We Need Help!
Did you know that all of our parent education meetings, Super Saturday's, MS activities, and field trips are planned and coordinated by parents like you? In order to continue providing these programs for you and your children, we need your help! Please become involved in your child's education by volunteering with the Adams 12 GT Parents Group.
info@a12gifted.org to find out how you can help!
Stay Connected!
We are currently looking for new members to join our Leadership Team this fall. The Leadership Team
meets monthly during the school year to learn about
GT resources and updates, provide support for the
Adams 12 GT Parents Group, and plan events for
Adams 12 GT families. This is a great way to become
more involved, to connect with other GT parents, and to support our community.
If you would like to know more about the group or would like to participate in event planning, please consider joining us at our next leadership meeting on September 2 at 6:30pm. Get the details and RSVP here. For more information or for questions, you can email us at info@a12gifted.org.
NEWS and EVENTS
News
Coming Soon!
Tuesday, September 14, 6:30-8pm
Educational Support Center, 1500 E 128th Ave, Thornton
Adams 12 High School Specialty Program Panel Discussion
Our first parent education meeting of the year will be a panel discussion of the specialty programs offered by Adams 12 high schools, including Horizon’s SOAR, Legacy’s Legacy 2000, Mountain Range’s High School of Business, and Northglenn’s STEM Pathways. These are excellent programs for high-achieving students in the district, but unfortunately many families may be unaware of these opportunities. Please join us on September 14 at 6:30pm for a panel discussion where staff and student representatives from the individual programs will give a broad overview of their program mission and application process. Our hope is that you will come away from this discussion with a better idea of what program might be a good fit for your student and how to proceed. Each of these schools provides a more in-depth information session later in the fall where interested students and parents can hear more details about the program. While students generally apply for a specialty program in their 8th grade year, this parent meeting is for any family interested in learning more, even if your student is still in elementary school!
Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT)
If you are looking for more information on the gifted, you can find all of the recordings of past Conversations with CAGT on their website. You will find presentations from the best in the field of gifted education on a wide range of topics such as social emotional health, equity in gifted education, twice-exceptional learners, and more! This is a real treasure trove of information so please check it out!
The Adams 12 GT Parents Group is an affiliate of CAGT, and we encourage all parents of GT students to consider joining CAGT. With your membership, you will receive the quarterly Kaleidoscope newsletter as well as the monthly Happenings update on GT activities around the state. Your membership fee supports CAGT's work to educate and advocate on issues important to the GT community and a portion of membership fees from our district comes back to the parent group, enabling us to provide enrichment opportunities directly to you.
NAGC is coming to Denver!
The annual convention for the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) will be held in Denver on November 11-14, 2021. Registration is open now and we will be sharing more information as the event draws closer.
During the NAGC Convention, CAGT will be holding their annual student art contest and the selected art submissions will be displayed in the convention hallways at Gaylord of the Rockies where convention attendees can view and vote on them. If you have a gifted artist, summer is the perfect time for them to start working on their submission. You can find more details and rules for the contest HERE.
Featured Resources
Parent Education Speaker
Identification and Support of our 2e Students
In February, we had a wonderful presentation by Sarina Compoz from the Colorado Dept. of Ed. on twice-exceptional (2e) students and how we can support their learning. Lynn Saltzgaver, our director of gifted services, and Dr. Terri Lucero from Peak Exceptional Services also joined to help answer parent questions. If you were not able to attend, you can view the recording from the event and some other resources below.
List of Dr. Lucero's Favorite 2e Resources
Our Favorite FREE Online Games
With so many restrictions on in-person gatherings, we are likely to find ourselves spending more time at home with our families. If you are looking for some fun games to keep your GT student engaged at home, try one of these! If you find a great online game, please share it with us at info@a12gifted.org. Have fun playing!
We created our own digital escape room game in Spring 2020. Give it a try with your family or friends. It was created for middle school students, so it will be challenging for younger students.
Where on Google Earth is Carmen SanDiego?
Did you play Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego as a kid? This version of the popular 1980's computer game uses Google Earth to virtually travel all over the world, tracking the suspects by following clues based on world landmarks, flags, currencies, and foods.
Your student may have played one of these lock and combination puzzle games in school. Now you can play a virtual version of a BreakoutEDU game. They have a selection of free games for both elementary and middle school students.
In this escape-style game, you are a student about to begin your first year at Hogwarts. You make a new friend but she mysteriously disappears! Can you find out what happened to her?
If you'd like to try another Harry Potter themed escape room, try the Hogwarts Digital Escape Room.
Night at the Museum Digital Escape Room
Virtually explore Chicago's Field Museum to answer questions, find your code, and escape!
Do you enjoy Sudoku and logic puzzles? Try some of these puzzles set up around the classic whodunit theme!
Calling All Board Game Enthusiasts!
If you are looking for games but are tired of screens, check out our NEW section of board game recommendations under our Resource page! As we are heading into the holiday season and spending more time at home, a new board game can be a great way to spend some quality time with family. If you have a board game that you love, please share it with us on our Board Game Recommendation Form. We'll add new recommendations to our collection as we receive them.
VIRTUAL Friends & Family Scavenger Hunt
Welcome to our first ever Virtual Scavenger Hunt event! This is meant to be a no-stress, fun event to encourage some outside nature time along with a little virtual GT community building. The concept is pretty simple: we give you a suggested list of items in nature to find and you look for them when you are out and about. In order to share your finds, we’ve created this Padlet where you can post pictures of your finds and view the results from others in our community. To get started, take a look at the link below and you’ll find instructions as well as the list of items for your hunt. You are highly encouraged to get creative with your answers and have fun with this game! We can’t wait to see what you find!
Gifted and Talented Leaders of Color and Allies
Sesion Informativa sobre Dotados y Talentosos
Gifted and Talented Leaders of Color and Allies formed in 2019 to connect and support Educators and Families of Color within the field of GT education. You can find more information about them group on their Facebook page.
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We are always interested in feedback, new ideas and concerns. Feel free to provide any thoughts that you would like to share below. An email will be sent to the A12GT Parents Group.
Hello and welcome! Thank you for taking the time to visit the Adams 12 GT Parents Group website. This website was built and is maintained by parents of GT students in the Adams 12 school district to share information relevant to parents, students, administrators or others who are interested in GT resources in the Adams 12 school district in Thornton, CO.
(The district serves students in Broomfield, Federal Heights, Northglenn,
Thornton and Westminster.) We will be working to continually update
the website with useful information.
Please email us at info@a12gifted.org to let us know your thoughts.
Joanne Bliss
2021-2022 President, A12GTPG
Help your school stay in the know about district GT activities!
The school district and the A12GTPG will continue to build the "school liaison" program to strengthen communication to families and to build our GT community. Each liaison has the opportunity to join meetings during the school year where district staff, the A12GTPG and other Liaisons gather to discuss how to best bring resources to our schools, GT students and their families. Help us move forward GT programming in your school!
If you would like to know more about the group or would like to participate in event planning, please consider joining us at our next leadership meeting on September 2 at 6:30pm. Get the details and RSVP here. For more information or for questions, you can email us at info@a12gifted.org.
Apply for GT Resources for
Your School!
In order to support efforts to build GT community within Adams 12 Five Star Schools, last school year the Adams 12 GT Parents Group started a new program to provide small one-time grants for in-school GT programs or initiatives. Individuals within district schools (including Parent Volunteers, School GT Liaisons, GT Coordinators, or Teachers) applied for small grants (approximately $50-$250) to support GT programs in their school.
Congratultations go to Hulstrom K-8, Hunters Glen ES, and Stargate which were awarded grants in our spring 2020 cycle and to Meridian ES, Prairie Hills ES, and Thunder Vista K-8 which were awarded grants during our fall 2019 grant cycle! In the 2019-2020 school year $1500 in grants were awarded for GT programs and resources at this schools!
If you would like to find out how to apply for funding for GT programs at your school, email us at info@a12gifted.org.
BFF?
Learning about the GT world can mean learning a new language. To learn about common acronyms click...
You asked, we listened...
You asked for a list of current GT coordinators at each school. The District provided that list and we've added it to our website. Check it out here.
Community...
As the A12GTGP grows, we want to provide more ways to build the Adams 12 GT community. Social media is a great way to share with other parents your experiences, discovered opportunities for our kids and what you've learned as you raise your GT students. . Please visit our Facebook page at...
Special thanks to Lalaena Gonzalez-Figueroa for making the recommendation and volunteering to set up this site and be administration!