GEARS

Geneva's Enrichment and Acceleration Resource & Support Group
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GEARS = Geneva's Enrichment and Acceleration Resource & Support group

 
Welcome to the GEARS web site. GEARS is a newly formed community group for parents of A/E students in Geneva School District 304.  The GEARS purpose is to communicate vital information to parents, educate parents about available resources, support parents who have issues and concerns and prepare parents to advocate on behalf of their children. 
 
Mark Your Calendars for our next GEARS meeting:
 
Time to "GEAR" up for back to school.  Our first meeting of the year will be Thursday, September 16th at 7:00pm at First Baptist Church of Geneva (corner of Peck and Keslinger) and Dr. Mutchler will be in attendance to discuss the AE program as it fits within the bigger picture of District 304.  This meeting will also be an opporunity to share your thoughts about GEARS and network with other GEARS parents. 
 
Please take a couple minutes to complete our member survey and help us plan our activities for next year:
 
Click here to take survey
 
 
  GEARS is on Facebook, click the logo and join the group GEARS!

 

 Contact us via email at:  GenevaGEARS@live.com
 
 
Bullying
A GEARS member in attandance at the February meeting has started an anti-bullying organization in Geneva.  There is a clear and identified link between gifted and high achieving students and bullying.  Please visit his website www.advancedignity4all.org if this is an issue that impacts you or your student or if you want to learn more about how to eliminate bullying in our schools.   
 
 
Prior Meeting Notes
 
Our May speaker, Patty O'Neil discussed the AE program in Geneva, responding to concerns about how the AE program will proceed after the elimination of the AE Coordinator position.  A powerpoint of her presentation should be available on the District 304 website.
 
Our April speaker, Karen Morse, from the Fox River Country Day School, gave an enlightening talk on the levels of giftedness and why it matters.  If you want more information on this topic, you can contact GEARS via our Contact Us page and let us know what information you are looking for.
 
Our March meeting included a presentation by Shelly Rolf, Guidance Counselor at Geneva Middle School South, on Perfectionism.  The talk included many practical tools parents can use to assist students with perfectionistic tendencies.  You can view the PowerPoint presentation here.
 
Our February Meeting was well attended, Cathy and Carl Risberg presented The Highly-Sensitive Child
Some children experience life on a level of intensity we find difficult to understand and frequently mislabel as something else. Cathy Risberg, a noted educational consultant who heads her own consulting company Minds That Soar, LLC (www.mindsthatsoar.com), shared about Dabrowski’s research on the five “supersensitivities or “overexciteabilities” he identified: psychomotor, sensual, emotional, intellectual and imaginational.  Those who attended left with some practical strategies to help effectively deal with the intensities and challenges that are often present with a highly-sensitive child.  I have requested permission to post her slides on the web site.
  
Our December meeting was a fun evening of mind-stretching "Brain Games" presented by The Scholarship in Geneva.  Over 30 games were available for demonstration and purchase throughout the evening.  Thank you to The Scholarship and a Geneva GEARS parent for donations of our Door Prizes.  And a special thank you to all of our student volunteers who demonstrated many of the games.
 
Our November meeting featured a wonderful presentation by Dr. Sally Thomson on Perfectionism, Procrastination and Under-achieving.  Look for additional speakers on Perfectionism in 2010.
 
Our October meeting featured Dr. Ann Butcher, the Director of the Scholars Program that offers enrichment classes for students from Pre-K though 8th grade at Aurora University and Fearn Elementary in North Aurora.  Dr. Butcher presented topics on gifted education and led a discussion about popular misconceptions relating to gifted education.  See our "Links" page for information on the Scholars Program offered at Aurora University and Fearn Elementary School in Aurora.
 
Our September meeting featured at presentation by Dr. Ann Ramsey explaining the findings of the A/E Committee that was presented to the Board of Education on August 10.  Dr. Ramsey's presentation of the committee findings is available in PDF format by clicking here.