Links and Resources for Parents
NEWS & Meeting Dates
Welcome to 2011-2012!
You are invited to attend WEAGT meetings. As a parent, it is important and vital to stay involved in your child's education. Meetings are the first Thursday of the month except September and March. The dates are as follows:
October 6th
November 3rd
December 1st
January 5th
February 2nd
April 5th
May 3rd
We welcome all parents and interested persons to join us at monthly meetings and events to discuss our involvement in the Zenith program.
Members vote on important issues that affect your child's education. Meetings are scheduled at 7pm at Washington Elementary's Library on the following dates:
We try to keep it short!
Please try to attend!
------------------------
AUCTION 2011 was a Great Success!! Thank you to all!!!
-----------------------------------
We are in full Auction mode and finally settled into our space for �Auction Central�. This year�s location to prepare for our auction is a newly renovated room at Kennedy School, 34050 Glen Drive in Eastlake.
Auction Kick Off Meetings are:
Saturday, January 8th at 10 am
Tuesday, January 11th at 6:30 pm
Hope to see you there! Info flyer
---------------------------
Sign up for WEAGT email updates!! Keep in the loop. Send request
2010 Directory for WEAGT was sent out. Please note that this will only be emailed to those that wanted to be included on the directory. This will not be displayed for public use.
Tonya Mihalek, VP
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PTAs providing valuable support
The value of getting a good education has seldom been more important.
Not only has much of the world shifted to a knowledge economy in recent years, but the continued economic downturn means that a better education can separate some job candidates from others at a time when jobs remain scarce.
Obtaining that education starts at the local level, but that same recessional economy has taken its toll on the funding schools have received or been able to generate.
Enter Parent Teacher Associations and other parent groups, which through various fundraising efforts have helped school districts fill in the gaps and provide tools for better learning. -more-
News-Herald Editorial, Monday Oct. 4th 2010:
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/10/04/opinion/nh3118132.txt
Parent Groups Fill in the Gap:
WEAGT supports the needs of the Zenith enrichment program for the gifted and higher achieving students.
"We raise money to support enrichment such as extra fine arts, classroom presenters, education materials, as well as teachers are provided additional training," said WEAGT President Sue Luck of Wickliffe. News-Herald Oct 1, 2010: http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/10/01/news/nh3113150.txt
Pull Out Program gets Press May 12, 2010
Front page: Districts find ways to fund field trips
Our Zenith children were featured in a front page article in the News Herald. The article highlights the good work that our organization can provide and the great volunteer effort of the active parents that make it happen for our kid's minds. NH Article
Market Day Help Needed
Any dads out there willing to spend an hour, once a month, to unload the Market Day truck??? Help is needed from 4-5pm, one Wednesday a month. We'll feed you pizza for dinner and you'll get your work out in for the evening!! One man, two is better. Please call 440-975-9596 Joyce Hribar Fiebig or email. Market Day raises thousands $ that aid our children each year, but we can lose it if we don't get enough involvement.
THANK YOU!
Recent articles:
Report finds wide disparities in gifted education AP Story
Is American Education Neglecting Gifted Children? The Journal
==============================================
----------------------------------------------------------------
WEAGT is a parent group that supports gifted education in the Willoughby�Eastlake school district, primarily through the Zenith program. It provides funds for technology purchases as well as programs and materials for enrichment and additional field trips. WEAGT is a valuable resource for parents to learn about raising gifted children. Please take the time to get involved in the organization that supports the enrichment of the Zenith classrooms.
---------------------------------------
WEAGT / PTA at Washington Elementary
_______________________________________
Zenith Enrichment Home Page from Amy Harker, Zenith Coordinator and the W-E School District.
The Zenith Program Homepage touts the mission to provide appropriate educational alternatives and challenges that will allow children who are high-ability learners to develop into creative, intelligent, capable, productive, and compassionate human beings. The gifted and talented enrichment programs are focused on building each child's strengths to encourage his/her potential for lifelong learning. LINK
-------------------------------------
PD 1/23/08 article on Gifted (link to Cleveland.com)
Plain Dealer Editorial 1/24/08:
Ohio's gifted students deserve an education
Ohio's public schools are frittering away a precious natural resource by failing to provide services to many gifted students. That is simply unacceptable in a state that desperately needs a well-educated home-grown work force to boost its economy and remain competitive.
Ohio must join the 31 states that require school districts to provide education geared to gifted students.
Ohio Department of Education Superintendent Susan Tave Zelman says she is considering changes to improve public schools' services to gifted children.
Good, because the colossal failure to educate the best and the brightest is evident from the numbers. In 2006-07, Ohio tagged almost 290,000 students as gifted, but only 75,496 actually got special classes, a drop-off since 2003-04, according to reporting by The Plain Dealer's Jennifer Gonzalez.
Constrained by tight budgets and the need to help all students pass basic achievement tests, too many Ohio school districts decide that education of the gifted isn't a high priority. But it should be.
Smart students, just like any other children, need teachers and classes that will help them make the most of their abilities.
The fact that gifted youngsters might be able to fly higher and faster than others is no reason to clip their wings. This isn't elitism - as long as the school tries its best to identify and serve all gifted children - this is public education at its best.
The Cleveland schools realize that. They are rebuilding the highly respected Major Work program, an enrichment program for gifted youngsters.
Such programs have a dual benefit. In addition to their direct service to students who learn quickly, they can help build strong parental loyalty, which schools in poor cities and weakened inner-ring suburbs really need.
Ohio must stop shortchanging gifted students. The Ohio Department of Education ought to ensure that every young and gifted Ohioan get the kind of education that serves as a propeller, not an anchor. And that effort must start today.Leadership*Sports*Archaeology*Chemistry*Music*Science*Culture*Language*Chess*Writing*Theatre*Citizenship*Dance*Forestry*Law*
Academics*Engineering*Psychology*Gardening ZENITH STUDENTS EXCEL!! Gifted education in schools. Ohio schools.