Registration for the Virtual Parent Institute is now closed - see you in 2021

What if “bored” didn’t equal “bad?” Online learning provides a continuous stream of information that is often overwhelming for the gifted learner. At the close of this session, parents and caregivers will gain the tools to support their child’s social and emotional health in an increasingly online world.

Aimee Sulit, Ed.D.

Aimee is the district gifted enrichment specialist for Arizona’s Scottsdale Unified School District. As such, she facilitates professional development, training, and coaching to support teachers with implementing meaningful differentiation in their classrooms. She has over 23 years of experience working in our nation’s public schools as a gifted enrichment specialist, Title 1 instructional specialist, reading specialist and classroom teacher. She currently resides in Mesa, Arizona.

Hear from a parent of a 2E child about her journey of discovery, acceptance, advocacy, learning to listen to your gut and helping your child “find their people.”

Jillian Jones

I am the office manager at the Wellington-Alexander Center and a parent of a 2E child (gifted and dyslexic).

Gifted children not only think differently, they feel differently. It is imperative to understand the many traits and the overexcitabilities of gifted children that create social-emotional issues including asynchronous development. We will provide simple strategies to incorporate at home to address the social emotional needs of your gifted children.

Randi Posner is a gifted specialist for the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Randi facilitates and teaches a variety of professional development courses for gifted teachers throughout Arizona. She has presented at the National Association for Gifted Children, Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented, and SENG Mini-conference and Webinar. Randi believes that a teacher’s influence goes beyond the curriculum that they teach. She is passionate about educating the whole child. In her classroom, she focuses on the social-emotional needs of her students as well as academic needs.

ElizaBeth Warner is the Gifted Program Mentor for the Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Arizona. In this capacity, she coaches and mentors educators to provide daily differentiated instruction that accommodate advanced learners, including twice-exceptional students. Warner is a National Board Certified Teacher.

Many gifted kids and teens experience the world with heightened and vivid intensities and emotions. This can be a huge asset, but can also be paralyzing at times. In this presentation, teen mental health expert, Jamie Dana, MC, LPC shares how you can help your child understand the current of their emotions so that they can ride the wave through 2020 & beyond!

Jamie Dana, MC, LPC, Elevate Counseling

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among gifted is widely misunderstood, misdiagnosed and then mistreated. This lecture teaches the components involved in an intact attention and executive function system, why gifted children are often over-diagnosed with ADHD and other executive function disorders, and what parents can do about it.

Dr. Paul Beljan is a pediatric neuropsychologist in private practice at Beljan Psychological Services in Scottsdale AZ. The Arizona Psychological Association selected Dr. Beljan in 2016 for the Distinguished Contribution to the Practice of Psychology Award. Dr. Beljan served at the Governor’s pleasure on the Arizona Board of Psychological Examiners. He holds child and adult diplomate certifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology (ABPdN) and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology (ABN). Dr. Beljan is a past president of the ABPdN and secretary for ABPdN. In 2016, Dr. Beljan completed a post-doctoral master’s degree in psychopharmacology from New Mexico State University. Dr. Beljan’s professional focus is on Gifted Intelligence, Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Learning Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Physical and Emotional Trauma, and Attention and Executive Functioning Deficit and associated interventions. Dr. Beljan is an expert in evaluating and understanding gifted children and their common misdiagnoses and dual-diagnoses. Along with Dr. James Webb, Dr. Beljan co-authored Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, BiPolar, OCD, Depression, and Other Disorders. Dr. Beljan co-authored Large Scale Brain Systems and Neuropsychological Assessment: An Effort to Move Forward. He has published numerous chapters and articles in various publications about gifted children, learning disorders and executive functioning. Dr. Beljan is a nationally retained forensic expert and lectures nationally and internationally.

ADHD, ODD, OCD, Short Term Memory Deficit, Sensory Integration Deficit, Auditory Processing Deficit and Oppositional defiant Disorder represent the most over-diagnosed disorders among the gifted population. This lecture will discuss how easily gifted children are over or under diagnosed and how their normal behavior for giftedness complicates the problem.

Dr. Paul Beljan is a pediatric neuropsychologist in private practice at Beljan Psychological Services in Scottsdale AZ. The Arizona Psychological Association selected Dr. Beljan in 2016 for the Distinguished Contribution to the Practice of Psychology Award. Dr. Beljan served at the Governor’s pleasure on the Arizona Board of Psychological Examiners. He holds child and adult diplomate certifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology (ABPdN) and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology (ABN). Dr. Beljan is a past president of the ABPdN and secretary for ABPdN. In 2016, Dr. Beljan completed a post-doctoral master’s degree in psychopharmacology from New Mexico State University. Dr. Beljan’s professional focus is on Gifted Intelligence, Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Learning Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Physical and Emotional Trauma, and Attention and Executive Functioning Deficit and associated interventions. Dr. Beljan is an expert in evaluating and understanding gifted children and their common misdiagnoses and dual-diagnoses. Along with Dr. James Webb, Dr. Beljan co-authored Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, BiPolar, OCD, Depression, and Other Disorders. Dr. Beljan co-authored Large Scale Brain Systems and Neuropsychological Assessment: An Effort to Move Forward. He has published numerous chapters and articles in various publications about gifted children, learning disorders and executive functioning. Dr. Beljan is a nationally retained forensic expert and lectures nationally and internationally.

In this session, parents will be inspired by the essential role overexcitabilities play in the development of their gifted child/children and adolescents. We will focus on empowering parents to harness the joy and “aha” moments of psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional overexcitabilities. Recommendations and strategies for joyful family dynamics and distance learning will be the emphasis.

Vanessa R. Wood, Co-Founder of The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for the Highly—Profoundly Gifted is a visionary passionate about education, human development and self-actualization. She believes each individual has a unique developmental path that should be honored among the collaborative community. As a parent, advocating for her children, she has been studying the continuum of giftedness for nearly 15 years. Through research, reflection and collaboration with professionals in the field, she has a unique understanding of the innate characteristics, intensities and motivations of the outliers-of-outliers. She earned a masters in gifted education while homeschooling and creating programs to fit the educational and developmental needs of highly—profoundly gifted learners. With her entrepreneurial leadership background, Vanessa collaborates with stakeholders and passionate leaders across the globe and across disciplines to better understand, identify and support the unique social, emotional, physical, cognitive and altruistic development of Giftedness through the Eyes of the Highly—Profoundly Gifted.

This workshop, by noted Stories With Holes author Nathan Levy, explores numerous, proven ways to reach gifted learners in challenging ways. Participants will leave with a variety of new strategies and specific ideas to help pupils become better creative and critical thinkers. A variety of successful teaching and parenting techniques relating to social and emotional needs will be shared. Bring your thinking caps and your funny bones to this dynamic presentation.

Nathan Levy

Nathan Levy, author of the “Stories With Holes” series, has over forty years experience as a teacher, principal, author and educational consultant. Nathan has spoken extensively nationally and internationally to educators, parents and children on how to improve creativity, thinking and spontaneity in adults and children. Nathan is a Past President of New Jersey Association for Gifted Children and was the coordinator of Gifted Education and Supervisor of Elementary Education and School Principal for twenty seven years in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. He has written fifty books that are used in programs all over the world and is the president and head consultant of Nathan Levy Books, LLC.

But it’s not perfect yet!! Perfectionism can be a major aspect of being gifted and twice-exceptional. This presentation will define perfectionism as an aspect of anxiety and how it manifests in and outside of the classroom. It is important to understand the personality factors and reinforcement patterns that maintain perfectionism in gifted individuals. We will also give practical solutions for managing these feelings and related behaviors.

Matthew Zakreski, PsyD is a high energy, creative clinical psychologist who utilizes an eclectic approach to meet the specific needs of his clients. He specializes in working with children and adolescents, as well as their families, in providing therapy and conducting psychological evaluations. He is proud to serve as a consultant to schools, a professor at the university level, and a researcher and author on his specialty, Giftedness. Dr. Zakreski is a member of Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), and the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children (NJAGC). He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) Board of Directors. He is the founder and lead clinician at The Neurodiversity Collective, where he provides therapy, coaching, training, and psychological assessment.

Many gifted children can struggle with the social and emotional skills necessary to create and maintain relationships. While many Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs exist in schools, they are often not adapted to the unique needs of the gifted population. This presentation will also demonstrate some techniques on how to teach and model SEL skills for gifted children, both through the demonstration of games designed for this population and instruction on how to adapt games.

Matthew Zakreski, PsyD is a high energy, creative clinical psychologist who utilizes an eclectic approach to meet the specific needs of his clients. He specializes in working with children and adolescents, as well as their families, in providing therapy and conducting psychological evaluations. He is proud to serve as a consultant to schools, a professor at the university level, and a researcher and author on his specialty, Giftedness. Dr. Zakreski is a member of Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), and the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children (NJAGC). He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) Board of Directors. He is the founder and lead clinician at The Neurodiversity Collective, where he provides therapy, coaching, training, and psychological assessment.

Want to give your child the world, but don’t have an unlimited bank-account? Come and learn low-cost and no-cost strategies for providing enrichment opportunities and developing your child’s talent. Strategies will include using up-cycling, community resources, and virtual opportunities to enrich your preschool/early elementary child.

Chryste Berda currently works as the District Gifted Education Coordinator for Buckeye Elementary School District. She holds two Master’s of Education degrees, one in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus in gifted education, and the other in Educational Administration. Chryste is an author and consultant who regularly presents at national, state, and local conferences on the topics of gifted education, mathematics, and educational leadership. In her personal time, she serves on the executive board for the Arizona Association of Teachers of Mathematics and has fun keeping up with her two gifted children.

If effective learning is experienced both academically and socially-emotionally, how can I support my gifted and talented child during distance learning? Our session will provide families with simple strategies to identify and support learning habits that align with the cognitive, creative, affective or behavioral needs of your child.

This session will be lead by Dr. Nicole Teyechea McNeil and Jody Hernandez

Jody Hernandez of the Gifted and Talented program in the Creighton Elementary School. Nicole Teyechea McNeil, PhD is an award-winning teacher and nationally recognized presenter on effective instruction for language learners. With over 20 years of experience in teaching and educational leadership, she has taught preschool to university classes, ESL/SEI teacher, gifted teacher, literacy specialist, instructional strategist and district curriculum director. Jody Hernandez has over 25 years experience teaching diverse learners and 8 years teaching gifted and talented students. She has extensive experience designing curriculum, differentiating instruction for diverse learners and mentoring teachers new to the profession.

Parents will explore a variety of games to promote the practice of grit. Language frames will be modeled as a strategy to support parents as coaches. Families will learn how to approach challenging experiences, handle failure, mistakes and perfectionism while children develop the confidence to achieve their greatest potential.

Following a 30 year career in education, Cindy Brown founded Right Now is Your Tomorrow, to empower parents to help their children develop fully and confidently to pursue their unique passions. Cindy’s methods teach parents to be their child’s lifelong coach from a place of prevention and love. As a mother of two and having the privilege to work with thousands of children and their families across 3 Arizona school districts, Cindy embraces the importance of supporting parents. She understands parents want their children to be able to navigate life choices as confident, independent thinkers. Cindy is a strong advocate for children and families through her dedication to local nonprofits, such as Girls on the Run, Junior Achievement, and The Junior League of Phoenix. Cindy was nominated for MASK Magazine’s Mom’s Making a Difference Award, and was a speaker at the 2019 Powerhouse Women Event. Cindy serves on the AAGT 2020-21 Parent Institute Task Force, was recently named A Women of Impact by the Arizona Alumni Panhellenic Association, and is featured in the 2020 Phoenix KNOW book+ Tribe. Website: https://rightnowisyourtomorrow.com Email: rightnowfamilycoach@gmail.com IG: @rightnow_coach FB: Right Now is Your Tomorrow

Creative thinking is an essential skill for gifted learners to develop. Creativity is demonstrated in the way one solves problems, responds to stimuli and the world around them, and communicates to others. Creativity connects students to content and increases their joy, and their ability to synthesize, deepen, and extend their learning.

Rebekah A. West Keur M.Ed, is a Middle School Gifted Specialist for the Paradise Valley Unified School District, an Academic associate with ASU, and an Adjunct Professor with Maricopa Community Colleges. She has an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with a Gifted Education concentration from Arizona State University and multiple degrees from Grand Valley State University. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation at ASU with a focus on Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 12 (PK-12) Change Leadership.

Gifted teenagers differ from their age-level peers in cognitive development, their modes of learning and motivation, their interests, and their needs. This session will showcase the specific needs of these unique learners, especially now, and discuss ways to support their needs, including their affective development, education, and enrichment.

Rebekah A. West Keur M.Ed, is a Middle School Gifted Specialist for the Paradise Valley Unified School District, an Academic associate with ASU, and an Adjunct Professor with Maricopa Community Colleges. She has an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with a Gifted Education concentration from Arizona State University and multiple degrees from Grand Valley State University. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation at ASU with a focus on Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 12 (PK-12) Change Leadership.