Pasadena, CA – 09/18/2024 – The Institute for Educational Advancement (������Ƶ), a national nonprofit dedicated to the intellectual, creative, and personal growth of the nation’s gifted and advanced learners, continues its 22-year tradition of providing fully funded high school scholarships to gifted eighth graders through the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship (CDB). The 26 recipients in the class of 2029 are offered the four-year high school scholarship to attend an optimally matched high school or individualized education program to help them work toward meeting their unique intellectual and personal goals. It is one of the few merit-based, need-blind scholarships of its kind in the United States. In addition to the tuition funding, each Scholar receives ongoing, personalized counseling and educational advocacy, and joins a lifelong network of their peers.

“Beyond the monetary support the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship provides, it also means these bright young minds will become part of the ������Ƶ community as they continue on their educational journey,” said Deborah Monroe, President, ������Ƶ. “We work closely with the students and their families to foster their lifelong love of learning and look forward to seeing how they develop their talents and share them with the world.”

Interested seventh grade students apply for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship and complete a rigorous portfolio application process, which includes essays, middle school transcripts, letters of recommendation, and a work sample. Eligible applicants must also achieve scores at the highest level on nationally normed standardized tests. Applications are reviewed by the Caroline D. Bradley selection committee, a diverse group of nationwide high school and university admissions directors, teachers and administrators, CDB alumni, community members, and business leaders.

“The potential this year’s class of Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship holds is limitless,” said Mallory Aldrich, Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Senior Program Manager at ������Ƶ. “They are innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders who have already made great impacts in their communities. I know that this scholarship will give them even more opportunities to expand their minds and lean into their curiosities and shape the world for the better.”

Over the course of the next several months, ������Ƶ staff, current CDB Scholars and CDB alumni will provide guidance and assistance to the entering class of 2029 Scholars as they begin to identify potential high school programs, complete applications, and prepare their individualized educational plans for next year’s high school entrance.

2029 Caroline D. Bradley Scholars:

• Brennan Bosita – Dallas, TX
• Sofia Castro – Downey, CA
• Caroline Gao – Milpitas, CA
• Gavin Gracey – Perry Hall, MD
• Leila Guillemet – Los Angeles, CA
• Ronald Hart III – Brambleton, VA
• Elijah Hurst – Riverside, CA
• Tina Jin – Cupertino, CA
• Olivia Kaiser – Fairhope, AL
• Reva Khaire – Charlotte, NC
• Elisha Lee – Wilmette, IL
• Atticus Lin – San Francisco, CA
• Nova Macknik-Conde – Brooklyn, NY
• Sebastian Mank – Warren, ME
• Tiger Maxu – Los Angeles, CA
• Clifford McCartney – Chicago, IL
• Carolyn Miller – Bellevue, WA
• Sam Pfeil – Malvern, PA
• Nicholas Pistun – Gainesville, VA
• Max Richmond – Royal Oak, MI
• Bowen Shan – Chandler, AZ
• Lexi Shaw – Gilbert, AZ
• Vivienne Stewart – Hermosa Beach, CA
• Maxim Swinton – Bergen County, NJ
• Ethan Leonard Wadley – Lithia Springs, GA
• Anna Yang – Austin, TX

Currently, there are over 300 alumni, many of whom have graduated from college and are in the workforce, attending graduate school or participating in international service and fellowship programs. The scholarship is generously funded by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

The application for the next class of Caroline D. Bradley Scholars will be available in the fall. 

About the Institute for Educational Advancement

The Institute for Educational Advancement (������Ƶ) is dedicated to the intellectual, creative, and personal growth of our nation’s gifted and high-potential youth. Central to the mission of ������Ƶ is a commitment to the development of the whole child through engaging educational experiences that promote optimal challenge, mentorship, exploration of ideas, and recognition of personal potential. ������Ƶ seeks to connect gifted individuals through dynamic and engaging year-round programming. Additionally, ������Ƶ supports a diverse community that creates a sense of belonging and affirmation. For more information, visit www.educationaladvancement.org. 

About the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Program

������Ƶ’s Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Program is one of the few U.S. high school scholarship programs that is need-blind and awarded solely on the basis of merit to highly gifted seventh graders. Since its inception in 2002, the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship has served over 400 students with academic and personal support, high school tuition and a lifelong network for mentorship and peer connections.

Contact

Kat Kirsch
Institute for Educational Advancement
(626) 403-8900 or kkirsch@educationaladvancement.org

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: Caroline D. Bradley Scholars Class of 2028

Pasadena, CA – 09/14/2023 – Today, the Institute for Educational Advancement (������Ƶ) announces the award recipients of the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship (CDB) for the class of 2028, a four-year high school scholarship for gifted learners to attend an optimally matched high school or individualized education program to help them work toward meeting their unique intellectual and personal potential. The recipients will each receive upwards of $200,000, depending on the cost associated with the school or program they choose.  

Interested seventh grade students apply for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship and are required to complete a rigorous portfolio application process, which includes essays, middle school transcripts, letters of recommendation, and a work sample. Eligible applicants must also achieve scores at the highest level on nationally normed standardized tests.  

“This year’s applicant pool was one of our most diverse as far as the students’ backgrounds, interests, geographic locations and knowledge base,” said Elizabeth Jones, President and Co-Founder of ������Ƶ. “As we celebrate our 25^th anniversary as an organization that supports bright, young minds, we are reminded of how important this scholarship is for the 27 students who will benefit from an academically advanced high school program that will meet their highly intellectual needs.” 

In June, 51 finalists were contacted by the Caroline D. Bradley selection committee for in-person interviews with the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship team. The committee is comprised of a diverse group of nationwide high school and university admissions directors, teachers and administrators, CDB alumni, community members, and business leaders.  

Over the course of the next several months, ������Ƶ staff, current CDB Scholars and CDB alumni will provide guidance and assistance to the entering class of 2028 Scholars as they begin to identify potential high school programs, complete applications, and prepare their individualized educational plans for next year’s high school entrance.  

“This year’s Caroline D. Bradley scholars are capable, highly-engaged and impressively intelligent,” said Bonnie Raskin, Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Program Director at ������Ƶ. “We go beyond just funding these students’ educations, we work closely with them to ensure they find the best program and we remain involved as they continue their educational journeys through high school and throughout their lives.”  

Since its inception in 2002, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation have generously funded this scholarship. It is one of the few merit-based, need-blind scholarships of its kind in the United States. To date, ������Ƶ has awarded more than 400 scholarships to gifted learners and alumni who are already making their mark on the world. Currently, there are 282 alumni, 160 of whom have graduated from college and are in the work force, attending graduate school or participating in international service and fellowship programs. 

The application for the next class of Caroline D. Bradley Scholars will be available in the fall.  

2028 Caroline D. Bradley Scholars:  

• Jason Adeyemi, Duluth, GA 
• Ori Bard, Los Angeles, CA 
• Anahit “Aeon” Bashir, Eden Prairie, MN 
• Ayaan Dhruv, Los Altos Hills, CA 
• Tess Eggeson, Indianapolis, IN 
• Elili Flore, Los Angeles, CA 
• Alesya Hathaway, Las Vegas, NV 
• Samuel Henderson, Lexington, KY 
• Una Joy Hornick, New York, NY
• Rory Hu, Cupertino, CA 
• Osagiemagbon Idehen, Staten Island, NY 
• Ethan Isakir, Flushing, NY 
• Elizabeth Kayes, Makawao, HI 
• Neha Khankari, Palo Alto, CA
• Camille Levy, Troy, MO 
• Jedidiah McClimans, Riverside, CA 
• Violet Miller, Bellevue, WA 
• Adrienne Prater, Tyrone, GA 
• Wyatt Steel, Leesburg, VA 
• Atticus Stewart, Hermosa Beach, CA 
• Faith Taylor, Hanover, NH 
• Grace Walters, Elm Grove, WI 
• Evan Weinswig, Menlo Park, CA 
• Brianna Wong, Oakland, CA 
• Channing Yang, Sugar Land, TX 
• Hannah Yang, Los Angeles, CA 
• Edward Zhang, Omaha, NE 

For more information about this scholarship or any of ������Ƶ’s other programs and services, visit  

About the Institute for Educational Advancement 

The Institute for Educational Advancement (������Ƶ) is dedicated to the intellectual, creative, and personal growth of our nation’s gifted and high-potential youth. Central to the mission of ������Ƶ is a commitment to the development of the whole child through engaging educational experiences that promote optimal challenge, mentorship, exploration of ideas, and recognition of personal potential. ������Ƶ seeks to connect gifted individuals through dynamic and engaging year-round programming. Additionally, ������Ƶ supports a diverse community that creates a sense of belonging and affirmation. For more information, visit . 

About the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Program 

������Ƶ’s Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Program is one of the few U.S. high school scholarship programs that is need-blind and awarded solely on the basis of merit to highly gifted seventh graders. Since its inception in 2002, the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship has served over 400 students with academic and social support, high school tuition and a lifelong network for mentorship and peer connections. 

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“The word ‘education’ comes from the Latin ‘educere’= e (out of) + ducere (to draw). Education is not just about putting information in. We have forgotten that it, in fact, begins in the child’s heart.” -Vince Gowmon

Wonderful things happen when educators employ child-led learning in their classrooms. My own children are not quite school age; Claire is 4, so my personal experience pertains to preschool. While searching for options, I visited a preschool where the teachers take cues from their students and help them navigate their interests, explore their creativity, and critically think about their ideas. One class was particularly interested in writing and storytelling, so the students, ages 2 to 6, contributed to a short story they worked on daily. Each child had a journal, and even though many of them couldn’t write yet, the teachers were of the mindset that all markings are important. Another class at the same school was interested in “how to get wood to stick together,” and after working through a couple hypotheses – tape and glue – one child returned to school after a weekend with a new idea. He informed the class that as his family was driving, he saw houses being built, and his parents told him they used nails to get the wood to stick. In this particular classroom, the teacher created a station with a framed sign that read, “Julian’s theory on how to get wood to stick together.” The station was equipped with wood, hammers, and nails, and even the two-year-old students participated in the project. This preschool had a two-year waitlist.

I also visited a preschool where the teachers insisted that each child participate in a craft project, whether or not they wanted to. The crafts were primarily completed by the teachers, and I watched them coax children (who were immersed in imaginative play) into participation. The crafts felt forced – they seemed to function as keepsakes for parents rather than as tools to help students unfold. I’m sure many of you have experienced frustration with teachers and school systems that lacked the training and resources to help your children move beyond the standard subject material.

During the COVID quarantine, I somehow lost sight of my own educational philosophy for a moment. The internet has been brimming with all the creative things everyone is doing with their kids, and I have felt paralyzed and inadequate through it all. When my daughter’s preschool started sending home packets of worksheets and day-to-day ideas for activities, I clutched those scraps of paper and marched straight to the kitchen table with my child. Finally, I had found the structure I needed to conquer at-home preschool and live up to, well, everyone on the internet. Claire would emerge from her quarantine chrysalis as a polished and refined, well-educated preschool butterfly. I posted the calendar on the wall and announced that we would mark off each activity with a special sticker, and we sat down to conquer preschool. I pulled a worksheet out of the manila envelope. It was packed with bunnies and eggs and flowers and other spring-type shapes, and its instructions said to find six bunnies, nine eggs, eight flowers, and so on. I didn’t feel any measure of zen looking at it, and Claire didn’t hesitate before scribbling frantically while I tried to block her pencil, shouting, “NO! We have to find six bunnies!” She also refused to rhyme three words with “bee” or find four objects in the house shaped like rectangles. She wouldn’t count to 20 three times, either.

I despaired. My Instagram feed was brimming with watercolors of irises and stained-glass mandalas, and I couldn’t even get my kid to rhyme with “bee.”

As I bemoaned my lack of creativity and inability to create structured learning during a phone call with a friend, she pointed out that Claire doesn’t like activities that are presented to her in a structured way. She might run around the house, singing an original song about unicorns, but the moment you tell her to sit down and rhyme with “horn,” she will respond by blowing raspberries and falling off her chair. The activities her preschool sent were probably fun for some of her classmates, but they didn’t work for Claire’s style of learning. I only wanted to check them off my list because of my own insecurity.

I want to help Claire dive deeper into her interests, especially now that I’ve scrapped the picture searches and worksheets. In order to move forward, I had to experience an important epiphany: by putting pressure on myself to approach at-home learning with perfectionism, I subjected Claire to undue pressure and perfectionism. We made a few shifts. Instead of following the preschool calendar, we created a new calendar one week – she picked a subject she wanted to learn about and drew a picture of that subject for each day of the week. One day, we learned about flowers and embarked on a nature walk to find flowers to examine. The next day, we learned about mermaids, which led to many discussions about ocean creatures and life under the sea.

Child-led learning is especially important for gifted kids, whose basic education should include the type of acceleration that nurtures their particular gifts and interests. This is why Academy is so important – it allows gifted children to go as deep as they want into dynamic subjects that excite them. It places them among experts who encourage their excitement for a subject while helping them cultivate a mastery of it. Academy students have the space to think deeply about their subjects and discuss ideas with their fellow students and teachers. I have been inspired and impressed by my colleagues, who have transformed Academy into an engaging distance-learning platform. They have adapted quickly and efficiently to the needs of our community. Academy has been described as a “lifeline” for some ������Ƶ families, and I imagine that it is even more so now, as families strive to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of their children while balancing their own work.

I hope that ������Ƶ’s year-round resources – Academy, LABS, Gifted Support Groups – are a source of support for you right now. Parents, please have grace for yourselves. We are all doing our best.

“To take children seriously is to value them for who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making.” -Alfie Kohn

Rebekah Agwunobi, Washington
Cole Arnett, Texas
Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, California
Paige Busse, New Jersey
Audrey Chin, California
Galileo Daras, California
Miranda Derossi, Nevada
Eden Fesseha, Pennsylvania
Elias Garcia, New Mexico
Aeden Gasser-Brennan, California
Calder Hansen, California
Matthew Hurley, Illinois
Michelle Jeon, California
Anjalie Kini, Colorado
Ethan Knight, California
Kathy Lee, California
James Liu, Oregon
Holly McCann, North Carolina
Nicholas Miklaucic, North Carolina
Catherine Phillips, North Carolina
Emily Powell, California
Ruhi Sayana, California
Jeffrey Shen, California
Henry Spritz, Maine
Yajur Sriraman, New Jersey
Seth Talyansky, Oregon
Sophia Vahanvaty, California
Andy Xu, South Carolina
Ivy Zhang, New Jersey
Jacob Zimmerman, Massachusetts

The awards highly gifted students with a four-year scholarship to a high school that fits their individual intellectual and personal needs. Students apply in 7th grade. If you are interested in receiving information about the 2015 Scholarship as it becomes available, please join our email list.

I love . Whenever I need a break from my day-to-day routine, I watch a TEDTalk and lose myself in the brilliance of people and their ideas.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TEDTalks, let me give you a brief overview of TED. TED is a private, nonprofit organization that was founded in 1984, with the objective of hosting an annual conference on Technology, Entertainment, and Design—hence the acronym, TED.

Since then, TED has grown; it now hosts global conferences and events throughout the year and has expanded its scope to include leaders from various fields and disciplines, such as medicine, education, economics, anthropology, and music. At these conferences, notable speakers like Jane Goodall, Bill Gates, and Nobel Prize winners confront audiences with issues, ideas, and phenomena that seek to inspire passion and curiosity.

TED’s goal is simple: To spread ideas. According to its mission statement, “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.” Thus, TED decided to release and post its “talks” online, making them free and accessible to our global community of learners. Since launching its website in 2007, TED has posted 1,356 videos online, which have been viewed almost 1 billion times worldwide.

With so many talks readily available, my efforts of selecting only five videos proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated. But for your viewing pleasure, here are my top five most powerful, informative, and stimulating TEDTalks for parents of gifted children. Enjoy!

5.
In her discussion, writer Susan Cain speaks about introversion and questions why it is undervalued in our society. She calls for a celebration of introverted-ness and offers three suggestions for changing the ways we view introversion.

Favorite quote: “There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”

4.
Professor of education Sugata Mitra describes his global “Hole in the Wall” experiments, where children are given access to computers and the Internet. Through these experiments, Mitra illustrates how, when given the resources, groups of children learn from each other and become “self-organizing systems.”

Favorite quote: “Children will learn to do what they want to learn to do.”

3.
In this inspirational video, then twelve-year-old child prodigy Adora Svitak asks her adult audience to reexamine the ways they view children as “irrational” and “irresponsible” beings. Rather, children should be acknowledged and valued for their abilities to imagine the possibilities of tomorrow.

Favorite quote: “Learning between grown-ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.”

2.
In this 20-minute talk, Temple Grandin demonstrates how autistic minds process information and urges us to nurture these varied ways of thinking as resources in our twice-exceptional youth.

Favorite quote: “Now the thing is, the world is going to need all of the different kinds of minds to work together. We’ve got to work on developing all these different kinds of minds.”

1.

In this comical but informative discussion, Ken Robinson examines our education system in relation to creativity. Like Adora Svitak, he stresses that children have amazing capabilities and “capacities for innovation.” However, Robinson argues that creativity is being squandered in our classrooms, where academic abilities are placed at a higher premium than other types of intelligences.

Favorite quote: “My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”

Do you have a favorite TEDTalk? Share your favorite in the comment section below!

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