Gifted Advisory Date Change

For your information, the Gifted Advisory meeting scheduled for Jan 20 has been changed to March 2.  This meeting will feature the elementary focus night.  All Gifted Advisory meeting start at 7:00 pm and take place in the Colonial Heights Technical Center. 

Little Innovators: An Adult-Child Program for K-3 Students at the MSiC

Little Innovators

An Adult/Child Program for Children in Grades K, 1, 2 & 3

Program Date: February 7 & 14, 2015 at Gayton Elementary & MSiC Campus 

Classes will meet from 9:30am to 12 noon. Weather makeup day is February 21, 2015.
Kindergarteners, and First, Second & Third Graders come spend a morning with us at either the MathScience Innovation Center's main campus or our satellite location at Gayton Elementary School. Bring along an adult and experience Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in a fun, hands-on way. Register online at: http://mymsic.org/en/msicprograms/littleinnovators

Loc­a­tion A: Math­S­cience In­nov­a­tion Cen­ter Cam­pus 2401 Hart­man Street Rich­mond, VA 23223 Google Map (bot­tom of this page)

Loc­a­tion B: Gayton Ele­ment­ary School 12481 Church Road Rich­mond, VA 23233 Google Map (bot­tom of this page)

Program Fee:

$30 fee per class for each student and adult team.

Program Contacts

Debbie Mitchell: Phone 1.​804.​343.​6525 Ex­ten­sion 243 Email:  dmitchell@​mymsic.​org

An­drew Derer Phone 1.​804.​343.​6525 Ex­ten­sion 245 Email:  aderer@​mymsic.​org

Choose from the lessons below:

Kindergarten

Why 10?   Grade K Be­cause 10 is the found­a­tion or base of our num­ber sys­tem! Through a vari­ety of fun and chal­len­ging games, you will begin to re­cog­nize and de­scribe im­port­ant pat­terns in our num­ber sys­tem. By cul­tiv­at­ing your own think­ing, cre­ativ­ity and reas­on­ing, you will cre­ate your own pat­terns that help you and oth­ers see num­bers in a dif­fer­ent and ex­cit­ing way. The fun doesn’t end here. Your own port­able games will be a big hit when you share and play with friends and fam­ily! Choose one date and loc­a­tion: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC or Gayton Ele­ment­ary

Winter Won­der­land   Grade K Have you ever wondered what snow­men do at night? Come and learn about the fun snow­men have while you’re rest­ing in your warm bed! Through tech­no­logy and hands-on ex­per­i­ments, you’ll dis­cover amaz­ing prop­er­ties of ice and water while in­vest­ig­at­ing winter through your five senses. You’ll even be chal­lenged to en­gin­eer your own in­door snow­ball launcher! Choose one date and loc­a­tion: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC or Gayton Ele­ment­ary

Grade 1

At­tract­ing En­gin­eers   Grade 1 In this class, you will learn more about the world of mag­net­ism and how it works in our world. Top­ics of mag­netic fields and elec­tro­mag­net­ism will be ex­plored through in­quiry-based activ­it­ies. Then use your know­ledge and ima­gin­a­tion to design and cre­ate a power­ful mag­netic tool that will help clean up our en­vir­on­ment.   Choose one date and loc­a­tion: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC or Gayton Ele­ment­ary

The Won­der of Toys   NEW!   Grade 1 Toys bring out the play­ful, ima­gin­at­ive, and in­vest­ig­at­ive side of chil­dren. To­gether, chil­dren and adults will in­vest­ig­ate the sci­ence and math be­hind the mar­velous in­ven­tions known as TOYS. Using in­spir­a­tion from tra­di­tional toys, stu­dents will design and en­gin­eer their own toys dur­ing this ses­sion, and the stu­dents will be able to keep their toy in­ven­tion! Choose one date and loc­a­tion: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC or Gayton Ele­ment­ary

Won­der­ful Webs   Grade 1 Have you ever wondered how those beau­ti­ful webs are made? Well, this is your chance to learn all about the won­der­ful world of spiders! Ex­plore life as a spider in the Math­S­cience Cen­ter’s spe­cial “Spider Room.” Dis­cover how they eat, grow and adapt to dif­fer­ent hab­it­ats. Find out what makes a spider a spider and why they are so im­port­ant to us. Choose one date: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC

Grade 2

Aquatic Crit­ters   Grade 2 Have you ever wondered how a sea star moves? Or why an urchin has spines? Come ex­plore the world of aquatic crit­ters. Hold and ex­am­ine the live aquatic an­im­als from our 30,000 gal­lon aquaria, learn how these im­port­ant an­im­als sur­vive, and how they im­pact our en­vir­on­ment. In ad­di­tion, you will get up close and per­sonal with the aquatic creatures that live in our area rivers, ponds and oceans, and learn their secrets of sur­vival. Choose one date: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC

Little Sprouts   NEW!   Grade 2 Hitch-hikers, hiders, and float­ers - oh my! Come and learn about the amaz­ing world of plants as we get down and dirty with soil, seeds, flowers, and pol­lin­a­tion. Learn more about the in­ter­de­pend­ence of plants and hu­mans through cool dis­sec­tions, hands-on ex­per­i­ments, and in­ter­act­ive tech­no­logy. You will leave with souven­irs from our class, ex­per­i­ments to try at home, and a new out­look on our liv­ing planet! Note: Stu­dents will be ex­posed to tree nuts and pol­len throughout this les­son. Choose one date: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at Gayton Ele­ment­ary

Roam­ing Ro­bots   Grade 2 Ex­plore math­em­at­ics using Rover, an easy-to-use, friendly robot.  Es­tim­ate dis­tances, find angles of geo­met­ric shapes, and dis­cover math­em­at­ical pat­terns within the shapes.  For the grand fi­nale, use pro­gram­ming lan­guage to teach Rover to over­come math­em­at­ical obstacles. Choose one date: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC

Grade 3

Elec­tronic Switch­ery   Grade 3 Would you like to build an elec­tric cir­cuit with a switch that turns a light off and on? How about a mu­sical door­bell? Using a nifty set of elec­tronic build­ing blocks, you will build a vari­ety of elec­trical cir­cuits. Read a cir­cuit dia­gram; then, cre­ate a space ray, or pos­sibly even a di­aper alarm, as you learn about di­odes, res­ist­ors, and ca­pa­cit­ors. Choose one date and loc­a­tion: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC or Gayton Ele­ment­ary

We Bot­ics   Grade 3 Build an “amaz­ing mech­an­ism” using Lego® pieces from the Lego WeDo™ activ­ity pack­age. Be the en­gin­eer and design a 3D model, learn about mo­tion and en­ergy trans­fer, and add your own ideas to modify the be­ha­vior of a ma­chine. Stu­dents and par­ents will pro­gram a ma­chine using Lego cod­ing blocks and in­ter­act with other mech­an­isms in the room. Choose one date: Feb 7 or Feb 14 at MSiC

Pour It On Chem­istry   Grade 3 What’s more fun than mix­ing dif­fer­ent chem­ic­als to­gether to see the res­ults? Why do so many things dis­solve in water? What li­quids in your home are acids or bases - and why does that mat­ter? Ex­plore and in­vest­ig­ate the world of chem­istry and con­duct a vari­ety of simple ex­per­i­ments with com­mon house­hold sub­stances. Each stu­dent will re­ceive ma­ter­i­als for ex­per­i­ments and a real set of lab equip­ment used by sci­ent­ists in labor­at­or­ies.   Choose one date: Feb 7 or 14 at MSiC

Focusing on the Future Conference at the College of William & Mary

The Center for Gifted Education's 2015 Focusing on the Future conference will
be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 8:45 a.m.–3:00 p.m. The event will
expose high-ability learners in grades 6–12 to career opportunities related to
the arts, humanities, and sciences. Separate sessions will be held for
parents, guardians, and counselors, and will provide them with strategies and
techniques to assist students with academic and career planning.

The event will be held at The College of William & Mary’s School of Education,
located at 301 Monticello Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23188. All students must be
accompanied by a parent, guardian, or group chaperone. All participants must
register for the event. The deadline to register is January 23, 2015.

Additional information and the registration packet are available on the Center
for Gifted Education’s website at cfge.wm.edu.

Saturday/Summer Enrichmnet Program at the College of William & Mary

The Center for Gifted Education is accepting registrations for the spring
Saturday/Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). The program will begin on Saturday,
February 21, 2015 and will run for five consecutive Saturday sessions. Each
session will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude at 12:30 p.m.

SEP is an academically challenging program with an emphasis on inquiry-based
learning for students enrolled in grades K–11. It is not meant to supplant the
regular school curriculum; rather, it recognizes the importance of allowing
able youngsters to explore additional specialized areas of science,
mathematics, humanities, and the arts.

The program’s brochure is accessible through the Center’s website at
http://cfge.wm.edu. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Precollegiate Learner Program office at (757) 221-6198 or sep@wm.edu.

Summer STEM Opportunity for 9th Grade Stdents

The Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology (BLAST) program is designed to attract students who are motivated to learn, but have not yet shown interest in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) coursework.  This opportunity will be available to interested 9th grade students FREE of charge during the 2015 summer. 

Participants will spend three exciting days on the campus of the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech engaged in hands-on STEM activities and demonstrations led by experienced faculty members.  Additional details are available at: http://blast.spacegrant.org/. The deadline for the application is February 2, 2015.

The program is a partnership between the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, the University of Virginia Virginia Tech and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
BLAST Program Management

6-8 Let's Innovate Student Conference at the MSiC

 

The Math Science Innovation Center will offer the Lets Innovate conference for students in grades 6-8 this December 6.


This program will teach students about the newest innovations in engineering, biomechanics, computer science, renewable energy, mathematics, medicine, nanoscience, robotics, and more.  Participants will meet and talk with the scientists and professionals who are turning the possibilities of today into the realities of tomorrow. Become inspired to be an innovator!  Detailed information is available at:  http://mymsic.org/en/programs-tab/let-s-innovate-conference-6-8

Keynote Speaker:

Lynn Foshee Reed

Albert Einstein Fellow, Mathematics Educator, Maggie Walker Governor’s School

William & Mary, Spring Saturday/Summer Enrichment Program

The Center for Gifted Education is pleased to announce the dates for our
spring Saturday/Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). The program will begin on
Saturday, February 21, 2015 and will run for five consecutive Saturday
sessions. Each session will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude at 12:30 p.m.
SEP is an academically challenging program with an emphasis on inquiry-based
learning for students enrolled in grades K–11. It is not meant to supplant the
regular school curriculum; rather, it recognizes the importance of allowing
able youngsters to explore additional specialized areas of science,
mathematics, humanities, and the arts.

The program’s brochure is accessible through the Center’s website at
http://cfge.wm.edu. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can
assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact the Precollegiate Learner
Program office at (757) 221-6198 or sep@wm.edu. We look forward to hosting
your child during our upcoming program.

Gifted Advisory Meeting, October 27

The Gifted Advisory meeting on October 27  featured a seven member panel of high school students who discussed opportunities for high ability students at Colonial Heights High School.  The student panel was exceptional, and  approximately fifty people attended.  Congratulations to Beth Knight who was elected Chair, Audrey Dubey who was elected Vice-Chair, and Kim Boyd who  was elected Secretary.  I look forward to working with each this and in the coming years.

I also want to remind you that Colonial Heights Public Schools will be participating in the AdvancED Accreditation Process this year.  Many parts of the review process will be conducted at each of the five schools in the division; however, one component of the review process is the Parent Survey.

 

Surveys are a means to systematically engage all our stakeholders in two-way communication. They provide school leaders and teachers a view into the thinking and perceptions of our stakeholders. Careful analysis of the results enriches understanding of areas of strength and effectiveness as well as those areas that possibly need improvement. The survey results will enable our school leaders to measure stakeholders’ attitudes and help target improvement strategies focused on student achievement as well as school and system effectiveness. 

If you have not completed the survey, you may do so at the following link: 

http://www.advanc-ed.org/survey/public/8797718

Your cooperation and support in completing the survey is greatly appreciated.

October Gifted Advisory Meeting

The first Gifted Advisory meeting of the school year will take place next Monday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 pm.  All meetings begin at 7:00 pm and take place in the AV Room at Colonial Heights Technical Center.  The focus of this meeting will be programs and opportunities for advanced students at Colonial Heights High School.

Many of you know that Colonial Heights is participating in the AdvancEd review process.  AdvancED is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that accredits schools and school systems throughout the United States and internationally.  Part of the review process includes a parent review survey.  Please know that computers will be available for parents to complete the survey in the computer lab 30 minutes before and after the Gifted Advisory meeting next week.  Your participation and support of the review process is very much appreciated.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Saturday Enrichment Courses at the University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is pleased to announce the Saturday Enrichment Program for 2015. In coordination with the Curry School of Education's Gifted Department, UVA is offering enrichment courses for gifted or high-ability, high-interest students in kindergarten through grade five. For over 30 years, UVA has presented courses that students have found  engaging, challenging, and stimulating – courses that broaden their academic interests, while introducing them to topics and professional fields they may never have known about. Applications are now online at http://curry.virginia.edu/sep and are due by December 1, 2014.

Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship Program

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation seeks high-achieving high school seniors with financial need for its College Scholarship Program, the largest undergraduate scholarship in the nation. Selected students receive college planning support, ongoing advising, and up to $40,000 per year to attend a four-year accredited undergraduate institution. If you know students who stand out for their exceptional academic abilities and achievements, persistence, leadership, and desire to help others, please encourage them to visit the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s website to learn more. The application closes on November 4. http://hubs.ly/y06n4H0

Focusing on the Future, 2015

The Center for Gifted Education at the College of William & Mary is pleased to announce that the 2015 Focusing on the Future conference will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 8:45 a.m.–3:00 p.m. The event will expose high-ability learners in grades 6–12 to career opportunities related to the arts, humanities, and sciences. Separates essions will be held for parents, guardians, and counselors, and will provide them with strategies and techniques to assist students with academic and
career planning.

The event will be held at The College of William & Mary’s School of Education,
located at 301 Monticello Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23188. All students must be
accompanied by a parent, guardian, or group chaperone. All participants must
register for the event. The deadline to register is January 23, 2015.
Additional information and the registration packet are available on the Center
for Gifted Education’s website at cfge.wm.edu.

Gifted Advisory Meeting Dates, 2014-15

Members of the Gifted Advisory recently met and chose the following meeting dates:

• Monday, October 27, 2014

• Tuesday, January 20, 2015          

• Monday, March 23, 2015

• Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Remember to mark your calendars!  All Gifted Advisory Committee meetings take place in the Technical Center Audio Visual Room at 7:00 pm.