[Ohiogift] Davidson Institute eNews-Update: May 2020

Thu May 14 15:57:58 EDT 2020

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| Everyone: As a leader in distance learning and other options for gifted and talented students in this unsettled academic environment, Davidson Institute offers several tips (below) on better serving the advanced student. This information should help students, parents and teachers stay on task in the weeks and months ahead. Please share this message with colleagues and others affected by the transition to distance learning. - Art Snyder, artsnyder44 at cs.com
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May 2020
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|  Check out the new Davidson Gifted Blog!  |

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In the News
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The Society for Science & the Public (SSP) will be hosting a virtual Regeneron ISEF program May 18-22. SSP and Regeneron will celebrate the scientific community with the Virtual #RegeneronISEF, a free event featuring top scientists, including Nobel Laureates, and influential entrepreneurs!  |

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|  The top high schools in the U.S. have been ranked in the 2020 Jay Mathews Challenge Index. Mathews, a long-time writer for the Washington Post, also includes a separate Public Elites List, because, "despite their exceptional quality, their admission rules and standardized test scores indicate they have few or no average students". The Davidson Academy was included on this list!   |

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|  Supporting Advanced Learners: New Roles for Parent Advocates During Times of Remote Learning - "The best outcomes for children happen when educators and parents work together to embrace opportunities and address challenges for meeting advanced learning needs." (NAGC)

My Future...What Now? Teens talk about moving forward in our challenging times with Dr. Jim Delisle - Dr. Jim Delisle took part in a group discussion with a number of gifted teens. (Gifted Development Center)

Preparing for Post-Pandemic Recovery - This episode, featuring Christine Fonseca, author of Healing the heart: Helping Your Child Thrive After Trauma, delves into the trauma aspect. How will we respond to the pressure to venture out? How will the human species be affected, changed, challenged? (Mind Matters Podcast)

Empathy and Perspective-Building: Why We Need it Now More than Ever - This episode offers tip on how to cultivate empathy in our students and the importance and power of parenting from a place of empathy. (TiLT Parenting Podcast)

Growing up Gifted and Generation Z: A Problem with Compassion? - "Compassion is taking action guided by one’s cognitive and emotional empathy. Compassion is the doing something part of empathetic feelings." (NAGC)  |

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|  Want more Doctor Faucis? Ensure that smart kids get educated, too. - "If America’s fate thirty years from now ends up relying on the small population of mostly-privileged smart kids whose parents can get them into elite public and private schools and supply auxiliary programs and opportunities that challenge and fulfill them intellectually, we won’t have nearly enough of the experts that we’ll need." (Fordham Institute)

Virtual Instruction for Gifted Students - A list of helpful tips to service gifted learners with remote instruction. (NAGC)

Five essential guidelines for helping your child during this global crisis - Basic guidelines for providing realistic and attuned support. (Gifted Challenges)

Teaching gifted students at home - "Once a system for self-directed learning is in place, children will learn to work on their own, leaving parents the time to focus on other responsibilities." (Dominion Post)

Keep Engaging and Challenging Advanced Learners - Guidance for educators to engage and challenge students when teaching remotely. (NAGC)

Psychologist Dr. Dan Peters on Navigating the Teen Years and Preparing for Launch (TiLT Parenting Podcast)  |

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|  COVID-19 and Anxiety in Gifted Children - "Gifted students are among the problem-solvers of the future, and there are role models they can be learning from right now." (NAGC)

Thoughts on Parenting Differently Wired Kids Through a Pandemic - Host Debbie Reber shares thoughts and ideas for contemplation surrounding parenting differently wired children through the coronavirus pandemic. (TiLT Parenting Podcast)

Gifted Boys - Behind the Mask of Masculinity - "There are social, academic, and personal obstacles inherent to boys, and when you add other features like giftedness, things can get complicated. How can we help boys understand social expectations, and learn to be themselves, often in spite of those expectations?" (Mind Matters Podcast)

New York Legislative Updates:
Despite efforts to make New York City gifted education programs more inclusive and fair to all students, disparities in admissions remain. However, some high-performing New York City middle schools have made diversity gains. Source: New York Daily News

More than 360 Staten Island students are currently eligible to apply for a Gifted & Talented seat for the 2020-2021 school year. Students entering kindergarten through third grade can qualify to participate. Source: SI Live  |

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Davidson Updates
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Davidson Academy - One School. Two Campuses.
The Davidson Academy offers two educational options specifically designed to meet the needs of profoundly gifted students – an online campus for those living anywhere in the U.S. and Canada and a school on the University of Nevada, Reno campus for local residents. Both options are centered on a rigorous academic environment where students thrive among their intellectual peers. Academy classes are grouped by ability rather than by age, providing profoundly gifted students an educational opportunity matched to their abilities, strengths and interests.  |

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Online Campus
Many families are adjusting to homeschooling or learning at home in an online environment for the first time in response to the evolving COVID-19 situation. For those considering online learning for the first time, the Davidson Academy's online campus is a proven leader in educating our nation's brightest students from the safety and comfort of their own homes.

What sets the Davidson Academy online campus apart from other online schools for gifted students? Our mission to provide profoundly gifted young people an advanced educational opportunity matched to their abilities, strengths and interests. Nowhere else will profoundly gifted students find a school that is intentionally designed for them. Our courses and extracurriculars are conduits to support students with their social and emotional development. Learn more about our Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) >

Applications for 2021-2022 will open in August. How to Apply >  |

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Reno Campus
For more than a decade, the Davidson Academy’s free, accredited Reno campus has centered on interpersonal and instructional dynamics creating an atmosphere that is vibrant with intellectual energy and dialogue. As the school has grown, the Academy has evolved to offer an increasing amount of opportunities, while still providing a laser-sharp focus on the individual student.

Getting Started >
Student Insights >  |

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Davidson Young Scholars
The national Davidson Young Scholars program provides FREE services designed to nurture the intellectual, social, emotional, and academic development of profoundly intelligent young people between the ages of 5 and 18 (students must be between the ages of 5 and 16 when applying). Benefits of the program include:   
   - Consulting Services
   - An Online Community
   - In-person Connections
   - Community Service Endeavors
   - Summer Programs (fee-based)
Read success stories to see how the Young Scholars program has helped make a difference in the lives of these students. The application deadline is the first of each month.  |

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On the Web
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New Davidson Gifted Blog
The new Davidson Gifted Blog covers topics ranging from Advanced Placement, differentiation, parenting self-care, and more! Recent posts include:   
   - Differentiation through Tiered Lessons
   - Parenting Self-Care 101
   - Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate - Which is Best for Gifted Students?
Check it out today!

Featured Articles & Resources
The Davidson Gifted Database features articles, resources and state policies to help students, parents and educators pinpoint gifted information:   
   - Resource: ABCs of Raising Smarter Kids: Hundreds of Ways to Inspire Your Child - In this book, gifted education expert Dr. Joanne Foster reveals ways to help kids thrive. 
   - Article: Homeschooling Tips for Parents of Kids With Special Needs - Understanding the consequences, setting yourself up for success, and more.
   - Resource: Math Problem Solving Skills - Tutoring for students who are preparing for math contests like MathCounts and AMC.
   - Article: Online Coding Program Comparison - This chart provides a comparison of the most popular online coding programs for students.
   - Article: What Colleges Look For in High School Students - View 2020 findings of what college admission experts determine that colleges want to see in their applicants.
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Student Spotlight
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Davidson Fellows Combating Infectious Diseases
"Want more Doctor Faucis? Ensure that smart kids get educated, too." reads the headline of a recent Fordham Institute article. 

 "(COVID-19) highlights a set of students that’s so far receiving no special attention that I can spot: gifted and talented youngsters and their need for acceleration, enrichment and advancement designed to make the most of their abilities," said Chester E. Finn, Jr. of the Fordham Institute. "So let’s keep all those other smart out-of-school kids in the forefront of today’s education concerns, too."

The Davidson Fellows Scholarship sets out to do just that, awarding $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 scholarships to extraordinary young people, 18 and under, who have completed a significant piece of work. Application categories are Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Literature, Music, Philosophy and Outside the Box. 

Through the years, a number of Fellows have developed research specifically related to fighting infectious diseases, which is very much top of mind throughout the current pandemic. These Fellows' projects are highlighted below.  |

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|  Madeleine Yang - 2019 Davidson Fellow
"My project is to search for a universal influenza vaccine that will offer greater protection and shorter production timeframes compared to conventional egg or cell-based methods. One reason for the flu vaccine’s inefficacy is the traditional egg-based platform, which has a 6 to 9 month production time. During that time, viral mutations lead to vaccine inefficiency, and the need for hundreds of millions of chicken eggs make the method unequipped to handle pandemics.

"Our approach is to incorporate the highly conserved influenza matrix protein M2 into the engineered virus-like particles (VLPs), eliminating the usage of eggs and enabling a shorter timeframe and a larger scale of production."  |

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|  Rahul Subramaniam - 2018 Davidson Fellow
"The main impact of my project is enabling health workers to rapidly quarantine and isolate areas that could be harboring Zika virus. It works by detecting Zika virus in live mosquito populations in real time, so it can tell you almost immediately if a certain area is carrying Zika virus or not. My system is a major improvement on this turnaround time. 

"All of this allows health workers to evacuate areas immediately and prevent people from getting infected with the virus by targeting its most crucial vector. It also enables health agencies to concentrate their more detailed tests (such as PCR) on only the regions that are suspected of containing Zika virus instead of spreading these resources over large areas."  |

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|  Eric Chen - 2014 Davidson Fellow
Eric’s science project, “Computer-Aided Discovery of Novel Anti-Flu Drug Candidates to Fight Pandemics,” combined computational modeling and simulation with biological and structural studies to speed the discovery of new flu medicine. Eric was able to find several new influenza inhibitors to a number of flu targets, which show promise for development into real medicine or even a combination therapy, which could prevent viral resistance. The 2009 outbreak of swine flu caught Eric’s attention, and his interest and concern grew as he learned more about the various flu strains and potential for the next pandemic.  |

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|  “While we navigate the coronavirus outbreak and grapple with our own reactions and fears, we also have to address our children's needs. This requires more than just the basics, like managing their time, finding indoor activities, and offering reassurance. Children need direct, clear, and meaningful guidance, in line with their developmental level and their capacity to digest complex and emotionally charged information.”

--Dr. Gail Post, Gifted Challenges Blog  |

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|  If you have information to include in a future newsletter, please contact us at administrator at davidsongifted.org.

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 Davidson Institute for Talent Development
 Supporting our nation's brightest young minds
 Reno, Nevada
 DavidsonGifted.org
 administrator at davidsongifted.org

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