Thank you for supporting our organization and children who are gifted and talented.

BVGT Insight

Summer 2023

Note: There is so much that we want to share in this edition of BVGT Insight that some email servers might clip the email due to length. If that happens to you, then click on "View Entire Message" link that looks like this:
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Gifted & Talented Youth-Friendly Summer Camps & Opportunities

The list of Summer Camps and other opportunities for GT students keeps growing! Check out the full list here. Thanks to our partners at BVSD who put this together!

2022 CAGT Virtual Conference Available NOW!

Through July 31, 2023 access recordings of CAGT’s 2022 conference! The virtual conference is free for anyone who attended the full, 2-day conference, or available to purchase for $80 per series. The recordings are packaged in 4 separate series according to topic, with about 7 talks in each series. The topics are: Social-Emotional; Twice-Exceptional; Identification and Support; and Academics.

Professional development hours are also offered to educators who watch an entire series and complete a survey!

2023 CAGT Conference Registration Now Open!

Registration is now open for the 2023 CAGT Conference: Imagine, Believe, Grow, which will take place October 8-12 at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, CO.

CAGT is also accepting proposals for papers, as well as nominations for Youth Impact Awards, scholarships, and Leadership Awards. More information can be found here!

About Us
Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented (BVGT) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the needs of children who are gifted. We provide resources and programming to families and educators throughout the Boulder Valley area. Your $40 annual membership helps to strengthen our efforts and gives you benefits, such as membership to CAGT (Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented), BVGT Insight (this periodical), and access to the BVGT lending library. Membership and donations to BVGT are fully tax deductible as a charitable contribution.

Contact Us
info@bvgt.org

Please Like and Follow us on our Facebook Page, where you’ll find updates, announcements, and events!

You can also DONATE HERE.

Welcome to BVGT Insight, a resource to help you support children who are gifted at home and in school, provided by Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented. Your $40 annual membership helps strengthen our efforts to advocate for the needs of gifted individuals in Boulder Valley.

We are making our newsletter available to everyone while we are updating our membership and mailing lists. Please SHARE this newsletter and JOIN TODAY at bvgt.org

A Letter from the Co-Presidents

It’s the end of another school year and with it many seasonal changes, including with BVGT! Long-time board member and President Jocelyn Gebhardt is retiring from her role as President, the second time she’s taken those reins. She has been with BVGT since its founding, and we are grateful that she will continue to make tremendous contributions to our organization by serving our board as Past-President! To steer BVGT through the next stages, two of us - Stacey Green and Maria Klemenc - are teaming up as Co-Presidents. We will all miss Jocelyn’s cheery notes and fudgy treats, but we hope to keep building on the mission that BVGT started 16 years ago: to educate our community, support families, and advocate for the unique and diverse needs of gifted and talented children.

This past year we have worked to rebuild our programming, bringing several virtual events as well as hosting Dr. Linda Silverman in April, live and in person. We also piloted a parent book study with parents from Coal Creek Elementary, with hopes of expanding to other parent groups around Boulder County. Our summer playdates are returning this year to give kids of all ages, and their caregivers, a chance to connect (see below).

Our focus this year will be on community building. We still aim to have larger programs and presentations, but we want to shift some focus to creating more opportunities for families to connect and share experiences and resources, which have always been at the core of what BVGT does best. So join Meetup to receive information on the summer playdates, keep an eye out for more information about book groups, and let us know how else we can connect with you and your school community!

Happy summer!

Stacey Green and Maria Klemenc

Co-Presidents

Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented

president@bvgt.org

Video Available for Dr. Linda Silverman’s Presentation

In April, BVGT was excited to partner with BVSD to bring Dr. Linda Silverman to Southern Hills Middle School to present “Still Gifted After All These Years.” We had a wonderful crowd of over 70 in attendance, and many more asking if there would be a video recording available for those who missed the event in person.

Dr. Silverman has graciously allowed us to share a recording of the event, as well as an article she originally published in The Boulder Parent: “What is Giftedness.“ She has also allowed us to post a PDF version of this talk: “Still Gifted After All These Years.”

Thank you, Dr. Silverman and everyone who made her talk and video recording possible!

BVGT Summer Playdates 2023 - Join Meetup!

Summer Playdates are back! Like last summer, we will be hosting 10 playdates in various locations around Boulder county as a way to connect GT (and GT-curious!) families. Come join us to swap stories, share resources, and ask questions, while your GT students - of all ages! - engage in fun activities and get to know some of their peers from other schools.

Playdates for the month of June:

Monday, June 5 at 6:30pm – Scavenger hunt, Waneka Lake in Lafayette

Wednesday, June 14 at 2:00pm - Ranger presentation and scavenger hunt, Walden Ponds in Boulder

Saturday, June 24 at 10:00am - Guided tour, Agricultural Heritage Center in Longmont

Monday, June 26 at 6:30pm - Board games and Lego, Louisville Public Library

The remaining playdates will be July 5, 15, 17, 26; August 5 and 7 (Mondays at 6:30pm, Wednesdays at 2:00pm, and Saturdays at 10:00am).

To view full details and receive announcements of upcoming events, please join our Meetup group (it's free, quick, and easy): BVGT Family Activities.

Questions? Suggestions? Want to help plan and/or run a playdate? Contact Sarah at sdodson-knight@bvgt.org.

Book Study Groups Coming this Fall!

After a successful pilot with families from Coal Creek Elementary, our Parent Liaison Committee is working to organize more book study groups this fall. Groups will meet 2-4 times and read Patricia Gatto-Walden’s Embracing the Whole Gifted Self (2016). Copies of the book will be available to borrow, but also for purchase here. BVGT members may also check out the book from BVGT’s lending library as well (contact info@bvgt.org).

If you are interested in being added to the list for a book group, please email Parent Liaison Coordinators Tricia (tcarpenter@bvgt.org) or Deb (ddarnell@bvgt.org)!

Showcasing Talent - Calling All Talent!

On May 4, BVSD hosted its “Project Talent Showcase,” where students from throughout the district who worked on portfolios were given the opportunity to showcase their talents. You can view photos and videos here.

Know a student with talent to share? There are even more opportunities for students to showcase their talents now through summer! CAGT is hosting its 2023 CAGT Student Art Contest (more information in English and in Spanish) as well as a Talent Video montage (more information here). Selected entries will be featured at the CAGT conference in October.

BVSD Gifted and Talented Presentation at BVSD Board Meeting

If you have a GT student in BVSD, you should know that the district is listening! Dr. Michelle Dubois, BVSD’s Gifted and Talented Coordinator, and Dr. Nativity Miller, Assistant Superintendent, Access and Opportunity, spoke at the May 23, 2023 Boulder Valley School District board meeting. Their presentation included the findings and recommendations from the Colorado Department of Education’s Gifted Education Monitoring (GEM), a review of the district’s GT program which took place in fall 2022. While there is still work to be done in the consistency of services, there has been improvement in identification over the years - with 17% of the BVSD student population identified as gifted! There was great response and feedback from the school board, acknowledging that more needs to be done to serve this largest group of special needs students.

You can watch their presentation here (begins at approximately 1:21:01). The presentation slides are available here.

BVGT Election Results and Board Openings

The results of our executive board election are in, and Stacey Green and Maria Klemenc will be serving as Co-Presidents! Thank you to all members who voted, and also to everyone who attended our annual membership meeting in May. Past-President Jocelyn Gebhardt and Treasurer Bob Gebhardt opened their home to host a lovely evening with great food and company!

We currently have openings on our volunteer board for Programming Chair and Hospitality Chair. The Programming Chair coordinates our speakers and event logistics while the Hospitality Chair manages refreshments and such - though we all pitch in to help put on the show. Please email Stacey and Maria at president@bvgt.org if you are interested!

BVGT Committee Updates

Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented continues to welcome Advocacy Committee members, Parent Liaisons, and Educator Liaisons!

The Advocacy Committee continues its work to develop helpful resources for families and school professionals, but we need your help! We are looking for a few new members who are interested in various forms of advocacy work from research to writing to public speaking. We meet every six weeks or so to plan and work. We also make time to get to know one another and to process our own journeys, joys, and challenges with giftedness. If you are interested in joining this small group and deepening your involvement with BVGT, please contact Stacey Green at sgreen@bvgt.org.

Thank you to all the BVGT Parent Liaisons who attended our virtual or in-person meetings this year. We hope you have enjoyed this avenue of connecting with other parents in our organization as well as with the parents within your own school community. Enjoy your summer. We look forward to reconnecting with you in August!

Interested in becoming a Parent Liaison? Please contact Tricia Carpenter at tcarpenter@bvgt.org or Deb Darnell at ddarnell@bvgt.org for more information.

Attention Educators: Lead Educator Liaison Jen Lucchesi invites any interested teacher, counselor, administrator, or school staff to join our group of Educator Liaisons. It's a great way to connect and share resources! Contact jlucchesi@bvgt.org.

Renew or Become a BVGT Member!

BVGT works hard to bring as many programs, events and other resources to as many people as we can reach. Most of our programs are free to all, and our board is entirely volunteer-based.

Your $40 annual membership fee allows us to continue bringing you these events and resources. With it you become a member of the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented (CAGT), of which Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented is an affiliate. Note that the membership year runs from September to September, and that registration for CAGT’s annual conference includes CAGT/BVGT membership! Join or renew here, or contact membership@bvgt.org for more information. Thank you for your support!

Articles and Resources

(Disclaimer: BVGT does not endorse individuals, events, and/or companies, unless explicitly stated. The information in this publication is intended for informational purposes only. Events and programming are free, unless otherwise noted.)