This past weekend, Bridges 2e Center for Research and Professional Development hosted the . I had the honor and privilege of attending its Super Sunday program, which offered a diverse range of presentations by leading experts in the field of Gifted and Twice-Exceptional research, advocacy, talent development and education. While not the full picture of the many wonderful conversations I had with new and familiar faces, here are a few highlights of the people, places and presentations that I learned from at this special event.

Susan G. Assouline, Ph.D. is a research, scholar and director of the at the University of Iowa, as well as 2019 2e Hall of Fame inductee. Her presentation, The Paradox of Twice Exceptionality: Unlocking the Door to Talent Development, introduced psychoeducational implications of clinically-based research with twice-exceptional individuals, as well as interdisciplinary research aims of neuroscientists, educators, computational geneticists and clinicians to help unlock and celebrate talent development.

Rick Olenchak currently serves as Head of the Educational Studies Department, Professor of Educational Psychology & Research Methodology, and Professor in the at Purdue University. His presentation, Twice-Exceptional Persons, the 21st Century, and Lifespan Development as Viewed through an Affective Lens, emphasized the importance of socio-emotional development on all other development, and as it relates to Affect Development areas of need on the Bull鈥檚 Eye Model, including Natural Affect, World Context, Meta-Affect and Personal Affect.

Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli established the University of Connecticut鈥檚 annual with Professor Sally Reis, with whom he is also a co-founder of the Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy in Hartford, Connecticut. He received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award for Innovation in Education, considered by many to be 鈥渢he Nobel鈥� for educators and was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and Talented. His presentation, A Curriculum Enrichment Infusion Process for Jazzing Up The Standards Driven Curriculum, introduced guiding steps to incorporate higher-level thinking skills, creativity training activities and application of skills into curricular content.

Sally M. Reis, Ph.D. holds the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair in Educational Psychology at the and is past-president of NAGC, co-director of Confratute, and former Vice Provost of Academic Affairs at University of Connecticut. Honored as a 2019 2e Hall of Fame inductee, her presentation, From Deficits to Strengths: Past and Present Turning Points on 2E Students and the Education They Deserve emphasized the need for presenting each individual with challenging learning that is strength-based, that enhances interests and task development, and that results in a positive reaction to challenges

Ann Smith is Executive Director of and serves as Past-President for the California Association for the Gifted, on the advisory board for the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, on the Editorial Board for the Gifted Education Communicator, on the Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee for the USC/US Department of Education Jacob Javits Grant, Project CHANGE, and on a Public Policy Committee for the Institute for Educational Advancement. is an interdisciplinary language arts curriculum created by Gifted Support Center that uses poetry and music to engage across disciplines for PreK through 8th-grade students. The Leave Your Sleep for Educational Project: How an interdisciplinary curriculum can help 2e learners be recognized for their gifts, introduced non-negotiable elements of an interdisciplinary language arts curriculum that is designed to provide opportunities for sustained engagement and talent development.

We look forward to incorporating many of the takeaways from these fantastic presentations into the programs at 优蜜视频. 

For more resources for 2e students,

If I had asked seventh grade Esther An where she was going to be in three years, she probably wouldn鈥檛 have eagerly responded with, 鈥淲allingford, Connecticut.” Actually, even the suggestion
of anywhere outside the city of Los Angeles, California, where I was born and raised, would have been met with incredulousness.

But, somehow, I find myself writing in a dorm room almost 3,000 miles away from where I imagined I鈥檇 be, in the midst of fall term at Choate Rosemary Hall. When I look back on the events that led me here, they originate, inevitably, from the . The short version: CDB completely opened up my world.

More specifically, though, I remember walking into my CDB interview as if it was yesterday, as well as my distinct feeling that I could talk with Bonnie and Brianna forever. Leaving the gorgeous green offices in Pasadena that day, I was overwhelmed by their warmth, love and kindness.

I was over the moon when I joined this community because, as I began to meet fellow Scholars and parents, I realized that this feeling of connection, of finding my people, only got stronger. Our network is incredibly diverse, but each and every person is connected in the way that they鈥檙e some of the most generous, inspirational and passionate people I鈥檝e had the privilege to meet. For me, that鈥檚 been the most unique aspect of this whole experience. CDB has allowed me not only to broaden my horizons and take on challenges I couldn鈥檛 have previously imagined, but also to find my favorite people.

I honestly can鈥檛 believe there was a time when I didn鈥檛 know them, especially my wonderful friends at Choate. Everything I鈥檝e shared with my peers has shaped me: working through computer science with Lucas, contemplating the meaning of life and how one can understand the inner workings of an Arduino with Aarthi, making it through a flight to Kentucky with Anna, discussing the importance of faith during a cross country run with Emma, getting a 鈥減ing鈥� from Sam, being awed by one of Kathy鈥檚 brilliant solutions to a math problem and listening to Bekah鈥檚 invaluable advice when I鈥檓 unsure of what I鈥檓 doing 鈥� I could go on and on about how special these people are to me and how much I love them.

It鈥檚 really no surprise that traveling across the country hasn鈥檛 been the only drastic change I鈥檝e welcomed these past few years. CDB has empowered me with the will and grit to try and discover myself. With the support of the amazing people at 优蜜视频, I鈥檝e thrown myself headfirst into new expeditions. From starting and sticking with Choate to taking black-and-white film photography to learning dance and to joining a hack-a-thon, CDB鈥檚 incredible community has taught me that there鈥檚 nothing I can鈥檛 learn or grow from. I鈥檝e also realized that I have a lot to be grateful for. I鈥檓 so lucky to be a member of this fabulous group.

If there鈥檚 one thing CDB has taught me, it鈥檚 that the unknown isn鈥檛 so scary when our community 鈥� our family 鈥� is with you on your journey, every step of the way. My dearest hope is to be the kind of person who can give back to the world all of the blessings I鈥檝e been gifted.

The application for the 2019 Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship is now open! Visit the for more information and to apply.

When I first began working with gifted kids in 1978, I had no idea that I’d still be doing so 36 years later. Those first gifted 4th-5th graders I taught in Stafford Springs, Connecticut are now closer to their retirements than their college graduations. That should make me feel old (OK鈥 am old!), but thanks to a decision I made more than 20 years ago, my vitality remains. That decision?: to never be more than a week away from teaching gifted kids.

My career trajectory led me from the elementary classroom to the college lecture hall, a much easier place to teach. There are no parent phone calls to return while teaching college, and discipline problems are minimal. Still, I found something lacking in teaching my graduate students. It wasn’t that they weren’t sincere in wishing to earn their degrees, it’s just that they were all so鈥redictable. And if there’s one thing I learned while teaching gifted kids, it was that predictability was not a quality that many of them possessed. “Quirky” (yes, that would fit), “spontaneous” (鈥aybe that’s why I could never get through my intended lesson without several student-led detours) and “intense” (couldn’t any of them, just once, practice the fine art of intellectual moderation?). The longer I worked with gifted kids and teens, the more I came to appreciate that the vigor they displayed while engaged in learning something new and relevant had an unexpected impact on me–their excitement became a non-prescription elixir that served as my personal fountain of youth. Thanks to gifted kids, I may look my age, yet I neither think nor act it. Thanks to gifted kids, I feel like Peter Pan.

If they’re lucky, parents of gifted kids retain this same degree of youth when they interact with their children. I mean how can you not giggle out loud when your 4-year-old daughter asks, “If butter melts yellow, and chocolate melts brown, why doesn’t snow melt white?” It’s a perfectly fine question, based on observational data your gifted kid picked up simply by being alert to the world. The answer to this question may evade you, but just the thought that someone so young has so much intellectual power and curiosity helps keep you mentally robust and alert. And how about when your 15-year-old son wants to engage you in an “oxymoron contest”, with some of his entries being “cafeteria food”, “authentic replicas”, “bigger half” and “Congressional wisdom”. Even if you can’t top these “instant classics” (another oxymoron), the banter between the two of you is bound to make you feel younger than your years.

Three and a half decades of gifted kids have introduced me to countless characters who have changed–indeed, enhanced–my life. I continue to cling to my youth today by doing part-time teaching of highly gifted 9th graders who are enrolled in college and by serving as a “Fellow” at 优蜜视频’s camp every July, working with gifted 10-14 year olds at a YMCA camp in Michigan. Yeah, my soon-to-be-ancient bones ache when the alarm rings at 5:15 a.m. so I can get to school on time, and sleeping on a plastic-covered camp bed does little to enhance my burgeoning arthritis, yet underneath these physical discomforts remains one of the best feelings in the world: a continuing connection to gifted kids who keep my spirit alive and well.

Seek your own eternal youth: surround yourself with as many gifted kids as you can find.

About Jim Delisle:

Jim Delisle serves on the Board of Directors of 优蜜视频 and interacts with gifted kids frequently. His upcoming book, Dumbing Down America: The War on Our Nation’s Most Capable Youth, will be published in August, 2014.

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