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| Gifted-Talented Resource Group |
| NOVEMBER 2006 NEWSLETTER |
| INTRODUCTION |
Welcome, new parents, to the newsletter of the Gifted-Talented Resource Group. For those of you who just joined this group, please check our Web site for specific information about the group.
This newsletter is usually emailed on the 30th of the month. So please email your submissions to the editor, Leslie Mann, by the 25th of the month: LmannJCH@aol.com.
The GTRG was formed by the district 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 in our district. 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.
A few parents have asked if this newsletter can be used to link them with other families who want to carpool to out-of-town programs after school and during the summer. The answer: yes! Just email us and we will put out the word.
We have lots of activities on our plate for ‘06-‘07, and, fortunately, also have lots of active volunteers. But we can never have too many helpers! If any of the activities below spark your interest, please contact one of the steering committee members or subcommittee chairs below and offer your time.
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| Congrats to these officers of the GTRG who were elected at the last steering committee meeting for the ‘06-‘07 term: |
| President: Leslie Mann |
| Vice President: Karlene Stecher |
| Secretary: Cyndy Halleran |
| Treasurer: Yvonne Murphy | |
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| OUR 2006 CALENDAR (Click here for a printable calendar of events) |
| GLIMPSE of the Future Career Night |
| About 170 middle-schoolers have signed up for GLIMPSE on November 28 at Wredling Middle School. They will meet in small groups with people from the professions of their choices. The subcommittee is hard at work trying to honor the students’ wishes. For those of you who have asked, the most popular choices are FBI agent, architect and teacher. The most unusual is an explosives expert! |
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| The committee, headed by Peg Sanders, has lined up about 30 professionals to come to GLIMPSE. We still need a few more. If you or someone you know fits one of the descriptions below and is willing to attend GLIMPSE, please contact Peg at DSand14@aol.com: |
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| Architect |
Chef |
| Home Builder |
Psychologist |
| Veterinarian |
Advertising Professional |
| Computer Programmer |
Interior Designer |
| Musician |
Professional Athlete |
| Professional Actor or Dancer |
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| Also, we need lots of volunteers (parents, grandparents and responsible teens) on hand that evening to make sure everything runs smoothly. Thanks to these people who have volunteered so far: |
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| Peg Sanders |
Gina Barrett |
| Ricki Giersch |
Cyndy Halleran |
| Jim Chimienti |
Trish Bolger |
| Linda Davis |
Hazel Pankhurst |
| Craig Filippi |
Gaby Filippi | |
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| In addition, we need volunteers to bring some non-messy snacks such as cheese and crackers for the speakers, some of whom will be missing dinner. If you can do that or want to be added to the above list of volunteers to be on hand that night, please email your name, phone and email address to Peg Sanders, DSand14@ol.com, or Leslie Mann, LMannJCH@aol.com. |
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| The next subcommittee meeting for GLIMPSE is November 6, noon, at the Ragamuffin coffeehouse. Please come if you’d like to pitch in. |
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| Jewel Fund-Raisers |
| Thanks to those of you who shopped at Jewel in October to raise money for the GTRG. We will report the amount raised as soon as the check arrives. Please note we have one more Jewel Shop ‘N’ Share event scheduled this year on November 27, 28 and 29. Again, please take a minute to print out the vouchers from the GRTG website by clicking here. A portion of your purchase will go to the GTRG. These can be used at ANY JEWEL, so email these to your friends and family, too. |
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| Learning Express Toys Fund-raiser |
| Yes, another fund-raiser! Please print out a coupon for this fund-raiser which is December 10-16 by clicking here. That is, you take the coupon to the Learning Express Toy Store (on East Main St., by Super Target, in St. Charles) and it entitles you to 10 percent off AND it generates a donation to the GTRG that equals 10 percent of your purchase. And here is the best part – although we recommend bringing your flier to make sure all goes smoothly, the store says if you forget the flier, but mention the GTRG, the donation will still be made. |
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| Resource Fair |
| Plans are underway for the 2007 (second annual) resource fair (name TBA), which we will co-host with our counterparts from other Kane County school districts. The fair is tentatively set for late February; we will announce the date and location in the next newsletter. |
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| The fair subcommittee, headed by Karlene Stecher and Yvonne Murphy, will hold its next meeting on Thursday, November 16, at the Ragamuffin coffeeshop in St. Charles, at 12:30, following the GTRG steering committee meeting. Please come! |
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If you cannot come to the planning meetings but are willing to help out before or during the fair, please tell Karlene or Yvonne if you can help with one of the fair duties below:
- Making signs
- Manning tables at the fair for organizations that cannot send reps
- Manning the fair registration table
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| Barnes and Noble Fund-Raiser |
| Please print out the vouchers by clicking here, and take them to Barnes & Noble (Geneva Commons only) on December 9. You can also email the vouchers to your friends so they can use them, too. |
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| Steering Committee |
| The steering committee meets monthly on the third Thursday of the month at 11:30 a.m. at the Ragamuffin coffee shop in St. Charles. In November, the third Thursday falls on the 16th. You are welcome to come. We will email you if the date changes. |
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| Please see our website (under Advocacy section) for updates on legislation that affects gifted kids. |
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| The GTRG receives no funds from the school district, so we are on our own to raise money for our programs. The good news is we now have an EIN number, which enables us to do fund-raisers like those above. The bad news is we cannot apply for grants until we complete our 501(3)(c) paperwork. So, we are still searching for a volunteer from our ranks to do this. If you are willing to do this for the group, please contact one of the steering committee members. |
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| In the meantime, members of the steering committee are using their OWN MONEY for start-up costs for this group, including registering for the Web site. Please, parents, 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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| MISCELLANEOUS INFO FOR PARENTS |
| Fermilab, which hosts great science and math programs and classes, has just published its fall catalog for students, families, teachers and PTOs. For a copy, e-mail edreg@fnal.gov or call Gail at 630-840-5060. |
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| If your kids would like to get together with other D303 kids to play chess, please contact Mary Leonard, mother of a 4th grader, at marysleonard@aol.com. |
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| The Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College offers private and group instruction in piano, violin, viola, cello, flute, and voice for students aged three months through high school. For further information, visit its website, www.wheaton.edu/csa. |
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| You are invited to attend “Parenting the Gifted Child for Achievement,” December 4, Lisle School District 202, 7-8:30 PM, $10. The speaker is Dr. Rimm, who wrote “How to Parent So Children Will Learn.” For more information, go to www.dupage.k12.il.us. |
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| The Davidson Institute for Talent Development is offering high-achieving young people across the country the opportunity to be named as 2007 Davidson Fellows, an honor accompanied by a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 scholarship in recognition of a significant piece of work in Science, Technology, Mathematics, Music, Literature, Philosophy or Outside the Box. To be eligible, applicants must be under the age of 18 as of Oct. 1, 2007, and a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident residing in the United States. There is no minimum age for eligibility. The deadline to apply is March 30, 2007. Applicants must submit an original piece of work recognized by experts in the field as significant and it must have the potential to make a positive contribution to society. The scholarship must be used at an accredited institute of learning. For more information on the Davidson Fellows, or to download an application, please visit www.DavidsonFellows.org. If you have any questions, please contact Tacie Moessner, tmoessner@ditd.org or 775-852-3483 ext. 423. |
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| Book recommendation: “The Birth Order Book.” Combine first-born traits (perfectionist, super-disciplined and list-maker) with gifted traits (perfectionist, super-disciplined and list-maker) and you have a kid who is really hard to live with or really easy, depending on which way the wind blows today. If this sounds familiar, you’ll like “The Birth Order Book” (now in second edition) by Kevin Leman. He tells parents how birth order affects their kids’ success in school, career choices and relationships. |
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If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, please contact one of the members of the steering committee:
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