What's Coming Up for Parents?
Join us for a free back-to-school webinar on Tuesday, August 26 at 7:00 PM designed for parents who are new to gifted education. Whether your child was recently identified as gifted or is just beginning a gifted program for the 2025–26 school year, this session will cover the basics of what to expect and how to support your child. Presented by gifted education expert Stephanie Newitt, this is also a great opportunity to meet members of the AAGT Board and get your questions answered.
Download the event flyer to share here – BTS Webinar 2025.pdf
Parent Videos in AAGT Classroom
Embark on an Odyssey of Discovery—Now at Your Own Pace
Parents, families and educators of gifted and talented children in Arizona can now experience this enlightening journey as a self-paced video series in the AAGT Classroom. Like the epic voyage of Odysseus, this on-demand program highlights the adventures, triumphs, and discoveries that come with raising gifted children. Through recorded sessions with inspiring speakers, you’ll gain knowledge and practical tools to nurture your child’s talents while navigating their emotional and educational needs—on a schedule that works for you.
Click the button to register and gain access to all available recordings. You only need to complete this form once.
AAGT is excited to offer these sessions as a free resource to the gifted and talented community. Please consider making a small donation at registration to help us continue providing high-quality speakers and sharing these important messages with parents across Arizona.
Note: If you have already added your email address to the AAGT mailing list, you will automatically have access to the recordings.
Building Brain Capital and 21st Century Skills With Creativity for Gifted Children
Keynote Session with Genein Letford
Building the leaders of tomorrow begins by knowing how the brain, the arts and social connection are intertwined in a unique symphony of creative development in the gifted learner. Join us for an interactive, jovial keynote that will teach you the newest methodologies, backed by neuroscience, to develop creative thinking and other essential life skills for our gifted students who will be leading in ambiguous times.
“You Figured Out Elementary School, Now What? Supporting Gifted Secondary Students”
Dr. DJ Graham and Elizabeth Mendoza, Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy
In this session, two veteran secondary educators will share information and strategies to support gifted students in grades six through twelve. We will discuss unique needs of middle school students, social-emotional development, academic supports, and the transition to post-secondary education. We will share best practices and resources for supporting our gifted adolescents.
Any Opportunity is an Opportunity for Talent Development
Dr. Jessica Manzone, Assistant Professor of Practice in the College of Education at Northern Arizona University
Talent development is the repeated encouragement and support of identified talents and abilities, and the nurturing of new strengths and passions. This session will provide parents with tangible, at-home activities to activate the talents, passions, and interests of their children. As a group, we will explore these activities and discuss how they become the catalyst for other experiences that leverage student choice, empowerment, and creative engagement. We will also focus on the idea that talent development is a “team sport,” and is something that all members of a family can participate in.
Turning Teachers into Teammates: A Gifted Parent’s Guide to Effective Collaboration
Elizabeth Warner and Dr. Karen Brown, Paradise Valley Unified School District
Build a Strong Parent-Teacher Partnership: Learn strategies to foster a positive and collaborative relationship with your child’s teacher.
Prepare for Effective Communication: Develop effective techniques for preparing for and conducting successful parent-teacher meetings.
Avoid Common Communication Pitfalls: Understand and address potential communication challenges that may arise in parent-teacher relationships.
Collaborative Problem Solving for Gifted Families
Dr. Sarah Bald, Nest Psychological
In this session, attendees will develop an understanding of Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) techniques. The presentation will cover the fundamental principles of CPS and demonstrate effective strategies for applying this approach with gifted learners. Additionally, participants will explore methods for identifying and overcoming common challenges associated with implementing CPS, to promote a more successful collaboration.
Gifted Gen Z: Social Media, P*rn, And Video Games: Can’t Live Without Them, Can’t Thrive With Them
Dr. Paul Beljan and Dr. Vanessa Behrens, Beljan Psychological Services
It is said of gifted children and teenagers that, “Anything worth feeling is worth over feeling, and anything worth doing is worth over doing.” The pitfalls of this gifted way of being will be discussed in context to Generation Z (Gen Z), social media, technology, and pornography. It has been documented that males and females began expressing epidemic levels of depression, anxiety, and low motivation since the release of the iPhone in 2010. This presentation examines how the change in technology has changed and challenged childhood and adolescent development. It will examine the ‘hows and whys’ of declines in mental health, social connections, sleep, and attention with an emphasis on gifted and gender differences. Various topics include the loss of the play-based childhood, fear-based parenting, the lack of interpersonal socialization, and negative effects regarding pornography ease of access. The presentation will finish with logical suggestions for how to help support our children and improve their mental health.
The Power of Gifted Curiosity for Brain Health, Cultural Connections and Creativity
Genein Letford
Curiosity has a trifecta effect when it comes to improving our creativity and brain health as well as our ability to connect across cultures. Award winning educator and speaker Genein Letford will share brain based research on how to effectively utilize curiosity that can empower people to take initiative and increase their brain capital and exploration abilities. She will lead you in curiosity expanding exercises, question prompts, and help you revitalize this innate skill you and your children were born with. Learn how to raise a mentally healthy, curious life long learner who connects across cultural lines.
Gifted and Autistic: How to Set Your Child Up For Success
Dr. Justin Gardner, Beljan Psychological Services
Not all gifted children have Autism, and not all children with Autism are gifted. Clinicians often over-rely on classifying observations of gifted children’s behaviors to diagnose Autism. Such a process not only results in many gifted children being misdiagnosed with Autism, but it also does not provide detailed information about how to approach the treatment of gifted children who do in fact have Autism. The diagnostic process requires a more robust clinical assessment based in the principles of neuropsychology. Taking a deeper dive into a gifted child’s neuropsychological functioning not only aids in more reliably ruling out Autism, but it also empowers parents in helping their twice-exceptional children find greater success in life.