
Parkinson’s
patients’
optimism
during
testing was
touching!
All these
experiences
inspired me
to further
expand
MyGlove.
So, I
continued
and
developed a
system
called
MyHealth to
detect,
monitor, and
quantify
various
Parkinson’s
disease
symptoms.
MyHealth can
help users,
doctors, and
researchers,
and can
improve
therapeutic
strategies
used by
doctors,
slow down
disease
progression,
and improve
quality of
life. This
research
journey has
given me the
opportunity
to share my
work at
different
science
fairs,
symposiums,
and
conferences,
where I’ve
met many
inspiring
young
scientists.
Additionally,
I got
invited to
attend the
White House
Frontiers
Conference
where I got
to hear
former
President
Obama speak
about
innovation
and even
shake hands
with him!
What are some of your short-term and long-term plans?
I’m a high school senior and I plan to attend Stanford starting this fall. I hope to earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and/or Biomedical Engineering. My goal is to use engineering to tackle global challenges. I want to solve medical problems and help people by making early detection and health monitoring devices. I also want to develop user-friendly wearable healthcare devices, bringing more comfort to people’s lives. Long-term, I see myself exploring more engineering research and either working in a company aligned with my passions or starting a company that innovates healthcare devices.
Along with research, I want to encourage others to follow their deepest passions. After experiencing fewer girls in classes like robotics, physics, and computer science, I especially want to help girls pursue their passions like engineering. I’m glad I’ve been able help girls through a computer science club at my school and I want to continue this. Overall, I want to build onto the strong community that has fostered me. I hope to make the community happier and even more vibrant through the same support it has given me.
|
|
|
|
If you have information to include in a future newsletter, please contact us at admin@davidsongifted.org.
If you have been forwarded this eNews-Update, and wish to receive future editions, sign-up here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
