Dear Friends,
I have not written to you in quite a while as President of the GHF Board. It is just over three years since the GHF relaunch and so much has happened. Rather than sharing a rah-rah talk on what we have done, I would like to share how our mission has evolved and where we see the organization going in the future.
But first, I would like to make a special thank you to a friend who has recently left the GHF Board.
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A Large and Heartfelt thank you to Celi Trépanier |
Three years ago we were able to keep Celi as part of GHF and that was a big deal. The jobs that I gave Celi were always too big for one person, but that never deterred her.
Celi worked hard to keep the written word respected and loved at GHF. Celi was our conduit to the writers' community as well as our conscience. She relaunched the newsletter to be something more special. Celi created The GHF Journey to be an avenue to celebrate and promote the writing of the independent writers who share and support the GHF experience.
In addition to Journey, Celi worked with me to launch the GHF Dialogue which is our online magazine that is a broader vehicle to feature the writing of professionals and parents so that we can bring the community closer together.
Finally and most importantly, Celi resurrected GHF Press. As a GHF Press author, Celi understood the important role that GHF has in educating families on the nuances and needs of our community. Because of Celi, we now have several new books.
There is so much more that I can say about Celi. The most important thing that I can say is that Celi is my friend; I have come to love and admire her. Celi has given so openly from her heart to our community. We are forever in her debt.
Thank you, Celi. We love you and appreciate all that you have done. You are already missed.
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Defining the GHF mission has been a long process that has evolved as our board members have come to understand our community and our role more deeply.
GHF Mission
To empower every gifted family to make strategic,
proactive, and intentional educational choices.
The underlying understanding of our mission is that the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum was born out of more than a bunch of parents who just happen to love homeschooling. Like an overwhelming majority of gifted parents, our original families found that the school systems, regardless of the good intentions of school professionals, were not meeting the needs of our children. This story is about a community of parents with misunderstood, depressed, anxious children who did not fit the school systems. We share these stories in our community and come together to get solutions, to develop our competence together, to be part of a community that helps us steady ourselves to be stronger in a world that doesn't understand our challenges. In essence, we come here to chart our own paths and take control of our families to launch a new course based on family well-being.
It is with this understanding that GHF has refocused our energy to provide community and programming that is specific to our unique needs. Our focus is on what triggers families to want to leave the system. We have come to understand that our work is not just to support those who have already left, but to reach and support families before they have to decide to leave the system. We are also mindful that not everyone can leave the system and do the job themselves, and we must offer strategies to optimize choices for these families, too. As you can see, we have much work to do so that both homeschool and in-school families of gifted children have the tools that they need.
We ask ourselves these important questions:
- What does research tell us is needed to support gifted families?
- What paradigm shifts do we all need to make?
- What do we need to understand about the education system?
- How do we share the skills of homeschooling so that all parents are as empowered as veteran homeschoolers?
- How can GHF support the professionals as they support our members?
- What skills do we need individually?
- What skills do we need as a group, as part of our hive mind?
- How do we build our community so that we treat each other with the support that we all need to be autonomous, competent, and connected?
We are now on the other side of our infrastructure rebuild and are now creating new programming that can be supported by volunteers and the membership fees and donations of our community. We are careful to make our live events free as we know that not everyone can afford to pay for another online conference, webinar, or workshop.
There is so much more that we are planning and we will share each feature with you as they launch. In the next few months you will see some beta programs start, so keep an eye out to see what you would like to engage with.
Over the last few years, I have been deeply engaged in our community and feel very fortunate that GHF and our mission are what drive me every day. My heart swells with honor, love, and kindness to be the President of GHF.
Thank you so much for being part of our community and reading to the end of this message.
Warmest regards,
Barry
Barry B. Gelston, MEd
GHF Board President
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Of course, I should probably ask for a donation. |
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The above link brings you to a page where you can give one-time or recurring donations. Recurring monthly small donations make a big difference. Think of a number that you won't miss each month and that would make us very happy.
All donations are tax-deductible as we are a 501(c)3.
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For those of you who can give at least $500, we have created a special recognition program where you will be listed on the GHF website and in our monthly newsletter, The GHF Journey, as valued members of the community. Donations may be kept anonymous.
- Barry Gelston, Mr. Gelston’s One Room Schoolhouse
Julie Skolnick, With Understanding Comes Calm
Jaime and Ben Smith, Online G3
- Tricia Delles, CPA
- Catherine Gruener, M.A., M.A., LCPC, LCMHC, NCC, BC-TMH, Gruener Consulting LLC
- Rosemary Guillette
- Kelly Hayes, Wonder Homeschool Center
- Dr. Melanie Hayes, Big Minds Unschool
- Heidi Molbak, Seed Starter Educational Consulting
- Dan Peters, Summit Center
- Magalie Pinney, State Street’s Do More Grant
- Deborah Reber, Tilt Parenting
- Elizabeth Ringlee, The Champion Project
- Jade Ann Rivera, Sunnyside Micro-School
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