STEPHANIE TOLAN VISIT
APRIL 2008

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Workshops for parents, teachers and young writers

If you have even the slightest involvement with gifted education, then, sooner rather than later, you’re bound to come across Stephanie Tolan's article “Is it a cheetah?” Translated into over 40 languages, it has made the cheetah an analogy for gifted students all over the world and has become the logo of many groups working on behalf of these children. Time and time again this deeply moving and vivid short article has helped teachers, parents and policymakers to grasp the different attributes of the gifted child and the need for specific provision for these children. It has also been a powerful symbol to generate networks devoted to the conservation of the cheetah.

The power of that article reflects both Stephanie Tolan’s deep commitment to gifted children and her outstanding ability as a writer both of fiction and of authoritative material on gifted education itself.

She has long been recognized internationally as a leading expert especially in the emotional, social and ethical development of the gifted, is now a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Educational Advancement in the US, and is constantly in demand for workshops for parents, teachers and young writers.

An early venture into in this field was as co-author with James Webb and Elizabeth Meckstroth of Guiding the Gifted Child: A Practical Source for Parents and Teachers, winner of the National Media Award from the American Psychological Association on its first publication and still regarded as one of the best books ever written on this topic. She has gone on to write many articles ranging widely across the whole field of giftedness. Just a selection of titles is enough to whet the appetite: Spirituality and the Highly Gifted Adolescent; Self Knowledge, Self Esteem and the Gifted Adult; Giftedness – Nature or Nurture; Beginning Brilliance (about young gifted children); Parents vs. Theorists; Sex and the Highly Gifted Adolescent; Kids, Books and World Peace; School Reform: How To Make Democracy An Ugly Word; Discovering the Gifted Ex-Child……...

Winner too of numerous literary awards, including this year the prestigious Christopher Award for her new book, Listen!, she has specialised in writing books which explore the sensitivities of adolescence, especially those of the gifted adolescent. That makes her a rare and precious find for all those of us who know hard it is to find reading material for this group.

For instance, here’s how the US School Library Journal described her novel Surviving the Applewhites which won the equally prestigious Newbery Honor Book Award:

“In this laugh-out-loud novel, a young teen on the fast track to the juvenile detention center suddenly finds himself living in rural North Carolina with the outrageously eccentric Applewhite clan. Jake Semple, 13, has been expelled from a long line of schools before coming to the Applewhites to be home-schooled. This extended family forms what a visiting reporter christens an “artistic dynasty,” with various creative endeavors absorbing the adults’ time and attention. Jake is left largely to his own devices, since the family doesn’t believe in telling their charges what or when to study. He develops a loyal following consisting of an active four-year-old and an overweight basset hound, and his transformation is complete once he becomes enmeshed in the family’s production of The Sound of Music.  … Running beneath the narrative that gently pokes fun at everything from sculpture to TV documentaries, though, is also the story of a boy allowing himself to belong and begin to discover his own potential. This has terrific booktalk and read-aloud potential, and will help fill the need for humorous contemporary fiction.”   

Stephanie Tolan currently lives on a little lake in a big woods in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband (Bob), two dogs (Coyote and Samantha), Puck, the golden tabby cat, two fish (Blanche and Noir) and plenty of outdoor creatures, enlivened as often as possible by visits from small grandson Max who is already happily showing that his grandmother not only writes about gifted children, she has them in the family!

Like so many writers, including her friend and colleague, Margaret Mahy, Stephanie’s interest in books and in writing goes right back to her own childhood: "...that joy in reading made me want to be a writer, and from the time that I was nine years old, I never doubted that I would be one."

Stephanie Tolan’s work challenges traditional thinking and practice. In November 2006 she gave a mini-keynote speech to the NAGC Convention  titled “Education for a New Millennium:  Recognizing Whole Mind.”  The program abstract read:  “Essential change often requires a shift in perspective that takes us out of our comfort zone.  For most of us the word “mind” is synonymous with intellect.  But the human mind is far more than that.  Medicine is beginning to explore mind/body systems and recent studies have shown thought and emotion to be inextricably entwined.  If we wish to prepare the kids we live and work with for meaningful participation in a world we cannot yet foresee, we must move beyond the limits of our current view of mind.” 

Stephanie has realized from the feedback of many grateful readers that she has a role as a “story healer” whose work breaks down the isolation and negativity many gifted people feel and helps to heal the stories that they are telling themselves about their lives.

So it is immensely exciting to learn that she has agreed to come to New Zealand and Australia, her first-ever visit to this part of the world, to work with teachers, parents and young writers  – it promises to be a very special time!

�       Stephanie Tolan is being brought to New Zealand by REACH Education in late March – early April 2008. You can find full details on the REACH website: www.reachgifted.org.nz

http://www.reachgifted.org.nz/pdf/s_tolan_in_new_zealand.pdf

�       Stephanie Tolan will be hosted in Australia by GIFTED RESOURCES in early April 2008. You can find full details on the GIFTED RESOURCES website www.giftedresources.org

�       For more about Stephanie herself, check her website, www.stephanietolan.com

GIFTED RESOURCES
PRESENTS

CLICK HERE FOR A MIND MAP OF ALL THE ASPECTS
WE WANTED TO FIT INTO STEPHANIE TOLAN'S FIRST 'DOWNUNDER' TOUR

WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES FOR

Parents of gifted learners

Teachers at any level who have gifted learners in their classrooms

Teachers of English language and literature, teachers of creative writing

Homeschoolers

Children’s Librarians

Gifted young writers, middle and secondary school age

MONDAY 7 APRIL 2008  DROMKEEN RIDDELLS CREEK

FOR PARENTS
Raising Your Gifted Child: What’s Your Story?
There is no question that gifted children have different needs than more average kids—social, emotional, academic, to name a few. Our first parenting task is to recognize those needs (which sometimes requires us to rethink our own). After that we are faced with the challenge of meeting these needs in a world that isn’t set up to do that for us. Our goal must be to empower our children from within.
This session will deal with ways to do this.
 

FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE GIFTED CREATIVE WRITERS
Accessing the Magic of Your Imagination
Reading and writing stories takes us into the world of our imagination—a magical world where whole worlds and real people emerge from nothing and take form on the screen or printed page. In this workshop we’ll explore the ups and downs of the creative process and share our experiences. At the same time we will do our best to remember that whatever the reason we choose to write and whatever the desired outcome, no matter how passionate and serious our intention, creating is closely related to play. Keeping this in mind, even when one hits the wall of “writer’s block,” can provide us a way around it.
A special note for students
This workshop is for you if you know that creative writing is your real strength and if you believe that writing will always be part of your life even when you are an adult – if you believe that one day you will be a published author or poet or playwright, even if you haven’t told anyone else that that’s what you hope. Stephanie Tolan believed from the age of nine that she would become a writer, so she understands exactly how you feel.

CLICK HERE OR ON IMAGE FOR DROMKEEN PHOTO ALBUM

The clear country skies at Riddells Creek were ideal for star gazing and Stephanie was eager to locate the Southern Cross. We thought we had found it and this diagram from the Southern Skies website
http://www.southernskies.com.au/main.htm
confirmed it
            

TUESDAY 8 APRIL 2008  WERRIBEE OPEN RANGE ZOO

GENERAL INTEREST
The Cheetah Analogy
Stephanie Tolan's article “Is it a cheetah?” c.1996 http://www.stephanietolan.com/is_it_a_cheetah.htm has been translated into over 40 languages. It has made the cheetah an analogy for gifted students all over the world and has become the logo of many groups working on behalf of these children. This moving article has helped teachers, parents and policymakers to grasp the different attributes of the gifted child and the need for specific provision for them.It has also been a powerful symbol to generate networks devoted to the conservation of the cheetah.
Stephanie will present The Cheetah Analogy at the Savannah Centre at the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

FOR GIFTED STUDENTS
G.A.T.E.WAYS http://www.gateways.edu.au/  presented a workshop for Years 3-4 and 5-6 students

CLICK HERE OR ON IMAGE FOR WERRIBEE PHOTO ALBUM

TUESDAY 8 APRIL 2008 THE STUDIO AT MINGARY
Stephanie was the first guest at the newly opened B&B The Studio at Mingary, Sassafras

CLICK HERE FOR MINGARY PHOTO ALBUM          MINGARY BROCHURE 1   MINGARY BROCHURE 2

WEDNESDAY 9 APRIL 2008  BELGRAVE LIBRARY

GENERAL INTEREST Especially Homeschooling families
BOOKCHAT "SURVIVING THE APPLEWHITES"
Stephanie Tolan's critically acclaimed novel, a 2003 Newbery Honor book, and now a play. 

“In this laugh-out-loud novel, a young teen on the fast track to the juvenile detention center suddenly finds himself living in rural North Carolina with the outrageously eccentric Applewhite clan. Jake Semple, 13, has been expelled from a long line of schools before coming to the Applewhites to be home-schooled. This extended family forms what a visiting reporter christens an “artistic dynasty,” with various creative endeavors absorbing the adults’ time and attention. Jake is left largely to his own devices, since the family doesn’t believe in telling their charges what or when to study. He develops a loyal following consisting of an active four-year-old and an overweight basset hound, and his transformation is complete once he becomes enmeshed in the family’s production of The Sound of Music. Quirky characters, from the cub reporter to the visiting guru, add to the offbeat humor. The Applewhites’ over-the-top personalities mark them as literary kin of Helen Cresswell’s Bagthorpes. Running beneath the narrative that gently pokes fun at everything from sculpture to TV documentaries, though, is also the story of a boy allowing himself to belong and begin to discover his own potential. This has terrific booktalk and read-aloud potential, and will help fill the need for humorous contemporary fiction.” -- Starred review, School Library Journal

THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2008

Stephanie spoke on Radio National Life Matters with Richard Aedy

CLICK HERE to Download the Audio

The interview with Stephanie is  featured on this fortnight's edition of 'Edpod' online only education program. See www.abc.net.au/rn/edpod
 

THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2008 MELBOURNE  UNIVERSITY

THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
ELDI   Early Learning, Development & Inclusion      and
SELAGE Studies in Exceptional Learning and Gifted Education
PRESENT

HERE IS SHAUN HATELY'S INTRODUCTION TO STEPHANIE TOLAN FOR THE PUBLIC LECTURE

Gifted children are important because all children are important. But
sometimes it becomes apparent that the importance of working to give gifted
children what they need is not given the same priority as the importance
given to some other groups of children. Those of us who regard this issue as
important will have, I am sure, seen the recent debate in our media here
concerning the provision of two new select entry high schools and will have
seen many of the same arguments we have been seeing for years made over and
over again. I have letters at home written to my parents from when I was a
gifted child and I see many of the same statements being repeated twenty
years on. It can sometimes be very frustrating to realise that so many
things have remained the same.

But some things have changed. Communication has improved, the ability to
share information has improved, and that is a very important development.
When my parents found themselves struggling with the fact that they had a
gifted child on their hands, it was much harder to find information about
what that actually meant than it is today. They managed to find some books
though - and one of these, one that made a great deal of difference to my
life was a book called 'Guiding The Gifted Child'. The now rather battered
copy my parents acquired is now on my own bookshelf and even today I find I
refer to it a great deal. Our speaker tonight was one of the authors of that
book along with James Webb and Elizabeth Meckstroth. That book made a
positive difference in my life - but the names of the authors were just
that - names.

That book was one of Stephanie's early ventures into the field of writing
about the gifted, but it was the first of many across a very wide range of
areas concerning the gifted. One of the most well known articles is, of
course, "Is It A Cheetah?" but that is one of many. Stephanie has made an
immense contribution towards helping others to understand these children -
and also towards helping these children to understand themselves.

Stephanie's novel "Welcome to the Ark" came too late for it to have changed
my life when I was a child, but when I encountered it in early adulthood,
almost by accident - I thought I was reading a science fiction novel about
telepathy and nothing more - it was like a light went on in my head and a
pressure was released from my heart. This was somebody who understood kids
like me. Who really got us. I was old enough to be reflective about my
childhood, but young enough to still realise how much it would have meant to
me then. And perhaps it meant even more with the luxury of reflection. I
found her e-mail address and I had to let her know the impact it had had on
me - especially when I realised she was also one of the people whose work
had guided my parents as they tried to come to terms with having me for a
son.

Many many works on gifted children focus on their academic needs. Many
others focus on their emotional needs, and others still on their social
needs. All of these things are important but they are not the only important
things, and, in my view, a great strength of the whole body of your work,
Stephanie, is that it looks at - and helps others look at - some of the
needs they may not have considered. When I first read "Welcome to the Ark"
it certainly made me aware of needs I'd never acknowledged - needs that, in
my case, had only been addressed by accident when they were addressed at
all.

I never realised how sensitive I was, until I read that book - and not only
did it reveal it to me, it made me feel it wasn't a bad thing, which is the
way I would have seen it before.

It started me on a path towards doing what I could to try and build an ark
in anyway I could. It eventually inspired me to become a teacher, as part of
that effort.

Stephanie, you have been honoured with the Newberry Honor for "Surviving the
Applewhites" and that is an acknowledgement of you as a great author, but
while being a great author is a wonderful thing, you are so much more than
that.

Writer about the gifted, mother of the gifted, acknowledged expert on the
gifted, not to mention, of course, one of the gifted herself.

I am honoured to present to you, with immense gratitude, Stephanie Tolan.
 

CLICK HERE FOR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
OF THE STEPHANIE TOLAN TOUR

STEPHANIE TOLAN BOOKS
AVAILABLE  IN AUSTRALIA FROM HARPER COLLINS
To order from Gifted Resources
CLICK HERE FOR PDF DETAILS

AVAILABLE  IN AUSTRALIA FROM GPP
To order from Gifted Resources
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PRESS RELEASES, POSTERS AND ARTICLES

Press releases which can be downloaded for inclusion in your newsletter or display on your noticeboard

PRESS RELEASE 1   PRESS RELEASE 2   PRESS RELEASE 3
CLICK HERE                CLICK HERE                CLICK HERE

OTHERWAYS
CLICK HERE

Attractive posters designed by SUSAN WIGHT which can be downloaded for inclusion in your newsletter or display on your noticeboard

DROMKEEN POSTER
CLICK HERE

BELGRAVE POSTER 1   BELGRAVE POSTER 2   BELGRAVE POSTER 3
CLICK HERE                     CLICK HERE                      CLICK HERE

BELGRAVE POSTER Eastern Regional Libraries
CLICK HERE

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LECTURE POSTER
CLICK HERE

f you accessed this page of GiftedResources.org via a search engine, you may not see our sidebar. If this is the case you will not have all access to all of the Gifted Resources website. Click here to resolve the issue.