Speaker Series
CGA supports parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators in Coppell by bringing in experts - authors, researchers, educators, and counselors - to talk about giftedness and how we can better address the needs of gifted children. The Speaker Series is open to the public. There will be no charge for CGA members, $5 for non members. Join now!
Monday, September 15, 2008 at 7:00pm at Coppell High School -- 2008 - 2009 Speaker Series Kickoff
Parenting Your Gifted Child: Hints, Suggestions, and Well-Kept Secrets
A Panel Discussion featuring:
Marilyn Swanson, SMU Gifted Students Institute
Joel McIntosh, President and Publisher, Prufrock Press – Gifted Books and Resources
Todd Kettler, Coppell ISD Director of Advanced Academics
2007 - 2008 Speakers
May 12, 2008 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Karen Phillips, Executive Director Texas International Baccalaureate Schools
Karen Phillips began her International Baccalaureate experience in 1995 as IB Coordinator for the Round Rock Independent School District and served in that capacity through 2002. In January of 2004, she became the Executive Director for Texas IB Schools. Her first experience in assisting schools with the application process occurred during the 1998-1999 school year. Since that time she has assisted more than 30 schools through the application and implementation process for the Diploma, Middle Years, and Primary Years programs. In addition to assisting schools with the IB application process, she also works with teachers to align other programs in a variety of formats such as Advanced Placement and Gifted/Talented strategies with International Baccalaureate. She currently serves on the state Commissioner’s Advisory Council for Gifted Education and has past experience serving on other state committees.
April 2, 2008 - CGA General Meeting - Introduction of CISD Board Candidates and Guest Speaker Todd Kettler, CISD Director of Advanced Academics
Todd Kettler gave the status on the progress and direction of GT programming.
The 2008 school board candidates - Thom Hulme, Scott Orr, Steven Smith - introduced themselves. Watch for their responses to CGA's questions in our next newsletter.
Tracy Fisher, CGA President, briefed the audience on the organization's past activities and future goals.
February 18, 2008 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Dr.Tracy Cross, Ph.D., Ball State University - "How Students Cope With the Pressures of Being Gifted: From Underachievement to…"
Tracy Cross, PhD., is the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Gifted Children. He has directed gifted children in a residential school setting for many years and will share first hand knowledge and experience about the social and emotional development of students with gifts and talents. He is a highly respected expert in the field due to his vast research and success working with the gifted. He is the Associate Dean of Teachers College at Ball State University, Muncie, IN. , Former Executive Director of The Indiana Academy of Science, Mathematics, and Humanities, a state-supported residential school for academically gifted adolescents, and Professor of Educational Psychology in Teachers College at Ball State University
January 14, 2008 - CGA General Meeting with guest
speaker Dr. Susan Johnsen, Ph.D., Baylor University - "Guiding without Taking Over: A Parent’s Role
in Independent Study"
Susan K. Johnsen, Ph. D., is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Baylor University. She directs the Ph. D. Program
and programs related to gifted and talented education. She is past-president of the Texas Association for Gifted and Talented. She has written over 200 articles, monographs,
technical reports, and books related to gifted education. She is a frequent presenter at international, national, and state conferences. She is editor of Gifted Child Today and
serves on the editorial boards of Gifted Child Quarterly and Journal for Secondary Gifted Education. She is the author of Identifying Gifted Students: A Practical Guide; co-author
of the Independent Study Program and three tests that are used in identifying gifted students: Test of Mathematical Abilities for Gifted Students (TOMAGS), Test of Nonverbal
Intelligence (TONI-3), and Screening Assessment for Gifted Students (SAGES-2).
October 24, 2007 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Dr. Robert A. Schultz - "
Challenges of the Gifted Child at Home and at School"Dr. Bob Schultz was recently interviewed in the August 2007 cover article of Time Magazine titled “Are We Failing Our Geniuses?” The article discusses Gifted Learners at the Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada and provides a glimpse into the type of curriculum work implemented with Highly/Profoundly Gifted students.
Dr. Schultz teaches courses in gifted education, curriculum theory, qualitative research and middle grades philosophy, methods and practice. His work addresses the social and
emotional needs of gifted individuals including teacher education, individualization, and program evaluation, design and delivery enhancing opportunities for critical learning
engagement in and beyond classrooms. Research interests include underachievement, perfectionism, the phenomenology of gifted individuals’ lived experience, visual sociology,
teacher education praxis, and interactional discourse analysis.
September 17, 2007 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker
Tracy WeinbergThe Coppell Gifted Association kicked off its 2007-2008 Speaker Series by hosting Tracy Weinberg, Associate Director of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT).
This presentation covered information on understanding and successfully living with gifted youth. Highlights included a review of some of the myths surrounding gifted students’ social and emotional needs, a look at five differing levels of giftedness, and an introduction to the intensities that are often part of the nature of gifted youth.
Weinberg has been the Associate Director of the TAGT since 2000. In this role, he serves as the association’s educational specialist, organizing parent and educator conferences and advocating for gifted youth at both state and local levels. He has more than 20 years experience as a teacher, ranging from pre-school to university settings. He spent many of these years as a gifted program coordinator/teacher (at both the school and district levels), often teaching English and/or History at the junior high school level. He has coached Texas Future Problem Solving, Odyssey of the Mind, Academic Pentathlon, and Mathcounts. He is a former board member of the San Marcos Advocates for Gifted Education.
He is married to Joan Nagel, an elementary school art teacher; they are the proud parents of a gifted daughter, who is an aspiring actress and a first-year college student. In his spare time, Tracy is a musician and songwriter, performing irregularly with several bands.
The handout of his presentation is available here.
2006 - 2007 Speakers
April 30, 2007 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Dr. Michael F. Sayler
Michael Sayler, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Technology and Cognition and is an Associate Dean for the College of Education. He serves on the placement committee for the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS) at UNT. Dr. Sayler has served in leadership positions for many national and state gifted education groups.
A copy of his presentation is available here.
March 27, 2007 - CGA General Meeting - Introduction of CISD Board Candidates and Guest Speaker Rick Peters
Raymond F. “Rick” Peters is currently serving on the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented Board as Immediate Past President. He was previously TAGT’s State Parent of the Year. He and his wife Mary have been active for many years in working to improve public education for gifted students. They have two sons who benefited from the gifted program in HEBISD.
Rick is a Systems Engineer Principal at Lockheed Martin and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He served in the U. S. Navy and earned degrees from Baylor, UT Austin and UT Arlington. He has also been active on other educational, civic, church, and professional boards and committees.
January 30, 2007 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Dr. Kimberly Tyler - “Being a Catalyst for Your Gifted Child”
Dr. Kimberly Tyler provided parents with information and resources to aid them in nurturing their gifted child socially, emotionally, and academically. Parents had an opportunity to identify and share common issues pertaining to raising a gifted child. Major topics included the unique characteristics and needs of these children, talent development, school programs, and advocacy.
Dr. Kimberly Tyler is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at Texas Wesleyan University. Before moving to higher education, she spent 14 years teaching in public schools, including seven years overseas with the Department of Defense Educational Activity. Dr. Tyler earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Louisiana State University and a Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She did her doctoral work at the College of William and Mary where she earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership with an emphasis in Gifted Administration. She has given numerous presentations for state and national organizations as well as for parent groups and school districts.
November 6, 2006 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Kathleen Fischer
The presentation covered social/emotional traits of giftedness; video clips offering common misconceptions; considerations of how social/emotional traits help and harm high ability kids; and strategies for working with kids to fulfill their personal needs along with their talents.
August 30 - CGA General Meeting with guest speaker Todd Kettler
Todd Kettler is the CISD Director of Advanced Academics. The outline of his presentation is available here.