This is Our Moment Retrospective!

As part of the blog tour celebrating New Zealand Gifted Awareness Week 2011, I would like to welcome you to Gifted Parenting Support; a blog for parents of newly identified gifted and high ability students. Thanks to Mary St. George, I now count among my friends many people from New Zealand who share my passion for gifted children and their education.

It has been a year since I wrote a post entitled, “This is Our Moment”, meant to be a call to arms for the gifted community. And what a year it has been! Advocates from around the world have been connecting via social media outlets.

Twitter’s #gtchat group continues to grow with Deborah Mersino at the helm. Her company, Ingeniosus, includes a website and powerful blog. On July 25th, Deborah will be hosting Ingeniosus Social Media Symposium in Denver. She is also booked to speak at state advocacy conventions throughout the U.S. through November.

Roya Klingner’s global gifted conferences in Second Life allow anyone interested in gifted education the opportunity to hear first class speakers such as Dr. George Betts from the U.S. who developed the Autonomous Learning Model, Mary St. George from New Zealand who is an online gifted lead teacher, Dr. Deborah Ruf from the U.S. who is the developer of TalentIgniter, Mr. Tim Dracup from England who is a Founder Member of GT Voice and consultant to the gifted community, Margaret Keane from Ireland who started Giftedkids.ie, and of course, Roya herself! Roya is the Head and Founder of Bavarian Center for Gifted and Talented Children. Roya (and husband, Klaus) developed this world in Second Life.

Many excellent blogs have come to fruition advocating for gifted children. Please refer to the blog roll on this page. It is constantly being updated. These blogs serve as inspiration and provide information to parents concerning the latest news in gifted advocacy.

The gifted community has shown perseverance amidst the economic downturn which continues in many countries. Support of gifted children has proven to be a way of actually improving the situation as nation’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.

From my original post …

“In terms of supporting our gifted children - this is OUR moment; this is OUR time! Funding really isn't the issue; SUPPORT is the issue. Realizing the magnitude of the consequences for not supporting gifted children is what needs to be understood by the world's leaders. Mindsets need to be changed and attitudes toward the gifted need to be adjusted.

It is incumbent upon this generation ... parents... to support the next generation ... our children. It is not a matter of 'if', but of 'when'. The time is now! Nations who do not come to the realization that supporting their gifted youth is a matter of great opportunity will fall behind those who had the foresight to do so.”

These words continue to be just as true today! Parents, now more than ever, must step up to the plate and become advocates for gifted children. The world is counting on YOU!