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Previous Programming

Previous Events

Jenny Hecht: The Worry Monster and the Twelve Dilemmas *based on the work of Dan Peters

Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 6:30pm

Jenny Hecht will be presenting Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at the Boulder County Day School. In this presentation, we will explore the twelve primary causes of anxiety in gifted individuals, including those specifically connected to correlating overexcitabilities and will offer ideas and skills to support those struggling with them. This will be a talk, however you are welcome to bring your child along so that they can learn tips to manage their anxieties and advocate for themselves more effectively. Please register yourself and children you plan to bring to the talk. The event is free to the community, and donations are always welcome.

For more info, view the event flier.

You can register for this event for free on its Eventbrite page.

Seth Perler: Strategies to Help Kids Struggling with Executive Function

Monday, January 13, 2020 at 6:30pm

Seth Perler will be presenting Monday, January 13, 2020 at the BVSD Education Center. Upper elementary, middle and high school students are welcome to attend as Seth will be teaching in very relatable terms about how 2e and Executive Function are related and how our nervous systems communicate with each other constantly. He will teach how attunement and co-regulation are used to connect and how better connection helps everyone. There will be interactive exercises to explore these topics, deepen connection and improve communication. The event is free to the community, and donations are always welcome.

For more info, view the event flier.

You can register for this event for free on its Eventbrite page.

Supporting Young Gifted Children

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Join Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented in collaboration with the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County to better understand what giftedness looks like in very young children in two sessions with Catherine Zakoian, MA, LPC, NCC at The Acorn School. The first session will be to help train providers, and the second session will be a discussion circle for parents of children ages 0-5 years old.

For the Provider Training, view the Provider Training flier and register for free through the Provider Training registration form.

For the Parent Talk, view the Parent Talk flier and register for free through the Parent Talk registration form.

Gifted Minds: The High Cost of Competing and Fitting In

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Our first presentation of the year is coming soon! Marlo Payne Thurman will be presenting a talk Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at the BVSD Education Center, speaking directly to the social-emotional challenges particular to GT children and students both at home and in the classroom. The talk is free to the community, and donations are always welcome.

For more info, view the event flier.

You can register for this event for free on its Eventbrite page.

February 20, 2019 –Nancy Lee: To Stress or Not to Stress. Parenting Gifted and Twice-Exceptional Children.

Explore what it takes to raise a healthy child, the importance of mental health issues among children who are gifted and twice exceptional, as well as the challenges that come with parenting these children

Handout

Nancy Lee Flyer – English & Spanish

January 15, 2019 – Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented and Boulder Valley School District Present Seth Perler: Resistance and Relationship Workshop

Many gifted learners are resistant to doing some of what needs to be done. This may include using planners, studying, doing homework, starting, finishing, getting organized, removing distractions, self-advocating, and, of course, receiving help from parents. Sometimes this causes great strain in the relationship. In this workshop, we’ll explore why the resistance is there in the first place and how to help your child while strengthening your relationship with them. NOTE: This event encourages you to attend WITH your child. 

Seth Perler Flyer

January 27, 2019 – Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented’s 2nd Annual Trivia Fundraiser Night

Join us for an adults-only evening of great food and friendly competition to support Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented. Details on the flyer below. your tickets!

View the Flyer!

Nannette McMurtry – Building Stronger Support for Gifted Students Through School-Home Digital Partnerships.

In our connected society, it’s important that relationships between schools and homes move beyond weekly emails and occasional phone calls to a robust, organic, and inclusive flow of information that empowers meaningful interaction. This workshop explores why this shift matters for students, families, and schools today and what tools, such as digital ALP collaboration, can be used to make it happen.

March 6 – Supporting Gifted Children in Early Childhood Setting

Early Childhood Educators join Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented (BVGT) in collaboration with the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County to better understand what giftedness looks like in very young children.

Learn how to best recognize and prepare to support these youngsters and
their families, leading to wonderfully deep teaching relationships and
enriched and happy classroom environments. Participants will leave with
a basic understanding of giftedness and concrete tools to
support gifted children in their classrooms.

Facilitator Catherine Zakoian, MA, LPC, NCC, is a child and family psychotherapist with specialized expertise working with gifted and profoundly gifted children, teens, adults, families, and organizations. Additionally, Catherine is an EC Credentialed Coach with over 10 years experience as an early childhood mental health consultant.

November 16 -Linda Silverman, Ph.D – Counseling the Gifted

October 16-17 – Annual CAGT Conference: The Heart of the Rockies: Elevating the Gifted Connection.

October 18 – Susanne Keeley: Encourage, Enhance and Expand Executive Functions in Your Gifted Child

September 24 – BVGT 10th Anniversary Trivia Night FUN(d)raiser


BVGT event and speakers archive

Boulder Valley Teachers Earn Credit By Attending BVGT Events

BVSD educators may receive CDE credit for attending BVGT events and presentations. Educators must register ahead of time in MyPassport and sign in at the event. All courses begin with TAG, followed by the course title (for example, “TAG-Surging Ahead or Falling Behind.”) Questions? Email the BVSD Office of Advanced Academic Services. [email protected]

2017-18


October 16-17 – Annual CAGT Conference: The Heart of the Rockies: Elevating the Gifted Connection.


October 18 – Susanne Keeley: Encourage, Enhance and Expand Executive Functions in Your Gifted Child


September 24 – BVGT 10th Anniversary Trivia Night FUN(d)raiser


2016-17 Events


2e: Twice-Exceptional Film Viewing and Panel Discussion

A viewing of Thomas Ropelewski’s groundbreaking and award-winning documentary 2e: Twice Exceptional (54 minutes) will be followed by audience Q & A with panelists including special education experts, educators, parents, and students. Come learn more about the challenges and successes of this unique type of gifted learner. Find out how teachers and parents can engage these students’ curiosities and help them build meaningful and successful social and academic connections.


Gifted 101 For Educators

Please join BVSD and BVGT for an overview of characteristics of gifted students and discussion of TAG programming and social-emotional needs. Open forum for questions. Taught collaboratively by BVGT and BVSD.

Thursday, February 23
4:30 to 6:00 pm
Boulder Valley School District Education Center


Ian Byrd, “Creating 21st Century Innovators”

21st-century technologies have opened up new paths for success. Gifted students’ curiosity and intense interests make them uniquely suited to blaze these new trails. At the same time, gifted characteristics such as perfectionism and impostor syndrome can hold them back. We will discuss how parents and teachers can support students, empowering them to become tomorrow’s innovators.

Ian Byrd is a nationally recognized presenter and blogger on teaching and reaching gifted students. He’s the founder of the blog/website Byrdseed, an online resource for understanding gifted learners.


Jenny Hecht, “I am Because We Are: Cultivating Personal and Social Competencies”

BVGT board member Jenny Hecht, licensed clinical social worker with expertise in giftedness, is working to provide presentations on distress tolerance and giftedness and stress.  From Jenny’s website: “I have a passion for supporting the specific social-emotional needs of gifted individuals, particularly the existential dilemma so many face beginning at a very young age. My work with gifted individuals has extended to consultation and support for educational professionals who work with this population.


Brian Housand – “Today’s Technology and Gifted Students: What Parents Need to Know”

Brian Housand is an author and associate professor at East Carolina University.


CAGT Annual Conference

Membership has its benefits: BVGT is offering five scholarships for members to attend the October 10th Parent Institute at the CAGT Conference. If you are a member, and interested in attending, please email [email protected].


Gifted 101 For Educators

Please join BVSD and BVGT for an overview of characteristics of gifted students and discussion of TAG programming and social emotional needs. Open forum for questions. Taught collaboratively by BVGT and BVSD.

  • Thursday, September 22nd, 4:30 to 6:00 pm
  • Boulder Valley School District Education Center
  • Contact time is 1.50 hours. This is a free event.

Dr. James T. Webb  11 Key Issues of Giftedness At Home and At School

Gifted kids are all different in their own unique ways. However, Dr. James Webb has identified eleven key issues that are common across the gifted population. In this presentation, you will learn how a range of ability, asynchronous development, over-excitabilities and thinking styles can change the trajectory of your child’s daily life at home and at school. Find out how parents and educators can identify challenge areas and become equipped to deal with them. Stay for a book signing with Dr. Webb immediately following the lecture!


2015-16 Events


Janice Mcnally – Supporting Resilience, Grit, and Social-Emotional Skills 

Modern life presents a variety of stressors for children/youth and adults. While this can frequently leave parents feeling daunted, the good news is that we can teach our kids social-emotional skills to support their capacity (and ours) to respond to these challenges in a positive way and become stronger in the process.  Participants will examine factors unique to current day parenting and develop strategies for modeling and supporting resilience, perseverance, and grit to help families thrive. Adults only please.

Janise McNally Flyer
April 7, 2016
Broomfield Heights Middle School


TAG 101 Educator Event

Please join Boulder Valley School District Office of Advanced Academic Services and Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented for an evening designed to support area public and independent school educators.

Join us for an overview of characteristics of gifted students and discussion of TAG programming and social emotional needs. Open forum for questions. Taught collaboratively by BVGT and BVSD.

  • Wednesday, February 24th
  • Boulder Valley School District Education Center
  • Contact time is 1.50 hours. This is a free event.

Jim Delisle – Gifted and Teenage, Too:  Striking the right balance at home and school 

Intellectually gifted students have many academic strengths. However, they are also teenagers, intent on enjoying their brief years as adolescents with all the zeal they can muster. School is important, but so are friends, fun and everything electronic.  How do you, as parents, and they, as students, balance the rigors of school life with the need for relaxation and personal growth?  Come learn about some strategies and attitudes that will help make your gifted teen’s life fulfilling–academically, socially and emotionally.

  • February 2nd
  •  Fairview High School, Boulder
  • Flyer

Most Likely to Succeed Screening

MostLikelyToSuceedScreening

Mackintosh Academy, BVGT and others partner to bring you “Most Likely to Succeed,” the surprise Sundance hit that looks at the need to reinvent our education system for the innovation age.  Join us for a screening and panel discussion November 4 at Casey Middle School or November 12 at Louisville middle. Discover what you can do to prepare your student for their unique future.


BVGT & TAG Coffee Chats  

Building Positive Talented and Gifted Parent Partnerships. Events happened throughout Boulder Valley during the Fall

  • What exactly is Boulder Valley Gifted & Talented?
  • What can I expect from the TAG program?
  • How are BVGT and TAG related?
  • Is my child gifted?
  • How can I find support and a community for myself
  • and my gifted child?

Parents joined us for coffee,  a short presentation addressing these questions and time to connect!


Lisa Van Gemert – Perfectionism. The Perils of Perfectionism (and ways to make it better)

Perfectionism is an occupational hazard of giftedness, and its effects can be truly debilitating.  Learn what perfectionism looks like in gifted kids, and come away with a toolbox full of big ideas and strategies for turning this terrible master into a compliant servant.


Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. –  Understanding and Nurturing the ESSENCE of Adolescents and Teens.

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. is an internationally acclaimed NY Times bestselling author, award-winning educator, and child psychiatrist.  He is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.   Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA.  Dr. Siegel focuses on the emerging minds of 12 to 24-year-olds and how the brain develops.   

  • April 8, 2015
  • Fairview High School,
  • Book signing at 5:15 pm.

Patty Gatto-Walden – “Being 2E – Holistic View of Twice Exceptionality”

BVGT is partnering with Mackintosh to host gifted guru Patty Gatto Walden. She will present on taking a holistic view of twice exceptionality helping parents grasp common issues like processing speed, working memory and executive function – sharing the impacts and issues from a child’s internal perspective.  

  • March 17, 2015 
  • Mackintosh Academy 

Annual Membership Meeting 

Elections will take place electronically the week before the meeting.  Please come to the meeting to help plan for the 2015-2016 year.

  • May 14th

2013-2014


October 2013

P. Susan Jackson, MA, RCC,  “Resilient, Calm and Deeply Engaged: 27 Strategies to Promote Optimal Well-Being in Our Brilliant, Intense, and Asynchronous Kids” 


November 2013

“What Gifted Kids Want You To Know: Understanding Your Gifted Child From The Inside Out”

presented by BVGT board member and nationally recognized, licensed psychologist Dr. Patty Gatto Walden.


April 2014

Jim Webb PH.D, ABPP-CL, “The Search for Meaning”

The topic was Webb’s latest book “Searching for Meaning: Idealism, Bright Minds, Disillusionment, and Hope”. You can see the slides from his presentation, including 13 Healthy Coping Styles for gifted individuals who are “Searching For Meaning”.


December 2013, January 2014 & March 2014

Catherine Zakoian, MA, LPC – “Sanctuary for the Gifted Child”

  • Session One: “The Empathic Gifted Child”
  • Session Two: “The Gifted Child in the Contemporary World”
  • Session Three: “Relationships and the Gifted Empathic Child”

March, 2014

Annette Sheely, MA – “Friends for Life”

How gifted children make and keep friends and the difficulties associated, presented by . See the slides from “Friends For Life” here.


See what you missed – our events and speakers from the 2011-12 school year and from the 2012-13 school year.

BVGT has hosted many excellent events and speakers over the past four years, including Temple Grandin, Jim Delisle, Congressman Jared Polis, Linda Silverman and Jonathan Mooney.  See past speakers.

BVGT Speaker Videos

As speakers allow we will record the program and post it here.


Today’s Technology and Gifted Students: What Parents Need to Know

https://youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries%3Flist%3DPLt77T9LooALGOlYsDR4JygPtZXr0CB8AD

Brian Housand presents Today’s Technology and Gifted StudentsIf growing up in a digital age is challenging, parenting in one is even more difficult. With unprecedented access to technology that changes daily, children are being asked to grow up in a world where the digital footprint that they create today has the potential to follow them forever. Does limiting their access to technology protect them or unwittingly place them at a deficit? This session will equip parents with tools and strategies to empower and engage gifted kids, tweens, and teens in the global digital world.


Gifted and Teenage, Too:  Striking the right balance at home and school 

Dr. Jim Delisle presents  Gifted and Teenage, too.  Intellectually gifted students have many academic strengths. However, they are also teenagers, intent on enjoying their brief years as adolescents with all the zeal they can muster. School is important, but so are friends, fun and everything electronic.  How do you, as parents, and they, as students, balance the rigors of school life with the need for relaxation and personal growth?  Come learn about some strategies and attitudes that will help make your gifted teen’s life fulfilling–academically, socially and emotionally.


Understanding and Nurturing the ESSENCE of Adolescents and Teens.

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is an internationally acclaimed NY Times best-selling author, award-winning educator, and child psychiatrist.  He is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Siegel focuses on the emerging minds of 12 to 24-year-olds and how the brain develops.

Boulder Valley Gifted & Talented along with Bixby School, Boulder Country Day School, Boulder Valley School District,   Broomfield Academy, Jarrow Montesori School, Hillside School, Mackintosh Academy,  Parent Engagement Network, Watershed School, and Where There Be Dragons sponsored  this talk with Dr. Daniel Siegel at Fairview High School on April 8, 2015


Taming The Worry Monster – Anxiety In Gifted Children

Practical advice for children and adults who struggle with worry and anxiety in their daily life.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UvIthnrBz10
Dr. Dan Peters, co-author of the book Raising Creative Kids, gives practical and effective techniques for managing and overcoming anxiety. Peters’ 90 minute presentation for Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented, “Taming the Worry Monster:  Anxiety In Gifted Children”, shows how gifted learners are often vulnerable to, and impacted by, anxiety, worrying, obsessing, perfectionism, and social and generalized anxiety. Along with this BVGT presentation in Boulder, Colorado, Peters also talked with counselors and TAG advisors in the Boulder Valley School District. This presentation, “Taming The Worry Monster”, is copyrighted by Dan Peters, PhD and used here by permission.

View/download the slides from “Taming The Worry Monster”.


Perfectionism And Gifted

Find out what perfectionism is, where it comes from, and how to encourage excellence without seeming to require perfection.

Thomas S. Greenspon, Ph.D., a Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Greenspon is past co-president of the Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented (MCGT), and is the recipient of the MCGT Award for Distinguished Service to Gifted Individuals. Tom is the author of Moving Past Perfect: How Perfectionism May Be Holding Back Your Kids (and You!) and What You Can Do About It, from Free Spirit Publishing.


How To Develop A Vibrant Local Gifted Community

A training/practical application video from a BVGT presentation at the NAGC Convention

What started as a handful of people gathered around a dining room table grew in a few short years to a well-run organization that regularly hosts events that draw hundreds of people interested in gifted. In this video, board members of Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented (BVGT) tell how to form and sustain a vibrant local gifted/talented organization comprised of parents, educators, and administrators. Hear about the positive and challenging experiences; how a gifted/talented organization finds its unique place in the community of public, private and charter schools; how to form partnerships and relationships with schools districts and parent organizations; how to stage events; and ways to communicate and interact with members and prospective members. Recorded November 2012 at the NAGC Convention in Denver.