Northern Secondary School – Gifted Advisory Committee

Minutes

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March 23, 2016
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6:30 PM – 8:39 pm
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Room 210
Co-chairs / Peggy Judge, Helen Bagshaw
co-secretaries / Gayla Boritz, Margaret Postlethwaite
Gifted Department / Leonila Liko, Chris Chihrin
Attendees / 14 parents, 3 MENSA Toronto guests, 1 teacher

Agenda Topics

10 minutes
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Welcome and Spring Social
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Peggy Judge
Discussion / Welcome to all parents. Regrets from Helen, Chris and Margaret who were unable to attend. We will hold the Spring Social at the Granite Brewery, 245 Eglinton Ave. E. (Mount Pleasant and Eglinton) on May 30th.
40 minutes
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Mensa Presentation
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MENSA
Discussion / Barb Wiseberg invited Jennifer Albu, Andrew Scott and Jane Robinson from MENSA Toronto to speak.
MENSA provides a forum for intellectual exchange among its members who enjoy each other’s company while participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities. It is non-political and free of distinctions along the lines of religion, race or sexual orientation. It is a volunteer organization. There are sub-groups for youth, young adults and over 40 adults. There are MENSA groups all over the world. Entry is based on specific test criteria (see their website: essentially in the top 2% IQ for your area. There are annual membership fees.
Parents interested in participating or learning more about MENSA should contact Barb ().
45 minutes
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Gifted office Update
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Leonila Liko/Chris Chihrin
Discussion / Ms. Liko reported on the success of the Pay-it-forward event for Grade 9 and 10. The attendees seemed to enjoy listening to former Gifted students speak about their university/college experiences. The juice and cookies were all consumed. Sue Fisher has agreed to help again next year.
Lunch and Learn for teachers was very well received. The topic was “The Science of Calm and Mindfulness”. Teachers sent their thanks to the GAC for sponsoring and to Nancy Mills, Kelly Nicol and Joyce Grant for their role in organizing the event. Another Lunch and Learn is being planned for April.
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) for Grade 10 students is March 31st, 2016. Ms. Liko shared a preparation document with tips for success. Accommodations will be provided as required. Students have been receiving preparation assistance at school. It is suggested that students bring something to eat and drink, as this is a long test. OSSLT is mandatory.
Course verification forms are being processed to ensure that students in Grade 10 Gifted take at least 4 Gifted Courses and those in Grade 11 Gifted take at least 2 Gifted Courses.
Ms. Liko is looking for Parent Volunteers to supervise AP testing. Mr. Chihrin is on sick leave.
20 minutes
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Update on Advocacy
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Bettina Hoar
Discussion / We have nominated Ms. Liko for a TDSB Excellence Award.
It is still unclear as to how and why the decision to not allow AP to count towards the required number of gifted courses came to be. It is possible that it arose out of problems with the board’s computer system generating “error” codes for students. We agreed that the TDSB surely would prioritize decision making focused on student success versus overcoming computer output issues. Bettina will continue to investigate the reason for the change, why it was handled the way it was, and to advocate for AP to count as gifted and for consultation to take place for future changes.
15 minutes
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Other Business
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Peggy Judge
Discussion / Parents were curious as to whether more students are opting out of gifted programs in high school due to the feeder school rezoning and choosing, for example, from Gifted Forest Hill Middle School to go to a regular stream high school or a specialty program rather than going to Western Tech for Gifted.
There are many questions from parents about these proposed changes to AP and Gifted. We are wondering whether using survey results is a good way to share the concerns with the TDSB.
Next Meeting / Wednesday April 13th 6:15pm in the library
Special notes / THIS IS THE APPROVED VERSION OF THE MINUTES

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