This workshop is recommended for 1st to 6th graders.

Required Materials: Graph paper, markers or color pencils, a piece of yarn, scissors and glue.

About Cassidy: Cassidy is a published author of poetry books and the founder of a nonprofit organization, iPoetTree. Her mission is to inspire young children to love writing through poetry. She offers free poetry workshops to children from kindergarten to sixth grade in the community and wherever she travels to. Cassidy has many varied interests, from writing poetry to playing the piano to learning about rocks and minerals. But when you ask her what her favorite subject is, she says it鈥檚 math! In her spare time, Cassidy is an avid reader and enjoys hanging out with her friends to shoot silly homemade movies. She is excited to share her love of poetry with others and hopes to inspire more kids to create their own poetic masterpieces.

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Summer is here and you may be wondering what programs or activities are available for your child to attend. We have done some research for you and compiled a list of fantastic Summer programs that serve gifted youth. All these programs come from the , Institute for Educational Advancement鈥檚 database. The GRC is a free public tool which serves as an online database of resources appropriate for the gifted learner from Preschool through High School. The GRC contains an abundance of resources and information regarding advocacy, gifted programs and organizations, schools, scholarships, supplemental learning opportunities, testing and counseling professionals, and the twice-exceptional (2e) learner.

Below is a sample of some of the resources that offer and provide activities during the summer. More information about these programs, as well as many more that are not listed here, is available on the .

9-12

Girls Who Code offers a free 7-week summer program for current 10th-11th-grade girls to learn to code and get exposure to tech jobs. Each week the program covers projects related to computer science, such as art, storytelling, robotics, video games, web sites, and apps. Participants will also hear from guest speakers, participate in workshops, connect with female engineers and entrepreneurs, and go on field trips. The program culminates in a final project where students build their own product and share it with the class.

6-8 路 9-12

Digital Media Academy is a nationally recognized organization that provides hands-on summer resi颅dential and day computer camps for teens as well as youth (ages 9-13).

6-8 路 9-12

Summer Discovery is a pre-college academic enrichment program offering middle school and high school students a meaningful summer experience with lifelong value. Choose from over 300 interactive courses at 14 different university locations in the United States and abroad. Their summer programs combine academics with social activities, travel, recreation, and sports.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

CodeREV Kids provides classes and curriculum for students ages 6 to 18, focused on explor颅ing STEM by learning coding, technology, and robotics. Classes are project-based, allowing stu颅dents to engage in deep learning through unique creations and hands-on projects. CodeREV offers classes and summer tech camps in a variety of locations throughout Southern California: Santa Monica, Solana Beach, Encino, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Fountain Valley/Huntington Beach, and Mali颅bu/Palisades.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

Girls Garage is a one-of-a-kind design and building program and a dedicated workspace for girls ages 9 to 17. Located in Berkeley, California, it offers after-school programs, summer camps, and workshops.

优蜜视频 ACADEMY K-5 路 6-8

优蜜视频 Academy is a program of the Institute for Educational Advancement which provides students in Kin颅dergarten through 8th grade with advanced learning opportunities that promote exploration and ap颅plication of knowledge. Classes are taught by content-area specialists and taught at a flexible pace to accommodate the learning needs of gifted and 2e students. Classes are small and grouped by ability rather than chronological age. 优蜜视频 Academy sessions take place in Pasadena, California and are held seasonally: fall, spring and summer (three sessions hosted each summer).

9-12

Stanford High School Summer College offers academically outstanding high school students the oppor颅tunity to take Stanford College courses and earn university credit. Program participants enroll as visiting undergraduates in Stanford鈥檚 Summer Quarter and take the same courses, taught by the same Stanford faculty, as matriculated Stanford students.

6-8 路 9-12

Summer@HPA offers students entering grades 6 through 12 a unique four-week day and boarding expe颅rience structured for academic enrichment and designed to make the most of summer and take advan颅tage of our wondrous island-home to 80 percent of the world鈥檚 ecosystems. The diverse class offerings integrate environmental stewardship and awareness, and sustainability education and practices.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

From early childhood through elementary, middle and high school, Center for Talent Development (CTD) gifted summer programs encourage gifted kids to explore academic areas of interest and con颅nect with a community of peers. CTD offers life-changing residential and commuter programs provid颅ing challenging enrichment, honors and Advanced Placement courses taught in a highly supportive environment.

9-12

Summer Academy is a two-week academic program designed to provide US and international rising 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders the opportunity to have a glimpse of college life for two weeks during the summer. During their stay on campus, students take one of the different classes offered such as Exam Preparation, Debate, Engineering, Arts, or Literature and earn a 陆 Carnegie high school credit for this classwork.

PRE-K 路 K-5 路 6-8
The Quad Manhattan is an inclusive meeting place for Twice-Exceptional kids 鈥� a place where social and executive functioning 鈥渓ife鈥� skills are developed through FUN! Twice Exceptional or 2e children have intellectual or creative gifts, and also have lagging social or executive functioning skills. Developed by experts in medicine, child psychology and gifted special education, the Quad uses kids鈥� strengths and passions to hide skill development in creative and engaging afterschool classes and activities during our summer camp.

9-12

Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Pre-College programs will show you what college life is all about鈥攆rom the class颅room to what鈥檚 happening on weekends. Carnegie Mellon offers Pre-College summer programs in a variety of subject areas, such as math, science, architecture, drama, music, art, and gaming. There are no tuition, housing or dining fees for students selected to attend the Summer Programs for Diversity.

PRE-K 路 K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

Summer Wonders is a nonresidential, full or half-day program that allows students to explore diverse subjects in a challenging, creative environment through an integrative, hands-on, non-traditional ap颅proach. Summer Wonders is a specialty program for gifted children entering Pre-K through 6th grade and is held during three different two-week sessions at ACE Academy in Austin, Texas.

K-5

Gifted student Cassidy Kao published her first book at 8 years old and founded iPoetTree at 12 years old. The nonprofit organization seeks to inspire a passion for writing in kids kindergarten to 6th grade. Cassidy provides a fun and free curriculum, supportive environment for sharing poems, and assis颅tance with becoming a published author like her.

听In addition to searching the hundreds of resources in the GRC, you can also download our and with opportunities for K-12 students. and check out our curated Guides.

听Like this post?听听to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

This past July, 12-year-old educator and founder (and now !), Luke Gialanella, presented ‘s fourth student-lead workshop. Votes and Voices: The Electoral College invited students ages 9-14 to participate in an informative and fun introduction to the U.S. presidential election process, including a hands-on electoral simulation and vocabulary challenge, culminating in a baseball cap raffle prize.

Previously, published young author and veteran Academy student lead three poetry workshops, including Shakespeare鈥檚 Tragedies and Sonnets. Her mission, to help young reluctant writers learn to love writing through poetry, inspired her to offer similar poetry workshops at the Pasadena Public Library and to create her website, .

Luke and Cassidy’s success is a testament not only to their passion and talent, but also to their dedication and hard work. And it goes without saying that it takes plenty of planning and prep! Students who are compelled to volunteer their time and energy to offer a workshop must prepare in much the same way as Academy instructors do. Determining content, researching materials, developing age-appropriate activities, and reworking curriculum in collaboration with the Program Coordinator are expectations of all prospective workshop leaders. In addition to budgeting time for collaboration and planning, students are responsible for composing their own workshop description and bio for approval by the marketing team. Sound like fun? It is!

As Academy looks forward to our next student-run workshop this November 2, Votes and Voices: Mid-Term Elections and Why They Matter, we reflect on the ways that this opportunity, created for and by students, resonates with 优蜜视频’s mission of serving the intellectual, creative and personal growth of our nation’s gifted and high-potential youth. Whether leading their own workshop or engaging as an active participant, students at Academy are creating a unique space for themselves where they can:

• Engage in educational experiences that promote optimal challenge, mentorship, exploration of ideas and recognition of personal potential;
• Connect with like-minded peers to support a diverse community that creates a sense of belonging and affirmation;
• Foster intellectual curiosity, the acquisition of knowledge, confidence, creativity, responsibility, and moral decisiveness.

Interested in attending future student-led Academy workshops? to receive details and registration information as soon as it鈥檚 released!

Hi, I鈥檓 Cassidy Kao. I鈥檓 a twelve-year-old author and the founder and CEO of (more on this later). Additionally, I recently led my third poetry workshop at !

优蜜视频 Academy helped me start teaching others and supported me by hosting my poetry workshops, for which I鈥檓 very honored and grateful. The most recent workshop that I led at Academy was 鈥淪hakespeare鈥檚 Tragedies and Sonnets,鈥� based on my most recent book, .

In this latest workshop, I taught students about William Shakespeare then moved onto the characteristics of his tragedies and Macbeth, the star tale of the workshop. Students acted out a scene from the play. Since it was a small class, I played one of the characters and we invited parents to join in so they could provide sound effects! Afterward, I introduced them to the sonnet, and the complicated way that Shakespeare wrote his. Because of the complexity of sonnets, we wrote the first part of a sonnet together so students could take it home and continue writing. To wrap it up, there was a short insult contest where they used words that Shakespeare once used for fun to construct their own Shakespearean insults! It was a really fun class and I hope they left knowing more than they had before.

Conducting workshops like this one is what I do for iPoetTree. iPoetTree is an organization I recently created with the objective to help young, reluctant writers to love writing through poetry. This all started when I was eight. To celebrate National Poetry Month, I wrote a poem a day throughout the month and grew my own Poet Tree on the wall of my hallway. I later published my first book with all of the poems I wrote and instructions on how to write different types of poems. Then, I wrote another book, and another, and another! Most of the books that I wrote included some sort of poetry since poetry was the very thing that started the whole journey. I taught free workshops in my community based on the theme of my books and the poetry that was included in the books. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to create iPoetTree and the website to go along with it.

You can find my website at , where your children will learn how to write different types of poems by watching videos I created. After they听watch the videos, they can write their own poems and share them with other young writers on the website. I created a curriculum of five levels, with about three to four different types of poems in each, and grouped them by level of difficulty. At the end of each school year, I will select a collection of poems and publish them in a book to help the authors of the selected poems become published.

Please go to my website and help your children sign up and start learning poetry! I really enjoy teaching and, some day, I hope to train others to teach workshops of their own so that I can reach out farther than my community and teach more kids the joy of writing.

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