News From Our Publisher, Great Potential Press

GPP President Honored with Prestigious Award

The California Association for the Gifted (CAG) has honored Dr. James Webb with its Ruth A. Martinson Past Presidents Award for 2009. The award was presented to Dr. Webb at the association's annual conference in Sacramento on March 6, 2010. Past Presidents of CAG nominate individuals for this award who have made significant contributions to the body of knowledge in the area of gifted and talented education.

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is providing a list of summer programs, summer camps, enrichment programs, academic programs and special schools on its website. It also has recently posted these three articles to help you find the right situation for your child: How to Choose a Summer Program; Questions to Ask When Researching a Summer Camp; and Summer Camps: An Opportunity for Exploration, Focus, and/or Fun? 

In addition, our Mensa friend Kathe Oliver has written an excellent article, Planning Ahead for a Memorable Summer, which we have posted on our website.

Here are a lot of good ideas and advice for finding the best summer opportunity for your gifted child!

This past January, Thomas L. Friedman published a column in the NY Times entitled More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24friedman.html.

Whether or not you agree with Mr. Friedman's politics, he mentions two exciting initiatives available to our bright students. Here is an excerpt from Mr. Friedman's column:

. . . [T]o reignite his youth movement, [President Obama] should make sure every American kid knows about two programs that he has already endorsed: The first is National Lab Day. Introduced last November by a coalition of educators and science and engineering associations, Lab Day aims to inspire a wave of future innovators, by pairing veteran scientists and engineers with students in grades K-12 to inspire thousands of hands-on science projects around the country.

Any teacher in America, explains the entrepreneur Jack Hidary, the chairman of N.L.D., can go to the Web site NationalLabDay.org and enter the science project he or she is interested in teaching, or get an idea for one. N.L.D. will match teachers with volunteer scientists and engineers in their areas for mentoring.

"As soon as you have a match, the scientists and the students communicate directly or via Skype and collaborate on a project," said Hidary. "We have a class in Chicago asking for civil engineers to teach them how to build a bridge. In Idaho, a class is asking for a scientist to help them build a working river delta inside their classroom."

The president should also vow to bring the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, or NFTE, to every low-income neighborhood in America. NFTE works with middle- and high-school teachers to help them teach entrepreneurship. The centerpiece of its program is a national contest for start-ups with 24,000 kids participating. Each student has to invent a product or service, write up a business plan and then do it. NFTE (www.NFTE.com) works only in low-income areas, so many of these new entrepreneurs are minority kids.

In November, a documentary movie - "Ten9Eight" - was released that tracked a dozen students all the way through to the finals of the NFTE competition. Obama should arrange for this movie to be shown in every classroom in America. It is the most inspirational, heartwarming film you will ever see. You can obtain details about it at www.ten9eight.com.

Once again, the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University and the Jack Kent Cooke (JKC) Young Scholars Program ( a national scholarship program for high achieving students with financial need) is accepting applications. The JKC Young Scholars program accepts applications during the months of Feb. through April from students in their 7th grade year. This program provides exceptional students with individualized educational guidance and educational services, which could include tutors, summer programs, on-line classes, computers, and possible tuition support through their high school years and continued support as they enter college. 

The Young Scholars Program is highly competitive and attracts outstanding applicants from across the United States. The specific criteria for consideration are for current 7th grade students, strong academic record, awards/honors, teacher recommendation, financial need; motivation and Leadership; and an appreciation for the arts, music, literature, or similar fields.

There is no cost to apply, and the application deadline is April 26, 2010. Additional information can be found at their site, http://www.jkcf.org.