The Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) is asking for witness slips in support for of a gifted education bill that was just filed. We encourage you to take a couple of minutes and sign a witness slip before Tuesday of next week, February 22nd.  Detailed instructions below or see here for more information from IAGC. Please forward this information to others who may be willing to sign this important piece of legislation for all our advanced learners. 

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Dear Gifted Education Supporter:

Our first step is that HB5277 must now pass the Illinois House Education Committee this Tuesday, February 22, before it can go to a House floor vote. Illinois has a simple way for you to publicly show your support for the legislation::

HB5277 must now pass the Illinois House Education Committee this Tuesday, February 22, before it can go to a House floor vote. Illinois has a simple way for you to publicly show your support for the legislation::

The 11th annual One Earth Film Festival offers several free film screenings and discussions for children and youth ages three through young adult and up. These screenings are virtual/online, and all explore science and the environment in ways that speak to youth and reflect their interests. See complete details here.

From Field Museum 2/18 email . . .

Current high school students can get hands-on experience with many of the things that we do here at the Museum—from facilitating guest interactions to assisting in the Crown Family PlayLab, with plenty of exploration of the sciences in-between.

There is limited capacity for the teen volunteer program. All participants are expected to apply and interview prior to acceptance into the program. Our teen volunteers are outgoing, adaptable, and love learning about the world around them. Interested teens should demonstrate a strong interest in the sciences and/or early childhood education. Bilingual skills are a plus.

Applications close on March 14. Selected interview candidates are expected to interview in April. Teens will be notified of final selections by May 1st.

See complete details and apply here.

From the Argonne National Laboratory Education E-News February 2022:

SUPERPOSITION: THE “SUPER POWER” OF PARTICLES

Quantum physics looks into what happens at the smallest, most fundamental levels of matter and energy. Rules of behavior are different there. Strange things happen at such a small level. In this activity, you’ll explore a quantum physics topic called superposition. Then, you will create examples of that topic to share with your peers and us.

Download the challenge here. Recommended for grades 7 and up. Submissions might be featured on Argonne's Education Instagram account.

We would like to call your attention to a free leadership program for high school aged kids who feel drawn to developing their leadership skills in a safe, supportive and positive weekend of learning, sharing and networking with others. 

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where high school students develop skills as leaders while having fun and making connections. The local chapter will be sponsoring a three-day leadership conference this spring at Edwards Camp in East Troy, Wisconsin.

As a RYLA participant, students attend an all-expense paid camp with other young talented young people.  The organizers go to great lengths to make sure the weekend is fun and recreational as well as educational for everyone involved.  There are two sessions offered: March 10-13 and April 7-10. Activities include outdoor problem solving, dance, skits, campfire, low ropes course and team building activities. 

For more details on how to apply, please see brochure below or contact Chris Joyce, Chairman of the Young Leaders. 

RYLA Brochure 2022.pdf

We would like to call your attention to the Carol Strip Whitney Scholarship for gifted children. The Columbus Foundation offers more than 300 scholarships, through which they award more than $3.6 million annually! 

• Candidates must be graduating high school seniors with a minimum 3.25 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale; or graduates with a 3.0 GPA in college.
• Candidates must be residents of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, or Ohio.
• Candidates must participate in extracurricular activities.
• Candidates must be considered gifted, as denoted by the parent ID letter from their school district.
• Candidates must demonstrate high moral character in his or her daily life.

The application is available now and the deadline is March 1, 2022! 

Please go to https://cfprograms.smapply.io/prog/whitney/ for more details and share the information with any eligible candidates. 

From Argonne National Laboratory website and email . . .

Argonne’s ​IGED ​gives ​young ​female ​students ​a ​unique ​opportunity ​to ​discover ​engineering ​careers ​alongside ​world-class ​scientists ​and ​engineers. ​Participants ​will ​enjoy ​motivational ​presentations ​by ​female ​Argonne employees, ​tour ​Argonne’s ​cutting-edge ​research ​facilities, ​connect ​with ​a ​mentor, ​engage ​in ​hands-on ​engineering ​experiments, ​and ​compete ​in ​a ​team ​challenge – all designed specifically for 8th grade girls.

While we continue to maintain everyone's safety and wellness, we will be moving the 2021 IGED to a virtual experience. Students will still be paired with mentors. Throughout the day, the students will be encouraged to participate in large and small group activities that provide them opportunities to learn about a number of STEAM careers.

WHO: 8th grade girls interested in STEM

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 18, 2022 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: Virtual

HOW: Register online by January 19, 2022 to be entered into the lottery

Interested students need to register online by January 19, 2022. A lottery process will be used to identify the selected students. All applicants will be notified via email by January 24, 2022.

Many area museums offer free admission days for Illinois residents. Check the web sites for specific dates. Also remember that many local libraries offer free passes to local museums, zoos, etc. In addition, active-duty military, educators, WIC/LINK card holders and members of certain other groups often receive free admission to area attractions.

Here is the current information on free days and free admission at the Art Institute. This is from their website: 

Illinois Residents

Admission will be free for Illinois residents on weekdays (Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays) November 29–December 17, 2021, and January 3–March 17, 2022.

To receive free admission tickets, Illinois residents must reserve them online in advance. Resident status will be verified using the zip code associated with the billing address provided.

NO ADVANCE TICKET REQUIRED

The following groups are invited to visit our galleries at no cost every day—even when museum admission tickets are sold out.

In order to receive your free admission benefits, simply show the corresponding identification at the admissions desk in either museum lobby. Free admission benefits are not single use—you are welcome to use them any time you would like to visit.

Kids under 14

Admission is always free for children under 14. These free tickets are available online as well as on-site at the admissions counters.

Chicago Teens

Museum admission is free for Chicago teens under the age of 18, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Glenn and Claire Swogger and the Redbud Foundation. See more opportunities and resources for teens.

Active-Duty Military

As part of the Blue Star Museums program, active-duty service members receive free admission all year long. Plus, from Armed Forces Day (Saturday, May 15, 2021 this year) through Labor Day, we also welcome service members and their households. Please bring your active-duty military ID to the admissions counter to receive this benefit.

LINK and WIC Cardholders

As part of Museums for All, LINK and WIC cardholders and anyone in their households receive free general admission to the museum and all ticketed special exhibitions. Simply present your card along with a valid photo ID.

Illinois Educators

Free admission is available to current Illinois educators, including pre-K–12 teachers, teaching artists working in schools, and homeschool parents. Educators can register online to receive a voucher for a complimentary ticket to the museum. This voucher must be presented—as a printed document or on a smartphone—with a valid educator ID at one of the museum’s admission counters. Learn more about requesting complimentary educator admission.

Kids Museum Passport

Sponsored by the 15 Museums Work for Chicago institutions, this program allows individuals with a Chicago Public Library card to check out a pass for free general admission to the Art Institute. Please note the following parameters for use of the Kids Museum Passport:

Each pass admits a maximum of four people for general admission—at least one child under the age of 18 and a maximum of two adults. Ticketed exhibitions and activities are not included and must be purchased separately.

University Partners

Students of colleges and universities in the University Partner Program are entitled to free general and special exhibition admission by showing a valid student ID at the ticket counter. Check the full list of partnering colleges and universities.

Corporate Partners

Employees of certain companies in the Corporate Partner Program are entitled to free general and special exhibition admission by showing proof of employment at the ticket counter. Learn more about the Corporate Partner Program.

Check the full list of Corporate Partner companies whose employees are entitled to free admission.

Each summer The Newberry library holds an amazing used book sale. As with many other events, this was cancelled due to COVID. The Newberry announced today that on December 1, 2021 they once again will be collecting book donations for the sale. Hopefully the sale will be held in 2022!

Here is some information from The Newberry website, see complete details here:

The Newberry Book Fair, Chicago’s favorite used book binge, is held annually on the last weekend of July. Shoppers are invited to browse through more than 135,000 books in 70 categories, many of which are priced at $3 or under. Scour the sale for amazing deals on cookbooks, fiction, art books, children’s literature, history books, and much more. Admission is free and all proceeds support the Newberry.

Donating to the Book Fair

Starting December 1, 2021, the Newberry will begin accepting donations to our Book Fair.

How Can I Donate?

Items can be dropped off from 9 am - 4 pm, Monday - Saturday at the Newberry’s rear entrance off of Oak Street. Please ring the bell at the door for entry and place donations in the box just inside the door. If you are dropping off more than six boxes, we ask that you contact us in advance at (312) 255-3581 or contributions@newberry.org.

What Can I Donate?

We accept books in all genres, with the following exceptions:

• Reference Books such as encyclopedias and dictionaries
• Textbooks
• Magazines, newspapers, posters, calendars, and bookmarks
• Playbills
• VHS cartridges, Tape Cassettes, 8-track cartridges, Laser Discs, 45rpm or 78rpm records, reel-to-reel tapes
• Household items, electronics and non-book items
• Items that have torn and missing pages or water damage

From their website . . . 

A Virtual STEM Career Series For Middle and High School Students

Who we are

A group of graduate students at Northwestern University and The University of Chicago who want to share our excitement for STEM with our community.

What we do

Release 5-10 minute videos made by STEM professionals every other week, followed by virtual, live Q&A panels.

Mission

Introduce STEM careers to middle and high school students, inspiring students from all backgrounds to appreciate and possibly pursue STEM careers in the future.

Here's an excerpt from their email detailing this week's videos:

For the fourth week of our series, we will be hearing from Karen, a psychology researcher, and Julia, a nanotechnologist! Karen walks us through a night in the life of being a dream researcher and shares her favorite parts of the job. Julia explains how she got started in this field, tours her laboratories, talks about challenges in her research topics, and introduces viewers to her favorite inventions.