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DL Ruf 2009 August 2010

In This Issue
TalentIgniter
Encouraging Entrepreneurs
Grant for SENG
Seeking Gifted Scientists and Mathematicians
Free Admission Days at National Parks
And Free Days at Museums
In Minnesota (or Online): Parent Focus Group for NAGC
In Minnesota: List of Gifted Schools
Keeping Up With Dr. Ruf
Dr. Ruf has written an essay for the Center of the American Experiment on the topic How Can We Better Encourage and Reinforce the Most Entrepreneurial and Talented Among Us?



Greetings!


Heard any good news lately? It seems the papers and the Internet are full of bad news, with oil spills, floods, record heat waves and economic woes. Now, more than ever, we need people who can think deeper, think wider and think faster. It is our gifted children who will be solving these worldwide problems. And it is Educational Options' goal to help these gifted children and their parents make the most of their natural abilities.

 

Sincerely, Kathy Hara, Editor

TalentIgniter

We launched our new website on July 21. We expected a few bugs, and we got them, but the TalentIgniter team has been able to solve every problem. We are now running smoothly and are concentrating on adding more valuable content.

 

Starting out with The Ruf Estimates™ of Levels of Gifted Online Assessment, we now are about to add our first PDF downloadable book, Dr. Ruf's Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child.

 

We invite you to follow us on our TalentIgniter page on Facebook, as well as on Twitter. All TalentIgniter updates will be posted there, as well as in our Educational Options newsletter. You may also sign up for the TalentIgniter newsletter at www.TalentIgniter.com.



Encouraging Entrepreneurs

Dr. Ruf was recently invited by Mitch Pearlstein to submit an essay for a symposium with the Center of the American Experiment in Minnesota. The Center is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt, public policy and educational institution that brings conservative and free market ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing Minnesota and the nation.


Dr. Ruf's essay, The Other Achievement Gap, is now posted on the Center's website, along with the essays of 21 other Minnesotans. The topic of the symposium is How Can We Better Encourage and Reinforce the Most Entrepreneurial and Talented Among Us?                                        

Grant for SENG

SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) is in the running this month for a huge grant ($250,000!) from Pepsi to train people to facilitate parent groups all over the country and abroad. In a time of so many funding cutbacks, this grant is a great way to maintain - and grow -  support for families of the gifted.

 

SENG needs your vote every day in August.  If you go to Pepsi's website, register, and vote, you can see in people's comments at the bottom of the site just what kind of a difference SENG can make for families.

 

There is more information about this promotion on SENG's Facebook page, or you can also vote from SENG's website.

 

This is a pretty exciting opportunity, and SENG could use your help.

 

 Seeking Gifted Scientists and Mathematicians

As of April 30 of this year, aspiring young scientists and mathematicians nationwide are invited to register for the 2010 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. This is the nation's premiere original research competition for high school students, with college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 awarded to the winners. The deadline for entries is October 1.


More information, online registration and instructions for the 2010 Siemens Competition are posted on the Siemens Foundation website, or at www.collegeboard.com/siemens.

 

 

Free Admission Days at National Parks

America's Best Idea - the national parks - gets even better this year with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees. Some sites administered by the Bureau of Land Management will also be included.  The next two scheduled dates are September 25 (Public Lands Day) and November 11 (Veterans Day).

For information, go to www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm, www.fws.gov/refuges, or www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/Recreation/BLM_Fee_Free_Days.html.

. . . and Free Day at Museums

Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day is Saturday, September 25.  Hundreds of museums across the United States will offer free admission to people who go to the Smithsonian Magazine's website and download a free admission pass.  There is more information about this program on the website, or read the September edition of the Smithsonian Magazine.

 

In Minnesota (or Online):
Parent Focus Group for NAGC:

As a means of identifying current parent needs, both the Parent and Community Network and the Parent Advisory Committee of NAGC has sent out surveys to current and past parent members of NAGC. In addition, they are asking Dr. Ruf, among others, to host a focus group of nonmember parents of gifted children.


Accordingly, Dr. Ruf is asking if you would be interested in participating in one of the following ways:

  • Answer questions via email

  • Attend a focus group meeting at Dr. Ruf's home office in Golden Valley on Thursday, August 19, at 9:30 a.m.

  • Attend a focus group meeting at Dr. Ruf's home office in Golden Valley on Tuesday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m.

Please contact us immediately by sending an email to [email protected] as soon as possible. The deadline for sending the results to NAGC is September 10.

 

 
In Minnesota:
List of Gifted Schools:

 

We are very pleased to note in Minnesota the surge of new programs, schools within schools and magnet schools that are focused on meeting the needs of gifted students. (See the Star Tribune article about the Lakeville School District's plans.)

 

At Educational Options, we are now compiling a list of schools for families who are looking for the right academic fit for their gifted children. We would love to hear from families enrolled in these schools. What is the name of your school, and how is it meeting the needs of your child? Please let us know what you think!

 


5 Levels of Gifted: 5 Levels cover
School Issues and
Educational Options

Dr. Ruf's book, 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005) (formerly published as Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind), is available through Great PotentialPress.

Deborah Ruf
Educational Options
www.EducationalOptions.com
[email protected]
763-521-4565
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