DCSD Gifted Education News
April 2016
Douglas County School District Gifted Education
Email: misty.burkhart@dcsdk12.org
Website: https://www.dcsdk12.org/gifted-education
Location: 620 Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, CO, United States
Phone: (303)387-0145
The Many Faces of the Gifted
Gifted and talented students are those students between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs.
Gifted students include students with disabilities (i.e. twice exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations.
Gifted students are capable of high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas:
- General or Specific Intellectual Ability
- Specific Academic Aptitude
- Creative or Productive Thinking
- Leadership Abilities
- Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Musical or Psychomotor Abilities
For more information, please visit the DCSD Gifted Education Page.
Transitions: Excitement and Anxiety
Following are some resources that might help support your children (and you) through transition:
Smoothing Your Child's Transition to Middle School
The Social and Emotional Transition to Middle School
Transitioning from Elementary to Middle School: Tips for Parents of Gifted Students
Surviving the Middle School Years with Your Gifted Child
Ensuring a Smooth Transition to High School
Helping Middle School Students Make the Transition to High School
Gifted Middle School Students Transitioning to High School
®Sending your gifted child to college: Providing support when fears arise http://giftedchallenges.blogspot.com/2013/08/sending-your-gifted-child-to-college.html
Letting College Students Choose Their Own Course
Preparing Your 2e Child for the Transition to College
Also don't miss the Hoagies Blog hop on Anxiety linked HERE.
Colorado Distinguished Student Award
Nominate a student HERE by May 31, 2016
Douglas County School District Gifted Education Advisory Council
We are excited to reinstate the Douglas County School District Gifted Education AdvisoryCouncil. The mission of the Council is to gather, communicate, and disseminate information to stakeholders, as well as advocate, influence, support, and ensure accountability for quality programming for gifted learners in Douglas County School District. We are seeking parent representatives from each feeder and charter region to serve on the council. Please see the following form for more information and to self nominate and appear on your feeder ballot. Parent representatives must have a child identified for gifted programming and attending a DCSD school.
Gifted Education Advisory Council Self Nomination Form
Please contact the gifted education facilitator at your child's school, or Misty Burkhart, DCSD Gifted Education Coordinator, with any questions.
Destination Imagination Global Finals
Congratulations to all of the Douglas County Teams that competed in the CO State Destination Imagination Tournament.
The following teams qualified for Global Finals- representing 9 out of the 14 schools in the South Metro Area that qualified!
Stone Mountain Elementary: Blame it on the Pig
Sagewood Middle School: The Dumpster Divas
Chaparral High School: Hydrate or DI-drate
Ben Franklin Elementary: Awesome is our middle name
Stone Mountain Elementary: The Crazy Monkey Eating Bananas
Mountain Ridge Middle School: It Wasn't in Front of Any Spanish Teachers
STEM High and Academy: Kids Across Colorado
Redstone Elementary: Destination Cream Puffs
Ben Franklin Elementary: Connect the Dots
See full listing of State Tournament Results HERE
Destination Imagination is an international creative problem-solving competition with challenges heavily anchored in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
Find out more about how your child might participate in Destination Imagination by contacting
Connie Ackerman
303-688-4496
Colorado Gifted and Talented needs a cover design for this year's conference
Theme: CO Gifted: Create, Innovate, Inspire
Students: Put your talents to work...
Colorado Gifted and Talented needs a cover design for this years’ conference cover
Artwork can be done in any media - by hand or electronically using any pixel/vector based software.
Hand done artwork must be scanned. Scanned les and Pixel based submissions must be sent in JPEG format. A minimum of 300 dpi resolution and 8.5” x 11” portrait size is a requirement. Vector based submissions must be sent in EPS or AI formats. 8.5” x 11” portrait size is a requirement.
Call 303-520-4887 Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for further assistance.
Submissions are to be sent via email as an attachment. Send to COgifted@gmail.com
Entry deadline June 3, 2016
Some thoughts to get the creative ideas flowing: Get out your pastels, watercolors, acrylics or... Work with that photomontage in Photoshop or... Create that unique illustration in Adobe Illustrator.
Open to students K-12. The winning design student will receive special recognition,
have their work produced in the conference materials and receive $50.00 cash prize.
CAGT Conference 2016: October 10 and 11: CO Gifted: Create, Innovate, Inspire
Save the Date!
Conference REGISTRATION WILL OPEN the first week of May 2016
Call for Proposals is now open: Click Here
Keynote Speakers: Ian Byrd, Patty Gatto-Walden Ph.D., Brian Housand, Ph.D.
Conference Future Dates: October 16 and 17, 2017 andOctober 22 and 23, 2018 at the Embassy Suites Loveland.
Our Annual State Conference is held every October in the Denver Metro area. This professional conference has an annual attendance of 700 educators, administrators and parents. Call for Proposals will open in March. We also invite interested exhibitors to register starting in April.
During the Annual Conference there is also a Parent Institute and a Leadership Forum.
Colorado Math Circle
Click HERE for more information and/or to join!
TED-Ed Original lessons feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed original? Nominate yourself here »
Center for Bright Kids
See more details by visiting the website HERE.
University of Denver: The Engineering Summer Camp for 2016
We are now accepting applications for the 2016 Engineering Summer Camp.
The Engineering Summer Camp for 2016 will be a 1-week day camp, 9:00 am to 4:50 pm Monday through Friday, June 20-24, 2016.
In this program, 9th to 11th grade students will be on the beautiful University of Denver campus with adult supervision, hands on learning, and the opportunity to explore the development of future technologies.
Participants will gain insight about the fundamentals of computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering through the design and building of engineering robotic systems.
What would society gain from having more women and minorities in the tech industry, and how do we get there?
CODE: Debugging The Gender Gap exposes the dearth of American female and minority software engineers and explores the reasons for this gender gap and digital divide. The film highlights breakthrough efforts that are producing more diverse programmers and shows how this critical gap can be closed.
Gifted Education State Advisory Committee has Vacancies
The Gifted Education State Advisory Committee (GE-SAC) seeks applications from individuals in all of Colorado's congressional districts who are interested in providing input about issues around gifted education.
The Gifted Education State Advisory Committee is a council appointed by the State Board of Education. The committee provides the board recommendations and information about ongoing and emergent needs related to the education of gifted learners.
Click Here for Additional Information
For More Information, Contact:
Tara Rolfe
Exceptional Student Services / Gifted Education
Phone: 303-866-6794
Email: rolfe_t@cde.state.co.us
Hoagies BLOG Hops
March 2016 Blog Hop: March Math-ness!
Don't miss our March Math-ness! Math. The subject that excites or strikes fear, engaging our imagination or making our eyes glaze over. Join us this month for a smorgasbord of Math, from our favorite curriculum and enrichment sources, to our most challenging math moments. Math phobia to Math frenzy, this month has something for YOU!
National Association for Gifted Children - Resources for Parents
*Your toddler is inquisitive, seemingly never gets tired, and is highly sensitive to her slouchy socks and the tags in her clothes.
*Your child has just been accepted into the gifted program at her middle school, but you wonder what that means and how to know if it is a quality program.
*Your high schooler is getting ready to apply to colleges, but is so overwhelmed by choices of what to study, he can't move forward.
Is My Child Gifted?
- "Helping Your Gifted Child to Succeed" (Spanish language brochure for parents)
"Helping Your Gifted Child to Succeed" (downloadable brochure for parents in English)
- Identification
- Common Characteristics of Gifted Individuals
- Traits of Giftedness
- Tests and Assessments
- Domains of Giftedness
- Levels of Giftedness
Parenting for High Potential
Parenting for High Potential is the magazine designed for parents who want to make a difference in their children's lives, who want to develop their children's gifts and talents, and who want to help them develop their potential to the fullest.
To receive Parenting for High Potential, become a member of NAGC today. Parent Associate members receive Parenting for High Potential four times each year. Individual members may also choose to receive the print issues.
Read the February 2016 Issue here:
Parenting for High Potential~Sydney J. Harris