From the Northern Illinois University 'NIU STEAM' email today . . .

We’re looking for teen leaders (Grade 7-10) who love science, technology, engineering or math; are interested in meeting others; and want to contribute ideas for and help manage our events. You’ll learn, eat and have fun with engaging activities. Contact jdymond@niu.edu for more information.

From the Pritzker Military Museum and Library web site. Watch for participation from other organizations, too.

#ColorOurCollections 2020

Starting Monday, February 3rd and continuing through Sunday, February 9th we'll be participating in #ColorOurCollections week!

Launched by The New York Academy of Medicine Library in 2016, #ColorOurCollections is a week-long coloring fest on social media, generally occurring on the first full week of February, organized by libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions around the world. Using materials from their collections, these institutions are sharing free coloring content with the hashtag #ColorOurCollections and inviting their followers to color and get creative with their collections.

Stop by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library next week to take part in our week-long coloring competition! Kids 14-years-old and younger can submit their work to be included in a prize pool where the child with the best submission will be awarded a PMML gift basket at the end of the week!

If you aren't able to make it to the Museum & Library next week, be sure to visit our website where you'll be able to download our #ColorOurCollections coloring book to work on from the comfort of your own home!

As part of #ColorOurCollections week, we'll be offering 25% OFF membership to anyone whos walks in looking to become a member for the first time!

Email received on 01/27/2020 from Northwestern Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics . . .

CIERA Astronomer Evenings

LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH DURING 2020

Each Month is Different
~~~
No Reservation Needed

Beginning January 31, CIERA Astronomer Evenings kick off for 2020! CIERA Astronomer Evenings are special programs that take place on the last Friday of the month at Northwestern’s Dearborn Observatory (part of the weekly Dearborn Observatory public viewing sessions).

Meet Northwestern astronomers and get to know their areas of research. Different experts host each time and are available to answer your astronomy questions. The evenings include a 10-minute introduction to a topic, followed by an open Q&A session and interactive demonstrations. Stop by any time during the two-hour window. Children are welcome.

The talks are FREE and open to all!

Our FACEBOOK EVENTS LISTING will be updated with each month's hosts and topic.

A friend sent me a random link to an article in Readers Digest about one teacher's anti-bullying efforts.  It seems so simple and yet could be so effective...  And thus I share here:  

https://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/stop-bullying-strategy/

Area museums offer free days to Illinois residents throughout the year. On these days, museums often are not as crowded as one might think. Here is a comprehensive list from Carole Kuhrt Brewer of Show Me Chicago: 

http://www.chicagonow.com/show-me-chicago/2020/01/chicago-museum-free-days-2020/

The National Association for Gifted Children publishes the Journal Parenting for High Potential.  The December issue is excellent - it is totally focused on raising 2E children. Here is the online link (which will only give you access to one of the articles if you are not a member. Membership is $59 annually.)   https://www.nagc.org/parenting-high-potential-1  

From IMSA Center for Teaching and Learning email . . .

IMSA STEM League is a three-month, online mini-course designed around a hot topic in STEM, which will include a book read, documentaries/TED Talks, and other source material. This is open to ALL motivated and independent learners in grades 8-11 who have an interest in STEM and the course topic. The weekly time commitment is 1-3 hours. This course (with a different topic each year) will run annually from mid January-mid April. $60 participation fee.

In this course students will explore the recent developments in the field of genetics, with an emphasis on gene therapy and gene editing. The ethical considerations of these powerful tools will also be considered. A variety of media sources such as readings, videos, and online tools will be explored, evaluated and discussed. Over the course of this program we will read The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It, a narrative nonfiction book by Dr. Ricki Lewis, a geneticist, science writer, and educator. The course will culminate in a live, online, interactive session with Dr. Lewis. This course will be led by an IMSA Center for Teaching and Learning curriculum specialist in collaboration with IMSA Science faculty with facilitation assistance from IMSA students.

This mostly asynchronous, online program will give students the opportunity to

Learn genetics content that has relevant societal implications and

Participate in an online community of scientific thinking and discussion.

Register here.

2020 Davidson Fellows $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 Scholarships

The Davidson Institute offers high-achieving young people across the country the opportunity to be named a 2020 Davidson Fellow, an honor accompanied by a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 scholarship in recognition of a significant piece of work in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Music, Literature, Philosophy or Outside the Box.  Applicants must submit an original piece of work that is recognized as significant by experts in the field and that has the potential to make a positive contribution to society. The scholarship may be used at any accredited college or university. The 2020 application opens November 20 and the deadline to apply is February 12, 2020.

From 11/22/2019 Illinois Humanities email:

In partnership with Poetry Foundation, Brooks Permissions, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Illinois Humanities is proud to announce the opening of the Fourth Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards competition celebrating young poets in kindergarten through 12^th grade across the state of Illinois.

We are currently accepting submissions and will continue to do so until the April 30, 2020 deadline. Continuing the tradition started by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Illinois Poet Laureate herself in 1970, the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards encourages submissions of original poetry from young people throughout Illinois that exemplifies what Ms. Brooks looked for when she ran the contest: “vitality, language surprises, bright contemporaneity, technical excellence, evidence of suitability for the ‘long haul”. Ultimately, however, we look forward to honoring and celebrating the young poets of Illinois because, as Ms. Brooks wrote, “they created … and that is what is important.”

Please help us spread the word widely and encourage a young person or a group of young people you know to write and share what is unique to them --- their stories, their experiences, their worldviews, their voices --- because we are all anxious to read and hear what they have to say.

In 2020, we will also be offering a series of youth poetry writing workshops facilitated by teaching poets from Poetry Foundation that will run from February through April and be held on the West and South Sides of Chicago and in Champaign-Urbana, as part of our effort to encourage as many young people as possible to submit their poems to the contest.

The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards will continue the tradition started by Ms. Brooks of honoring winning poets from all grade levels at a ceremony on the University of Chicago’s campus (now held at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts) on Saturday, August 1, 2020 from 1:00-3:00 PM. For more information, please contact Mark Hallett, Program Manager, Grants, at 312-374-1555 or at mark.hallett@ilhumanities.org.

Gabrielle Lyon

Executive Director

SENG, Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted, has a monthly webinar series they call SENGinars.  This month's topic is Coping with the Climate Crisis: Insights & Tools for the Gifted on November 19th at 6:30 pm CST.  Learn more about it here: https://www.sengifted.org/events/senginar-coping-with-the-climate-crisis-insights-tools-for-the-gifted