Halloween may be over, but the fun lives on! This year, the AAGT Board members…
Celebrating A Year of Growth and Connection in Arizona’s Gifted Education Community
As 2024 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on all the amazing things we’ve accomplished together at AAGT. This year has been full of growth, learning, and connection—all made possible by the dedication of our incredible board members, educators, parents, and the entire gifted education community. We asked our board members to share a highlight from this year that made them feel proud or grateful, and their reflections are a beautiful reminder of what we can achieve when we work together.
“One experience from this year that I’m grateful for in my role with AAGT is the opportunity to combine my two passions, supporting gifted learners and STEM, by representing AAGT as a presenter at the Arizona Science Center’s Educate to Innovate conference. Having the opportunity to share about how to support gifted learners in the STEM classroom helped to provide insight on the needs of gifted learners to a whole new audience!” – Kari Sjursen
“I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside truly remarkable experts in the field of Gifted Education, who have intense passion and perseverance when it comes to advocating for the needs of our gifted children inside and outside of the classroom. I’ve found my tribe.” – Jessica Zimmerman
“Governance completed the Leadership Development training document to support sustainable leadership development within the board, and AAGT worked in partnership with ADE and had significant representation on the GiftED Tool Kit Committee” – Stephanie Newitt
“One experience I am grateful for was having Dr. Gallagher at Summer Seminar! We had a lot of great feedback that teachers enjoyed this event and learned new skills for their classroom instruction.” – Rowe Van Meter
“When I reflect on this last year, I am grateful for the relationships that are being built through our rural network. As gifted leaders in our rural areas, we have developed into a group that is supportive of our unique challenges and work together to solve problems that we face. Our book studies have challenged and inspired us to try new strategies and to build stronger programs for our students.
As AAGT president, I have been impressed with the work our board members have done to bring quality programming to our gifted community. From celebrating our 50th anniversary with Dr. Shelagh Gallagher and Dr. Ed Amend, to our summer seminar with Dr. Shelagh Gallagher teaching attendees about problem based learning, and launching our new parent series, An Odyssey of Discovery, AAGT continues to bring vital and practical information and ideas to all of our stakeholders. It is a privilege to serve all of our gifted community in Arizona.” – Vicki Greer