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Centrul Gifted Education is a non-profit organization with a mission to discover and develop the potential of children with high ability (gifted) through an education of excellence

Legal form
Non-profit organization
Objectives

Centrul Gifted Education is a non-profit organization with a mission to discover and develop the potential of children with high ability (gifted) through an education of excellence; to utilize and develop the best curriculum to support the realization of the full potential of children. We have over 2000  hours of expertise of direct work with gifted children in an enriching environment of learning, the School of Excellence, with more than 150 children to participate over 6 years. We have 100% satisfaction from the gifted children. We started in May 2010 when we selected aprox 1,000 children aged 9-13 years, of whom 835 were tested. The Testing, conducted at global standards, reflected an impressive result: 338 children were identified with superior intelligence, ranking in the top 5% of children of their age. Our next project is the construction with crowdfunding of a gifted education campus (George Emil Palade Cultural Campus) based on green technologies dedicated to science, cooperation between scientists and children, and overall, promoting gifted children and high intelligence.

Main Activities

We offer both an Academic Program of Enrichment (over a year period, in the week-end, to gifted children, aged 3-14) and a differentiated education in the unique International British School, Leonardo Gifted School, COBIS member as of 2015, www.leonardoschool.ro, a School dedicated exclusively to Gifted Children, aged 3-12, children with high social risks, to discover and develop the potential of children and young people with high abilities (gifted) through an education of excellence.

The project is recommended internationally, supported by national legislation (Law 17/2007, Law 1/2011, section 14), supported by 16 Ambassadors, who are professional representatives and ambassadors by excellence, supported by communities and experts in the field in Germany, USA, EU. We partnered with the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology. We are members of ECHA, the European Council for High Ability and WCGTC-World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. The project is audited and recommended by two international universities, CEU Business School and Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. Our next project is to develop a campus (Palade Campus, after the name of the first Romanian to win a Nobel Prize) to include an experimental sciences Museum, an Innovation and Creativty Lab, and Leonardo Gifted School, exclusively dedicated to gifted children, devised on intelligent green technology, to represent the most modern educational institution, an environment to feed and encouraging human supradotarii and multiple intelligences.

Strengths

You can read our “differentiator” reasons on this link: http://leonardoschool.ro/why/ or

Unicitatea noastra

A short summary is here:

Our differentiators (more than 24 so far)

  • we proudly announce 100% satisfaction rate among gifted kids.
  • we have participated in the elaboration of the Law 17/2007 on the education of gifted and talented in Romania
  • we have a national partnership with the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Education (we are doing research cooperation and internships)
  • we offer an extremely important value added enrichment with selected high profile mentors;
  • we select children in a non-biased process, based on a multidiscipline multi-specialist approach, with a very well researched and specialized International standards selection which includes international standardised tests, interviews, etc;
  • we work with a specialized team

 

We can offer support in reaching with other Talent Point Members the following goals:

  • Providing information and cooperation on how to train the teachers (we have formed a Survival Guide for Gifted Teachers) and specific trainings for gifted teachers in Summer camps for gifted teachers and Parents
  • Cultural projects with the aim of promoting Gifted Children (KIDx – see below) and development of cooperation for a Campus on giftedness in Romania. Promoting children and youth at a European level –making their voice heard by helping them to collaborate with higher institutions and making their support visible – we have devised KIDx (Public Speaking Open Debate)where young Gifted Public Speakers/Debaters invite us to an open debate where they express with their Own Voices their rights, their needs for a differentiated instruction model
  • European lobby in Brussels
  • Financing programs of championships/ contests of creativity at a European level
  • Formation of a European Association of Parents with Gifted Children
  • Enhanching collaboration and support from Mensa International; I, personally, am a UK Mensa Member and I have observed the existance of Mensa lesson plans and materials for helping teachers teach differentiatedly for gifted and they need to be further developed
  • Formation of a International network of Mentors – we are working on developing a Mentoring Website
  • Publishing of a Gifted Education TV online and a Radio Online – we can provide experts to speak and a YouTube channel with Expert Florin Colceag https://www.youtube.com/user/giftededucation

 

Our project is its seventh year. We started in 2010 with a grass roots project of Enrichment which involved 45 children and more than 500 hours of enrichment over 2 years. In october 2015, we started the rollout of the sixth consecutive year of the Academic Program Excelency School for Gifted Children and launched the enrollement for Leonardo Gifted School, a International British School.

During the first year a screening of > 1000 children (2010) and of > 400 children (2011) who were recommended by teachers from 21 schools of Bucharest was performed in our Center for multiple intelligence and natural abilities testing and discovering. After multiple phases, a selection of 45 children and respectively, 60 children, were chosen to be the beneficiaries of the first and second year of Excelency School for Gifted Children. During December 2010 – August 2011 these 45 children were the beneficiaries of the following programs:

  • 6 mandatory learning programs (How to talk in front of the Camera, CoRT Thinking Lessons, Speed earning and reading; Personal development group; Surviving by Thinking; Leadership program: Be the leader of your gift)
  • 13 elective learning programs (CoRT- Cognitive Research trust – DeBono Techniques; Animation as a learing tool; Logical games; Develop your musical brain; Journalism and PR;  Composition, visuals and communication; Confidence course – Be your no. 1 fan; Sentimental geography; Little decorator book; Heart voice; Creative painting and emotional development through drawing; Learn to be an actor; Volunteering and social involvement; Modern dance)
  • Dialogs with mentors series – 11/ 12 meetings coordinated by a journalist meant to familiarize the children with the dialog with authentic personalities and life models, people that proved to be successful socially, profesionally or humanly.
  • NPQ Testing, TTCT- Torrance Test of Creative Thinking– internationally recognized personality tests were provided for all children, the reports issued being discussed with the children and their parents
  • First magazine Sparkling Minds has been issued by the children http://giftededu.ro/scoala-de-excelenta/minti-sclipitoare
  • Transformational Camp – Being the owner of your Development – together with the children 15 parents joined the camp  http://giftededu.ro/gifted-edu-summer-camp
  • Interviews to Adevarul and Evenimentul Zilei newspapers and Realitatea TV
  • Social programs: participation to Let’s do it Romania!; Earth day; Eco Art with TurismVerde NGO

Besides the programs for the children we organized courses for more than 100 parents and 300 teachers:

  • New technologies in education
  • How to discover and nurture the potentials of the children
  • The secrets of successful parents
  • Communication technologies
  • CoRT thinking lessons
  • Google Calendar use

In our second year we replicated the program for a new group of 45 children and 400 parents and teachers and to continue with the second year for 38 of the children from this year providing new programs based on whole brain teaching, enrichment education and learning by play concepts, adapted to stimulate and facilitate their special development.

 

During September 2014 – September 2015:

  • We have offered 19700 EUR in scholarships to the following children of the 2014-2015 yearly program:

 

  • We had 383 record break hours of Enrichment Classes in our Academic program for the two groups of children totalling 20 gifted children
  • We have awarded in partnership with Speakers Club Junior 3 scholarships for Public Speaking to 3 children in value of aprox 750 EUR
  • 1 Presentation made in the Aula of University of Bucharest, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences for students in October 2014 and October 2015
  • We started in May 2014 the National Selection based on IQ testing with MPRSP having over 60 participants; we also had over 50 children tested with WISC IV and SON-R over the year 2014-2015
  • We started in March 2014 the first Online Portal, for children Intelligence screening testing, „ro“ or GiftedMinds.ro (same website) which gave a chance to more than 2000 kids to test online for their indicative intelligence; any child above 5 years of age, can now get tested online, in a prescreeing testing, and then, is going to be invited in a standardized room setting for an international test of intelligence. All parents involved were informed about the rights and an information kit was sent by email
  • We have participated for the first time in 8-10.05.2014 in a team of 3, to represent Romania at the international conference in Budapest “Towards a European Talent Support Network”, and we celebrated together with other states, the day of people with special capacities, the European Talent Day. The whole effort of the conference sought at the highest level, the promotion of Talent as key factor to determine the competitiveness of a country, or even a continent. In the last 25 years, the awareness of the needs of high ability people have raised all over the world, esp. in Europe. People with high ability are the life insurance for the whole of Europe
  • We have developed Bright Summer program over the summer for gifted children
  • We have obtained 100% satisfaction rate in a research conducted in 2014, again, from children enrolled
  • We had a National Conference on 14.06 for Parents, on the subject of Giftedness , which are now online
  • 2 More National Conferences were held between 27-28.09, dedicated to parents and to new talents in education (trainers, teachers, and psychologists): http://giftededu.ro/conferinta27 and http://giftededu.ro/conferinta28
  • We developed the Summer Camp „Healthy Identity“ for gifted kids, in Hateg, July 2-10.2014
  • One National Open Doors Day ‚“Discover your EQ“, 1-2.11.2014 was developed and dedicated to children with high IQ, from all over the country, free of charge
  • For the first time, we have launched a program for Adolescents, Gifted Gold, dedicated to high iq youth to develop skills not normally supported in school, which address very important issues in their lives at this age: task committment, interest, self-discovery, self-trust, good personal image:
  • We had posted our project to most political factors, for support. Sadly, we got back only negative answers
  • Teachers from 21 new schools from Bucharest were informed by email on identification techniques (materials and criterias provided by the association) and asked to recommend gifted children, plus our activity on Facebook groups of education
  • 25 new gifted children aged 7-11 were enrolled in Excelency School for Gifted Children – year 1 and have participated to modern programs based on whole brain teaching, enrichment education and learning by play concepts, meant to stimulate their multiple intelligences, their special talents and potential, and to bring awareness, equilibrium, autonomy, self confidence, creativity and ownership of their development.
  • 50 parents were informed about the special needs of gifted kids, how to support them at school and at home, and how to instrument their case in the normal school, in order to receive more support from the state; parents were offered an online course related to identification of gifted children and new technologies used in education
  • 3 clinical psyhcologists were coached into gifted education and psycho-pedagogy of gifted children
  • 2 Research Studies in collab. with Uni of Bucharest on the impact on emotional Intelligence development on gifted kids from our Excellency School program for gifted children and another study which correlates the EQ with IQ, and signals which are the main personality traits that correlate with high IQ
  • 6 training asssitants developed their specific skills and were trained into gifted education tools to develop multiple intelligences through games
  • Teachers from 20 schools receive information and criterias about how to recognize gifted children and can recommend children to be assesed. They can join the online course especially for gifted education.
  • 1300 parents who already joined our Gifted Education Forum on social media are informed about our open doors, information on giftedness, myths, latest programs in Romania and Abroad, and on our IQ testing calendar and recruiting process.
  • 150 parents and their gifted kids will be invited to form a social club of Gifted which will have a great impact on how gifted see each other, collaborate and make friends with each other. 20 new gifted children will join for the first year the Academic Program Excelency School.
  • 15 children will make their way into Self-discovery of learning abilities and multiple intelligences through SOLE.
  • 2000 children and their parents shall be informed about how to develop their children’s potential and, respectively, how to understand and care for their special needs.
  • 2 Gifted Kids from the Class of 2014 shall become pay-it-forward volunteers involved into Assitanship at gifted classes for newly enrolled kids.
  • At least 100 children shall be tested for their IQ.
  • 50 parents shall assist to more than 30 Open Classes especially developed to parents of Gifted Children as part of the annual program of counseling services for gifted parents.
  • 2000 children shall test online on giftedminds.ro and they shall be offered a diploma, an invitation to in-class testing, and access to information on the benefits of gifted education.
  • 40 children shall participate to an Annual International Selection and 80 parents to a workshop developed especially on the needs of gifted children, in the annual selection

More about our yearly reports: http://giftededu.ro/doneaza-2-1-caramida/

Finance and Main Partners

We are completely self-funded through work with parents to find sponsors/funds or thrugh personal finances to cover the expenses. The model has to expand to include state funds, because of the national Law 17/2017 in Romania, which has not been enforced for the last 9 years, furthering the impingement of the rights of gifted children.

We have cooperated with other nonprofits in Romania on differentiated instruction, and with bodies of experts (Trainer Networks, UEFSCDI – in science, CSC – Complexity Studies Center) to develop a network of mentors; we talked to Danish Experts in 2014 at the Conference in Budapest to develop a Conference and a Gifted Summer School in cooperation with us – before the start of the Odense Conference, where we will use our expertise of working with gifted children when we work with gifted adults; we have sent young people to Olde Vechte foudnation formation and they returned and taught to gifted children

 What we would like to partner for the following activities with European or International partners:

  • Research subjects on different areas; Research findings
  • Erasmus +, EVS funds
  • We can offer a booklet for gifted parents; and a Survival Kit for Teachers- both in-house created
  • An ECHA Conference in Romania and Student Camps
  • International recommendations to start up Gifted Education Centers in Romania, from a kindergarten level and up
  • Vocational and Career Orientation and Counseling for Gifted Children (14-18 years old) in trans-national coop, because mobility programs for gifted could mean these youngsters will meet and develop an international view on their giftedness and a view on how things are going on in Europe, thus, making their view broader and more conscious
  • Partnerships with Higher Institutions abroad on mobility in excellence (i.e: Excellence Mobility Projects – ATLANTIS-  a European Program)
  • A European Prize for highly respected Gifted Teachers and Scholarships in gifted education in order to support Romanian teaching talent
  • Teaching Exchanges / Visiting professors on the subject of giftedness and gifted education
  • Summer Schools for Both Teachers and Parents and Children (we have a best practice going on for years)
  • Best practices exchanges and visiting support to visit gifted education centers
  • Collaboration protocols at a European level between Centrul Gifted Education with gifted education schools, colleges
  • Paperback materials of presentation on European schools of best practices and programs offers in gifted education (curricula, teachings, methods etc)
  • Publishing of best practices on communication with parents on the subject
  • Free access to online curricula online (for example: in the past it was developed here: http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/) to support a free development of a gifted education curricula for all natins across Europe
  • Setting up a best practice material (paperback and online) = a know-how to start a grass-roots gifted education system and collaborative network (how to involve the National Ministry of Education, how to support the formation of charter/feeder/magnet schools and so on) at a National Level in a European state (see Romanian experience)
  • Intensify communication, best practices dissemination for a collaborative network ONLINE
  • International Booklet *like UNESCO introductory materials* with friendly – easy to understand information for parents 2. educators 3. children on what is, how it is, how it looks like a gifted and gifted subjects
  • Financing programs to start up National Centers/Campuses of Gifted Education, like our newly launched for crowdfunding Cultural Campus „Palade”, dedicated to Experiemental sciences, education for gifted, Experimental Labs in Innovation and Creativity, Traditions Workshops, Sciences Workshops, etc.
Files

Presentation Centrul Gifted Education (English)

Myths about Gifted Children (in Romanian)