To receive future Davidson Academy Prospective Student eNewsletters,
sign up here.
|
|
|
The 2018-2019 application for the Davidson Academy's Online High School is now available! We are hosting a live, online open house Mon., Dec. 4 for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Online High School. See the “Davidson News” section below for more details. |
|
|
|
|
What's New in Gifted Education
|
2017 Davidson Fellows Award Ceremony in Wash., D.C.
On Sept. 27, 20 young people were honored at the Davidson Fellows award ceremony for their work in science, technology, engineering, literature, music and the category of Outside the Box. Davidson Institute for Talent Development founder Bob Davidson presented the awards at the 17th annual ceremony held at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In recognition of their remarkable achievements, each of the
2017 Davidson Fellows received a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 scholarship.
2018 Davidson Fellows Scholarship Application
The 2018
Davidson Fellows
Scholarship application is now
available online. Young people 18 and younger have the opportunity to earn a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 scholarship in recognition of a significant piece of work in the categories of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, music, literature and philosophy, or a project that represents outside the box thinking. The application deadline is Wed., Feb.
14, 2018. |
|
|
|
Challenging Summer Options
Application season has begun for
Epsilon Camp,
a
two-week
summer
residential
camp
serving
promising
young
mathematicians
and
their
families
through
an
intensive
student
program
and
parent
workshop.
The
mission
of
Epsilon
is to
connect
precocious
children
(7-11)
to
professional
mathematics
and
build a
supportive
community
with
peers
and
families.
Epsilon
Camp
2018
will be
held
from
July
15-29, 2018.
|
|
|
|
Admission season has also begun for
MathPath, a four-week summer residential camp whose mission is to inspire and advance the most mathematically gifted middle school age students (11-14).
Epsilon and MathPath, both founded by Dr. George R. Thomas, are independently run and differently organized enrichment camps where students advance in a non-competitive atmosphere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Davidson
News
|
Davidson
Academy -
December
Events &
Applications
Dec. 4 Live,
Online Open
House -
Register
Today!
The
Davidson
Academy is
hosting a
live, online
open house
on Mon.,
Dec. 4 at 4
p.m. Pacific/7
p.m. Eastern
for families
who
want to
learn more
about the
Online High
School
option.
Mark
your
calendar and
complete the
registration
form on
the
Online High School
page.
Dec. 8
On-Site
Tour - RSVP
Required
The Davidson Academy's
last tour of
the season
for
prospective
students and
their
parents will
be held
Fri., Dec. 8
from 2 p.m.
to 4 p.m. At these tours, Academy students, parents, faculty and staff
answer
questions
and offer
information
about the
school. RSVP
(required)
on the
Tours
page.
Academy
Applications
Open for
2018-2019,
Reno and
Online
Campuses
The
Davidson Academy
offers two
educational
options
specifically
designed to
meet the
needs of
profoundly
gifted
students –
an online
campus for
those living
anywhere in
the U.S. and
a Reno
campus for
local
residents.
Academy
classes are
grouped by
ability
rather than
by age.
The
Online High
School
starts with
eighth-grade
courses and
the
2018-2019
application
is now open.
Visit the
Online High
School's Qualification Criteria
and
How to Apply
pages for
more
information.
The deadline
to apply is
Feb. 28,
2018. The
Academy is
offering
2018-2019
merit
scholarships
up to $3,500
and a
voucher for
Online High
School
applicants
who live
outside
Nevada to
cover the
FAST fee.
FAST is the
program that
computes
applicants'
personalized
tuition
amounts.
Complete
your
application
by Fri.,
Dec. 15 to
qualify for
the voucher.
For details,
visit the
Online High
School
Tuition
page. If you
have any
questions,
please email
online@davidsonacademy.unr.edu.
The
Reno Day School
is
a middle and high school,
located on
the
University
of Nevada,
Reno campus, for profoundly gifted students
who are
local
residents. The 2018-2019 application for the Academy’s Reno campus is open and the deadline to apply is
Jan. 15, 2018. For details, visit the Reno school’s How to Apply page. If you have any questions, please email
applications@davidsonacademy.unr.edu.
Breaking News: Davidson Academy student
Oliver Leitner,
a violinist, will appear on
From the Top, the hit NPR radio program featuring America’s best young classical musicians, the week of Nov.
27.
View his
From the Top page. |
|
|
|
Davidson Young Scholars
The
Davidson Young Scholars program provides FREE services designed to nurture and support profoundly gifted young people and their families, including talent development, educational advocacy, an online community
and the
Ambassadors
program. Young Scholars can also access annual get-togethers,
a summer
camp for 8
to 12 year
olds and accredited, online
middle
school
courses. Applications are due the first of each month. For more information, see the
How to Apply and
Qualification Criteria pages.
|
|
|
|
Legislative
& Policy
News
|
Javits Program to Provide Funding for Gifted Research
Led by Univerity of
Connecticut educational psychology professors, two research projects have recently been awarded a total of nearly $5 million in federal funding, made available through the
Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act
(Javits).
Project LIFT is focused on students with high academic potential, particularly those from underserved populations.
The research team will promote teachers’ understanding of the behaviors that may indicate high potential in students
and help
offer students opportunities to demonstrate their potential.
Thinking Like Mathematicians: Challenging All Grade 3 Students
emphasizes the importance of supporting
gifted students from underrepresented groups.
The project focuses on providing challenging curriculum in academically and culturally diverse schools
and experiments with developmental identification strategies.
Sources:
UConn Today,
The Daily
Campus
See
below for
additional
2017 Javits
program
funding
projects in
various
states.
For the full
list,
visit the Javits
Awards page.
CALIFORNIA – California Lutheran University will receive
a $125,348 federal
grant
as part of the Javits
Act, to support underrepresented students at the K-12 and post-baccalaureate levels. Source:
Ventura County Star
FLORIDA – The Pinellas County school district is providing $45,000 to screen all second-graders in every school for gifted education programs. Previously, placement into a gifted program would rely on a teacher's recommendation or a parent's initiative. Source:
Tampa Bay Times
The Orange County school district will open a magnet school for gifted elementary students in grades
2 to 5 in fall 2018. The school will be open to children from across the county. Source:
Orlando Sentinel
HAWAII – The University of Hawaii will receive
a $2.5 million
federal
grant as part of the Javits program, to increase the number of underrepresented students identified as “mathematically promising.” Source:
University of Hawaii
MARYLAND – To increase the number of underrepresented students gaining access to gifted education programs, the State Department of Education will receive
a $1.6 million federal
grant as part of the Javits program. Source:
Maryland State Department of Education
OKLAHOMA – The State Department of Education will receive
a $2.3 million federal
grant as part of the Javits program, to identify, serve and support gifted and talented students with disabilities and those from underrepresented populations. Source:
The Ada News
WASHINGTON
– Under a new state law, each school district in the state must submit a detailed plan to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on how they will make it a priority to find low-income students who may be academically gifted but overlooked for accelerated classes. Source:
Seattle Times
|
|
|
|
On the Web
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Irene Vazquez,
2017 Davidson Fellow
Reaching Across Distances to Break Down Barriers
Irene Vazquez of
Houston
was awarded
$25,000 for
her
Davidson Fellows project, "Ebb and Flow: Translating Lives and Transition."
What kind of impact can your Fellows project, “Ebb and Flow: Translating Lives and Transition” have on society?
In today’s America, we cannot afford to live a life untranslated. The United States is becoming increasingly diverse and saturated with different perspectives. No longer can we sit in our separate neighborhoods, schools, and churches and say that we tolerate each other; if we are to thrive, we must take active steps to understand one another.
My project is a writing portfolio centered around the theme of translation. My work implores people to reach across distances, break down barriers of any kind — temporal, geographic, linguistic. Translation does not just apply to language; every time we explain a scientific concept, write something down, try to explain vast abstractions like love and grief, we are translating. In order to appreciate our stories, we must look at them like a foreigner would, strange, delicate, and full of possibility. Taking each word into our hands. Feeling its weight. Molding it, shaping it, until something beautiful and new is born.
What are some of your short-term and long-term plans?
I’m wrapping up my first semester at Yale University, where I’m a prospective Ethnicity, Race, and Migration major. I’d like to pursue the interdisciplinary study that the major provides, continuing to interrogate the intersections of ethnography and literature that characterized my portfolio. I’m involved in the literary scene here at Yale, where I’m a part of WORD: Spoken Word at Yale, the Yale Literary Magazine, and Broad Recognition, Yale’s feminist publication.
During my time at Yale, I would like to finish my first full-length collection of poetry, tentatively titled
Ex-Votos. This collection will explore iconography in the Mexican cultural imaginary and how it appears in everyday life.
After Yale, I would like to continue to write or pursue a career in politics or grassroots organizing.
Please describe your academic setting and some positive experiences with mentors.
This semester at Yale, I’ve been splitting my courses between fulfilling distributional requirements and pursuing courses within my prospective areas of study. In the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Department, I’ve been taking a class called “Race, Empire, and Atlantic Modernities” which is co-taught by Professor Anne Eller (in the history department) and ER&M Director of Undergraduate Study Dixa Ramirez. In that class, we take an interdisciplinary look at the Caribbean and its role in the creation of modern structures. I’ve learned so much from my two professors about the work that they’re doing in furthering the field of Caribbean studies.
I’m also taking a class called “Composing and Performing the One-Person Play” with Professor Hal Brooks. Professor Brooks has directed many one-person plays in the American theatre scene including “No Child” and “Thom Pain.” I’ve learned a great deal about the different ways that the one-person play can be created and the role it plays in the expansion of our notions of the theatre.
|
|
|
|
“Radical acceleration . . . will reintroduce you to a learning environment where you have a higher likelihood of learning, you’ll meet people from all different backgrounds and get a chance to improve your maturity by interacting with adults and professionals, and you might actually earn something more valuable than a high school diploma along the way.”
-- Noel Jett, in The High Flyer op-ed, Speaking from experience: A radically accelerated gifted student
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
