The Bradley Seminar is something I look forward to each year. For months and months the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship team plans for this exciting community gathering of students, alumni, parents, educators and supporters from across the U.S. Once a year, we come together as a community for three days to discuss and share ideas with like minded peers in a safe and energetic environment. Unfortunately, this event which was originally scheduled for March of 2020 was postponed due to COVID-19. But, on December 5th the 2020 Bradley Seminar went virtual.

Over 270 scholars, parents, alumni and community members from across the nation came together for a day of learning, gathering and community building. The day started out with a dynamic keynote address by . Alonzo challenged our attendees to think critically, be an active listener, how to build authentic relationships and to truly examine our own behaviors before we focus on worrying about others. Our scholars and parents were left with 鈥渃hills and inspiration鈥� by the end of his talk.

Our scholars and parents were able to attend smaller breakout sessions on topics relevant to our community ranging from the importance of mentorship to college admissions in the time of COVID. Additionally, our scholar cohorts were about to spend much needed time together virtually.

As one scholar said 鈥淭hank you again for your incredible efforts to make this happen at a difficult time. The seminar brought such tremendous inspiration and warmth to all of us.鈥�

It鈥檚 hard to believe that after nearly a year of planning, a couple date changes, and endless amount of Excel Spreadsheets that the seminar is over. The weekend is truly a highlight for me and seeing the CDB community together even virtually made my heart full! I know I can speak on behalf of the entire 优蜜视频 staff and say how incredibly humbled and grateful we are to work with such an incredible group of scholars.

Earlier this month, a few 优蜜视频 staff members attended the National Association for Gifted Children鈥檚 63^rd Annual Convention. The theme of this year鈥檚 gathering was 鈥淚magine the Possibilities,鈥� with a focus on what could happen if all gifted children had the chance to reach their full potential.

I had the opportunity to attend the pre-conference program, Identifying and Serving Gifted and Talented African American and Hispanic/Latino Students. The keynote speech for this portion of the conference was given by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest district in the country. Since he came on board in 2008, the district has been conducting universal gifted screenings using cultural and language sensitive assessments (a good portion of the district鈥檚 Hispanic/Latino population are English Language Learners). As a result, the district鈥檚 proportion of African American and Latino/Hispanic students represented in gifted programs is double or more the national and state averages.

Carvalho himself has an interesting story, coming to this country with his parents as an undocumented immigrant, knowing no English, and working his way up from dishwasher to superintendent. He was the only one of his siblings to even graduate high school, which he kept stressing was all about having the opportunity to succeed. He emphasized that this is what gifted students, especially those from underserved populations, need.

This message resonated with me. How can we best serve students from all backgrounds? How can we make sure no one is being left behind, that every student has the opportunity to be challenged if they choose to do so? I left NAGC with a renewed sense of optimism about the futures of these students. I met so many dedicated people from around the country working hard to serve and challenge them, to make sure the someday no one will fall through the cracks. Being surrounded by a group of dedicated educators, advocates and parents helped me to imagine the possibilities for all gifted kids.

To close, I will leave you with my favorite quote from Carvalho, about the importance of universal gifted screening to make sure no students are being left behind and unchallenged: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a smart fisherman, you don鈥檛 put a hook in the water to try to catch all fish, you put a net.鈥�

Further Reading/Watching:

• 听听听听听听听 about the measures being taken in the Miami-Dade schools to diversify gifted programs.
• 听听听听听听听聽Unfortunately, I couldn鈥檛 find a video Carvalho鈥檚 talk from the convention, but I found of him talking, in part, about the importance of reaching and challenging every child 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 (he鈥檚 an engaging speaker).
• 听听听听听听听聽A about the fight for diversity in gifted education.

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