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| Gifted-Talented Resource Group |
| OCTOBER 2007 NEWSLETTER |
| INTRODUCTION |
Welcome to the newsletter for the Gifted-Talented Resource Group. For those of you who just joined this group, please check our web site for specific information about who we are and what we do.
This is emailed on the first day of the month (give or take a day). So please email your submissions to the editor, Leslie Mann, by the 25th of the previous month: LmannJCH@aol.com.
The GTRG was formed to lend support to D303's gifted and talented students and their families. This newsletter keeps you up-to-date on the group’s doings and serves as a source of information for all the parents of gifted and talented students. So, if you know of an activity, program or web site that serves G-T kids and their families, this is the place to share it with others.
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| OUR 2007 CALENDAR (Click here for a printable calendar of events) |
- Monthly – Steering Committee meetings
- October 9 – Next Glimpse planning meeting
- October 30 – Glimpse of the Future Career Night
- December 9/10/11 – IAGC Convention (Click here for details)
- February 26, 2008 – Resource Fair
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| GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE CAREER NIGHT
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WANTED: WRITER, VIDEO GAME DESIGNER, BROADCASTER, ACTRESS/ACTOR, ARTIST, INTERIOR DESIGNER and HOMEBUILDER
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If you or your neighbor is any of the above, we need you for the second annual Glimpse of the Future Career Night on October 30 at Wredling Middle School for the D303 middle-schoolers. These are the only speakers we need but do not yet have. If you do know someone from one of the above professions, please contact Cyndy Halleran (see email below). Dozens of other speakers in other professions have graciously volunteered to be Glimpse speakers.
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Our second annual Glimpse of the Future Career Night is promising to be at least as successful as the first one. About 120 kids have signed up so far, and the sign-up forms are still arriving daily. And, about 50 parents have signed up for the Parent Glimpse, which is new this year.
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The Glimpse planning committee will meet again on October 9 at 7 PM at Colonial Café on St. Charles’ east side, on Route 64. Please come. If you cannot come but are willing to pitch in, contact the Glimpse chairperson, Peg Sanders, at dsand14@aol.com.
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Thanks to Old Second Bank in St. Charles for helping support Glimpse by making a financial contribution. This will help us cover the Glimpse expenses.
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Thanks to our webmaster, Jim Chimienti, the sign-up process for this year’s Glimpse is electronic. If you are a parent of a middle-schooler, you should have received an application already through your school newsletter. If you still need one, go to www.gtrg-d303.org, or call us for a hard copy.
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Glimpse gives the kids a chance to meet with three professionals in fields of their choices, in small, informal groups. The feedback from last year was fantastic. Parents and kids asked us to please host this annually.
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This is no small project, as you can see. So, if you, your spouse or your high-schooler can help at Glimpse registration on the 30th, please notify Peg.
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The GTRG steering committee meets monthly. Staring this month, we WILL CHANGE THE DATE AND LOCATION in hopes of reaching more of you. Some of you said you would be more likely to attend if the meetings were in the evenings, so the next steering committee meeting will be at 7 PM, Tuesday, October 16, at the Starbucks on the west side of St. Charles on Route 64 (across the street from McDonald’s, approximately). You are welcome to attend. We will email you if the date changes.
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The steering committee will have elections at its October meeting. Please consider running for one of the following offices: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or heading up our fund-raising committee. Or, you can become editor of this newsletter! Following are the job descriptions:
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President
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- Run steering committee meetings.
- Serve as ambassador for the group.
- Appoint committee chairs.
- Serve as ex-officio member of subcommittees.
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Vice President
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- Fulfill president’s duties in her/his absence.
- Serve as ex-officio member of subcommittees.
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Secretary
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- Record proceedings of meetings.
- Maintain group’s records except treasurer’s records.
- Record those in attendance at each meeting.
- Conduct correspondence for the group, except when otherwise delegated.
- Send out notice of all called meetings.
- Send out agenda and previous month's meeting minutes for review, prior to each meeting.
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Treasurer
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- Prepare a treasurer’s report for each steering committee meeting.
- Maintain the group’s bank accounts and post office box.
- Pay the group’s bills and deposit its donations.
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Webmaster
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- Maintain the group’s website and forward correspondence to the website to appropriate people.
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All Officers
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All of the above are voting members of the group’s steering committee. Any of the officers may serve as chairs of subcommittees, in addition to serving as officers of the steering committee.
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Plans are underway for our third annual Resource Fair, which we host with our counterparts from Geneva and Batavia. We hosted this event in 2006, then Geneva was the host in 2007. In February 2008, Batavia will host it. But the GTRG volunteers are needed to help plan this very popular event. If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact the co-chair, Lauren, at LSMarder@sbcglobal.net.
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The date for the Resource Fair is February 26, so mark your calendars. Exact location TBA.
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For those of you who are not familiar with this event, it is a free fair for K-12 students, where they can meet with reps from colleges and other educational organizations that offer after-school and summer programs. About 40 organizations send reps and hundreds of families from the tri-cities attend.
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Our newest fund-raising venture is selling ad space on our website. If your company is interested, click here for complete details.
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The GTRG relies completely on fund-raisers to survive. Our on-going expenses are minimal – post office box rental and website domain – but do require cash. As our budget crawls out of the red, we look forward to spending more money on more programs that benefit our gifted kids. If you have suggestions for fund-raisers that you’d like to help sponsor for the GTRG, we’d love to hear about them. Send your ideas to any of the steering committee members listed below.
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If you are willing to help out by contributing a few dollars, click the "PayPal Donate" button below, enter an amount and send a payment to the GTRG. Note that you will be taken to the PayPal web site to process your payment. Thanks again for your support!
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Thanks to steering committee member Carolyn Shannon, D303 kids ages 6 to 9 can now participate in the annual LEGO competition. The program still needs parent leaders, so if you are interested, email Carolyn at carolyn.l.shannon@gmail.com. Please support this program with your time. For more information about this program, click here.
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The GTRG also plans to support a LEGO competition for ages 9 to 14. But, we need VOLUNTEERS to run it and a CORPORATE SPONSOR to back it. The first year costs about $5,000. Subsequent years run about $2,720 a year.
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The volunteer commitment runs from May to September, plus attending fall regional and national competitions if the teams qualify.
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If you are interested in this very worthy competition, contact Jim Chimienti at jchimienti@gtrg-d303.org. This is an annual competition based on current, real-world issues. Coaches help the kids:
- Research and solve a problem based on the LEGO Challenge theme
- Present their research and solutions
- Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts
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For more information, please visit this link: http://www.firstlegoleague.org.
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The Illinois Association of Gifted Children (IAGC)’s annual convention is on December 9/10/11. If you would like to attend one of the programs at the convention, go to the following website: www.iagcgifted.org/conventions/2008/BrochurePageOne.shtml
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If you want to carpool with another member of this group, you can use this newsletter next month to find a buddy. Just notify the newsletter editor before November 1.
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Please see our website (under Advocacy section) for updates on legislation that affects gifted kids.
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Several times a month, the steering committee members receive notices of upcoming programs or classes for gifted or talented kids. We post those on the website under the "Enrichment" section. Click here to be taken directly to the page.
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Wanted: Playgroupers. If you live in the St. Charles area (especially far west/Campton), and are interested in forming a playgroup/support group with other families with gifted 4- to 6-year-olds, contact pkohnandrews@gmail.com.
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If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, please contact one of the officers of the steering committee:
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Click image for details
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Click image for details
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