UWM Planetarium Shows

Thursday, February 6, 2020 - Solar System Expedition for 3rd-5th grades

Thursday, February 13, 2020 - Astronomical Wonders for 6th-8th grades

3rd-8th graders joined PAGE for an evening of star gazing and astronomical activities at the UWM Planetarium.   3rd-5th graders explored the solar system and marveled at the Sun’s powerful flares, Jupiter’s swirling storms, and Saturn’s intriguing moons. Students traveled to the icy worlds of the Kuiper Belt and beheld the latest discoveries from Juno and New Horizons. They returned to Earth to gaze at the night sky as they searched for constellations from the Big Dipper to Orion.  6th-8th graders explored the cosmos on this whirlwind journey from the solar system to the farthest corners of the universe.  Students toured thrilling highlights of our own solar system, such as solar storms and the rings of Saturn, before heading out to visit stars and exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy. They beheld the Milky Way on a collision course with its neighbor Andromeda as they traveled into the depths of space to glimpse our universe in its infancy. 

College & Career Panels

Monday, January 6, 2020 in Grafton 

Wednesday, January 8, 2020 in Wauwatosa

PAGE's annual College and Career Panel were held on 2 nights in 2 locations this year!  Gifted and Advanced Learners* in grades 8 through 12 and their parents were invited to this event.

Recent high school grads who were involved in gifted/advanced education: 

• Shared their thoughts from embarking on the next step of their lives

• Discussed chosen pursuits and challenges they experienced

• Told how their choices in high school have benefited them

• Answered questions about preparing for college and careers

Trivia Nights

Thursday, November 21, 2019 at Cushing Elementary in Kettle Moraine School District

Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at Gifford Elementary in Racine Unified School District

4th - 6th graders at PAGE member school districts put their thinking cap on and joined us for a fun and friendly nights of Trivia competition. 

Speaker Event for Parents:  Heather Boorman

Cultivating Success in our Gifted Kids

September 25, 2019

Waukesha South High School

Many people hear “gifted child” and they presume that the child is on the fast track for success. Those of us in the trenches know better! Giftedness comes with joys and challenges, strengths and limitations, successes and failures. And, depending on how success is defined, it could be argued that gifted individuals struggle more. To cultivate true success in our gifted kids, we must increase our efforts to balance talent development and prioritizing mental wellness. Through a combination of personal story, case study, reflection on the current literature, and examples of interventions, this talk provided reasons to redefine success for our gifted kids, as well as practical strategies to balance the pursuit of goals and achievements with mental wellness. 

Heather Boorman is the founding director of Boorman Counseling in Western Wisconsin. She specializes as a trauma therapist and working with “kids on the fringes” and their families, who live with the joys and challenges of atypical developmental needs. Additionally, Heather is the author of The Gifted Kids Workbook and writes & podcasts at The Fringy Bit, to provide REAL support to parents who love a differently wired child. 

This was a free event sponsored by PAGE for the parents and educators of PAGE member school districts.  Thank you to Waukesha School District for hosting this event.

Speaker Event for Educators:  Heather Boorman

Supporting Wellness in our Gifted Students

September 25, 2019

Waukesha

This event was geared towards teachers, school psychologists, school counselors and school social workers, however any educator in a PAGE member district was welcomed.  

Giftedness stretches far beyond academic performance. These children and youth tend to have specific and intense psychosocial needs and traits that make them vulnerable to misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis, behavioral or mental health issues, relational conflicts, and academic underperformance. In this workshop we briefly discussed factors contributing to the un-wellness of many of our gifted students, and then spent the majority of our time considering interventions to help them move toward greater wellness. Specific attention was given to modulating intensities, understanding and managing anxiety, and understanding and responding to existential depression. Interventions useful in the classroom, a counselor's office, and at home was discussed and practiced. 

Learning Objective 1: Participants were able to identify at least 3 factors contributing to psychosocial dysregulation in gifted students. 

Learning Objective 2: Participants were able to identify and implement at least 3 interventions to help gifted individuals manage anxiety effectively. 

Learning Objective 3: Participants were able to identify and implement at least 3 interventions to help gifted individuals regulate mood effectively 

Heather Boorman is the founding director of Boorman Counseling in Western Wisconsin. She specializes as a trauma therapist and working with “kids on the fringes” and their families, who live with the joys and challenges of atypical developmental needs. Additionally, Heather is the author of The Gifted Kids Workbook and writes & podcasts at The Fringy Bit, to provide REAL support to parents who love a differently wired child. 

This was a free event sponsored by PAGE open to the educators in PAGE's member school districts.  Thank you to Waukesha School District for hosting this event.