WATG Mission: To educate about and advocate for the needs of gifted in Wisconsin. |
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As you may have noticed, WATG’s activities and reach have been growing! To keep you more informed on a more timely basis, our Board of Directors voted to send out news TWICE each month. The first installment will always arrive at the beginning of the month, and the second installment will arrive in the middle of the month. With this change, we hope to keep you more curious, informed, motivated, and engaged. |
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Welcome New Board Members! |
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WATG extends a warm welcome to Mary Pape as she joins our Board of Directors. Mary's passion for gifted education started in the beginning of her career as a special educator and has evolved as her son Oliver was recently identified as profoundly gifted. Mary has spent years as an advocate for parents through the school journey and looks forward to helping improve opportunities for families throughout Wisconsin in the gifted and talented space. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children, husband, friends and family, baking, mural painting, drinking wine by the water, and volunteering.
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Trisha Dahl is excited to join the WATG Board this October. She comes to the board with seven years of classroom teaching experience followed by four years of experience in gifted and talented programming. Trisha studied for her Undergrad in Elementary Education at UW Stevens Point, and recently finished her Masters Degree at UW Whitewater in Curriculum and Instruction.
When not at work, Trisha enjoys life at home with her family. She has two kids ages 7 and 5 who love being outside all of the time. As a family they love to camp, go for UTV rides, swim, and ride bikes. Trisha and her husband enjoy going to as many Milwaukee Brewers games as possible. GO BREWERS!!! At this point in her career, Trisha is excited to be branching out and learning new skills and ideas to use with her students in the Mukwonago Area School District. She says that you are never too experienced to learn new things!
Welcome, Trisha, to the WATG Board; we look forward to working with you!
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STILL TIME TO CELEBRATE! OCTOBER IS GIFTED EDUCATION MONTH! |
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(WATG desea extender un enorme agradecimiento a la Dra. Martha Aracely Lopez de las Escuelas Públicas de Milwaukee por traducir este artículo al español para nuestras familias y educadores hispanohablantes. La traducción también se puede encontrar en los blogs de nuestro sitio web) |
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Gifted in Perspective: "Just Think"
Jackie Drummer, WATG Advisory Board Member and Past President
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For years a tiny statue lived on my desk in my classroom. It was a statue of a young girl with a light bulb hovering over her head, and the words, “just think” inscribed on it. This often reminded my students (and me) about the importance of thinking. The statue always made me smile because “just think” sounded so easy, and yet it was sometimes so hard to do, and even harder to teach. Thus began my journey into examining creative and critical thinking strategies, and decision-making and problem-solving, which utilize both creative and critical thinking skills. |
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Dr. Wanda Routier
Former WATG Board Member
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Ask the Doctor: Overexcitabilities |
Autumn is here with cooler temperatures, colorful leaves, and fall festivals. Even though the COVID virus is still here, and we are still dealing with a global pandemic, most school districts are back in session with face-to-face classes; this is another transition in a series of transitions during the pandemic.
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October Government Action Update |
Imagine if each Wisconsin school district had to report to DPI how many gifted students it identifies and serves, as well as the demographics of those students. And imagine if that type of information was easily available for all to see. |
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Gifted Meanderings: Historical Context
Ruth Robinson, Past WATG Presiden
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Looking back at Wisconsin’s history of advocacy for gifted education, it's interesting to put it into context, both nationally and internationally. Much of the history was linked to the research in the field of giftedness.
As early as the 1850’s, Sir Francis Galton worked with a selected group of gifted individuals in England. Early in the twentieth century, Binet developed the first workable intelligence test. Later Terman based his long term study of genius on the Binet test.
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Miguel
Cory Jennerjohn, WATG Board Member
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There are so many great things that the Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted does; one of those things is advocating for people who cannot advocate for themselves. I am talking especially about kids and about minorities.
I have seen so many minority children in my teaching career not even give gifted and talented programs a thought; that is, until a teacher pointed them in our direction.
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Dr. Maria Katsaros-Molzahn
For the Justice for All Taskforce
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Our Website: A Great Resource! |
Often criticism about gifted education centers around concerns about elitism. Additionally, we often hear comments about the social and emotional wellbeing of our students. Statements such as, “those kids are showoffs” or “but how will they learn to be nice?” can undermine and minimize these children.
(WATG would like to extend a huge thank you to Esther Vazquez Guendulain of the Appleton Bilingual School for translating this article into Spanish for our Spanish-speaking families and educators. The translation can also be found in our website blogs.)
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Parenting gifted children can be an exciting, yet challenging journey, and WATG is committed to providing information, resources, and networking opportunities for parents and caregivers of gifted children.
As a service to gifted children and their families, WATG is offering FREE memberships to all parents/caregivers beginning now and extending through September of 2022. Benefits of WATG membership include:
- Support for educational outreach
- Support for parents/caregivers and advocates
- Voting privileges
- Consultation and coaching
- And so much more!
So far, over 100 parents/caregivers have taken advantage of this outstanding opportunity! We encourage more of you to join us by filling out this Free WATG Parent Membership Form, and look forward to meeting you and growing with you.
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Any organization mentioned in this newsletter does not constitute an endorsement by or partnership with WATG. No recommendation regarding the services of these organizations is being made by WATG. Families and educators are urged to perform due diligence in researching all organizations. |
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