Competitions
Here are two competitions designed for middle
school and/or high school students:
The International Linguistics
Olympiad
On Wednesday, February 4, 2009, high school
students are invited to participate in the
2009 North American Computational Linguistics
Olympiad (NACLO) Open competition. This is
similar to events that have taken place in
Russia and Eastern Europe for 40 years, but
has only recently
been implemented in the US.
This olympiad is a contest in which
high-school students solve linguistic
puzzles. In solving the problems, students
learn about the diversity and consistency of
language, while exercising logic skills. No
prior knowledge of linguistics or second
languages is necessary. Professionals in
linguistics, computational linguistics and
language technologies use dozens of the
world's languages to create engaging problems
that represent cutting edge issues in their
fields.
This event is an opportunity for students who
are interested in languages and speech
technologies to exercise their talents and
problem-solving skills in a good-natured
competitive event. For many
students linguistics - and computational
linguistics in particular - is a rather
unknown academic discipline. This event
raises students' awareness of the discipline,
including the incredible variety and beauty
of the world's languages, while challenging
their natural problem-solving and analytic
skills. It is one of the few opportunities
students have to meld cross-cultural
awareness with technical interests.
NACLO is currently sponsored by the US
National Science Foundation,
Google, the North American Chapter of the
Association for Computational
Linguistics (NAACL), and Cambridge University
Press. Top scorers in the
Open Competition on February 4 will be
eligible to compete in an
Invitational Competition on March 11, 2009.
Winners of the
Invitational will be eligible to compete in
the International
Linguistics Olympiad (ILO) in Poland.
More details about the event, including
several media reports and testimonials from
participants, can be found on the national
website. Students should register by
January 20, 2009.
Construction Challenge
Many students and families are familiar with
Destination ImagiNation or Odyssey of the
Mind. Now Destination
ImagiNation, working with the Association of
Equipment Manufacturers, is sponsoring The
Construction Challenge, a career education
initiative to develop the workforce of the
future. Teenagers compete and solve
infrastructure, design, and service
challenges in a real-world experience that
will inspire them to explore and pursue
careers in the construction industry.
Middle and high school teams will compete and
solve infrastructure, design, and service
tech Challenges using teamwork, creativity
and problem solving. Teams of five to seven
participants (plus an adult Team Manager)
will compete in 16 Regional Rallies across
North America, with the top 50 teams
advancing to the Championships in Knoxville
on May 19 to 23, 2009. Click here
for more information. To register a team,
click on the Regional Rally city and follow
instructions. Please note there are fees to
participate.
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Greetings!
We wish all our readers a very Happy
Thanksgiving. This year in particular it is
an occasion to give thanks for our blessings.
And we hope that your blessings include the
love of family and friends.
Because of today's uncertain economy,
Educational Options is offering a 10%
discount for all our services during the
month of December. These services include
assessments on the Stanford-Binet 5 and the
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II,
personality profiles, and in-person or
telephone consultations, plus more. (Click on
"Services" on our home
page.)
Sincerely, Kathy Hara, Editor
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Davidson Academy
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Applications for the 2009-2010 school year at
the Davidson
Academy are now
available. The Davidson Academy of Nevada is
specifically designed to meet the needs of
profoundly gifted middle and high school
students at the sixth grade level and beyond
who score in the 99.9th percentile on
qualifying tests.
Located in the renovated Jot Travis Building
on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, the
Academy's new facility is approximately
30,000 square feet and wireless, including
classrooms with smart technology.
Tours for prospective students will take
place on the following dates: December 11,
2008; January 22, 2009; February 19, 2009;
and March 26, 2009. RSVPs are required for
these tours. For application requirements and
to apply, click here.
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About.com: Gifted Kids
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We can always use more good information about
giftedness. Here's an interesting website
with many features. It has
articles on identifying gifted, school
options, a blog, and even fun information
such as how to enter a contest to name the
next Mars Rover! You may also sign up for a
weekly newsletter.
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Thinking about summer
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I know it's early, but I wanted to pass on
information about a summer camp for
profoundly gifted that I found on the
Internet last year. It is PG
Retreat, and this
nonprofit is located in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.
Here is the information posted on their
website: PG Retreat is an annual gathering
organized by the families of profoundly
gifted children. PG Retreat brings our
children together for shared connections and
community. Although every child is unique and
beautiful in his or her own way, profoundly
gifted children often have a difficult time
finding true peers within their day-to-day
communities. Our gathering provides an
opportunity to meet, learn, socialize, and
yes, even play with other children who are
developmentally advanced. The mission of PG
Retreat is to enrich the social-emotional
lives of profoundly gifted children and their
families. We conduct gatherings of these
families and the professionals who serve
them, providing learning opportunities and
fostering lasting friendships among true
peers. PG Retreat provides outlets for
physical, intellectual, social and emotional,
and spiritual expression and is not focused
solely on academic enrichment.
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Math blog
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Stephen Margolis, a math volunteer at
Montessori and elementary schools in the
Minneapolis area, has a blog,
sewardmath1.blogspot.com.
He started this
blog to give parents and home schoolers some
math problems about everyday life - starting
with questions mostly about tips, taxes,
discounts and other applications of
percentage, including unit price, but more
recently dealing with more contemporary
issues such as election recounts.
Here's a short example from an August 14 entry:
Walking in kilometers: Today, we walked 4
kilometers (4000 meters) in 33 minutes and 27
seconds. What was our speed in meters per
second? Hint: convert minutes to seconds, add
27 to get seconds. Divide to get meters per
second.
Is this reasonable: make chalk marks, 2
meters apart. Start walking at
one-Mississippi, hit the first chalk mark at
two-Mississippi, can you hit the second chalk
mark at three-Mississippi?
Go to the blog to get the answer!
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Keeping up with Dr. Ruf
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During the NAGC annual convention in Tampa a
month ago, Dr. Ruf attended a Nature's
Classroom session. Each year she signs up for
local excursions so as to learn more about
what is available for students in the local
areas in different states. Educators
experienced a condensed version of the
three-day course for all Hillsborough County
sixth grade students, classes and experiences
in water, land and habitat ecology. Among their
activities was sifting for organisms in the
Hillsborough River.
Dr. Ruf is also continuing her work with the
Maine School of Science and Mathematics after
spending an entire day delivering workshops
on how personality, gender, and intellectual
profile affect school behaviors. An upshot of
the experience thus far has been to
collaborate with faculty and administration
on policy changes related to mission
statement and "the meaning of an MSSM
diploma." Working with Dr. Ruf helped the
school to see that the same high standards
for every student might not be appropriate or
look the same for individual students. The
current work now includes how to support
specific students and how to work with the
funding body, the State Legislature of Maine.
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