Each person on the Academy team misses our extraordinary students! I, for one, am looking forward to being back in person to check progress on Rubik鈥檚 Cube solving times, see pictures of growing puppies and kittens, and hear everyone鈥檚 latest research interests and favorite jokes.

But even though we miss seeing each other in person, we have been more thankful than ever for technology! It was great to be able to finish out the spring session of Academy virtually and to see ingenious work submissions rolling in. Seeing how adaptable our students and teachers have been to the new format has made us excited to see what masterpieces emerge from our online summer session!

Here are three especially impressive student creations that were submitted during the virtual portion of the spring session:

1. A creative story set within the Harry Potter universe. For their final project for 鈥淗arry Potter: Behind the Words,鈥� which will also be offered this summer, students wrote multi-chapter stories that take place in the same world of the Harry Potter series. In addition to a delightful story, one student also created images by collaging pictures of Lego figures with online graphics. Here is one example, which finds Voldemort swimming in Hawaii:

听听

2. An excerpt of a poem from the perspective of an object. This was written for 鈥淗ow to Eat a Poem,鈥� a class about sensory poetry for 6 to 9-year-olds. Lucy Blagg, who taught this delightfully creative class, will be teaching 鈥淢ythology of Many Lands鈥� this summer.

I start as a flower.
I鈥檓 tart but not sour.
My favorite season is fall,
That鈥檚 when I grow tall.听

I鈥檒l tell you who I am,
I鈥檓 part of a fruit.
I鈥檓 tasty when you squeeze me,
I鈥檓 small and I鈥檓 cute.听

Believe it or not,
I鈥檓 from this planet.
Let me introduce myself,
I鈥檓 the seed of a pomegranate!

3. An invented species for a virtual 优蜜视频 Aquarium. For their final project in 鈥淢arine Biodiversity,鈥� students designed their own ecosystems, filled them with made-up species, and wrote about the ecological and evolutionary history of the community. Grayson Kent, who taught this and other animal courses, will be teaching Myths & Monsters, Ultimate Guide to Predators, Cenozoic Life and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

It was so difficult to choose just a few projects to showcase our students鈥� creativity, adaptability, and love of learning. To learn more about Summer Academy Online, visit our website and sign up to join us for our . We can鈥檛 wait to see familiar and new faces in a few weeks when the session begins!

Thank you so much to all of our blog’s readers. This year we had a record number of visitors and comments on our blog! Here were the Institute for Educational Advancement鈥檚 top blog posts in 2019:

: Bonnie Raskin, Scholarship Director, gives our community a glimpse of what it is like to at the helm of the Caroline D. Bradley (CDB) Scholarship program.

  This post features 10 California schools who are also highlighted in 优蜜视频鈥檚 new Gifted Schools Guide highlighting schools for gifted and advanced students throughout the United States.

 This past September, 优蜜视频 announced the 2024 class of award recipients of the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship, a four-year high school scholarship for gifted learners to attend an optimally matched high school program to help them work toward meeting their unique intellectual and personal potential.

: In this post 优蜜视频 spotlighted a list of fantastic Summer programs that serve gifted youth.

 A post full of amazing podcast recommendations about gifted learners. These are great resources for parents and educators supporting bright young minds.

 There is no shortage of games and puzzles that are intellectually stimulating; Pylos, Quoridor, and the classic Rubik鈥檚 Cube are all examples of mentally challenging and fun games. In this post you can find a variety of educational toys and games to consider giving to a gifted child any time of the year!

: Gifted children tend to have a strong desire and need for intellectual stimulation, and that need doesn鈥檛 go away when schools are closed. In this post are three ways parents can help foster positive social and academic growth during a holiday break.

This blog post walks through every step of the evaluation process for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship.

Development Manager Mavis Bortey-fio shared her most inspiring moments spent with 优蜜视频 students in honor of this year鈥檚 #GivingTuesday campaign.

This post featured great reads for parents and educators focused on best practices and strategies for raising and educating a gifted child. These books are also listed on 优蜜视频鈥檚 which serves as a free online tool created and curated by 优蜜视频 for our community.

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

At this year鈥檚 National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Conference in Albuquerque, NM, I participated in the . Teachers, parents and other conference attendees like myself, learned about educational tools, new advanced learning techniques and how to collaborate with each other all while playing games. This STEM event popped into my mind as I thought about what gifts I鈥檒l be giving this holiday season.

There is no shortage of games and puzzles that are intellectually stimulating; Pylos, Quoridor, and the classic Rubik鈥檚 Cube are all examples of mentally challenging and fun games. Below you can find a variety of educational toys and games to consider giving to a gifted child this holiday season.

1. A robot ready to code right out of the box. 
2. Build, scan, and identify molecules. It鈥檚 advertised as the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry. 
3. Imagination takes light with these Lego-compatible light blocks.
5. Curate engaging art or science gift boxes for every age and interest. 
6. Makes stop animation easy!
7. For the future architect
8. Unique model kits to build mechanical engineering
10. For inspiration, perhaps consider creating artwork using Rubik鈥檚 Cubes, as seen .