Florida Association for the Gifted

04/15/2026

From FLAG Member Kimberly Merrow Niebauer!
We love seeing incredible things happening in our Gifted Community!

Dear Florida Association for the Gifted,
Thank you so much for the grant that supported our mission simulation at the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee. We just completed the field trip, and it was a fantastic experience for our students. They were engaged from start to finish and loved working through the challenges together.

Thank you again for supporting meaningful learning experiences for gifted students.

While the world watched Artemis II reignite excitement about space exploration, one group of Jacksonville students got to experience that same sense of discovery up close. Thanks to support from JPEF and the Florida Association for the Gifted, 4th and 5th-grade students stepped into the roles of scientists and engineers at the Challenger Learning Center, solving problems, working as a team, and seeing STEM come to life in real time. Missions like Artemis II remind us what is possible. Experiences like this help students believe they can be part of it. 🚀✨ Read about their experience here:
https://ow.ly/CMt250YJ0u5

04/02/2026

03/31/2026

10Day STEM Climate Resilience Program!!! Check it out.

03/29/2026

Last day for our online auction if anyone is interested... universal tickets, lottery basket, hotel packages, etc. This auction supports those Florida teams in registration, competition fees and World Finals! Checkout the amazing packages… but stay away from the lottery basket… that one is mine!

Come bid on our silent auction to support the Florida Odyssey of the Mind Association!

03/22/2026

📢 New from NAGC: What High‑Ability Students Really Think About AI in Schools 🤖📚
As conversations around AI in education continue to grow, it’s essential that student voices are part of the discussion — especially those of high‑ability learners who are likely to engage deeply with emerging technologies.

Our latest blog explores how high‑ability students are responding to the rise of AI tools in schools — not with simple excitement or fear, but with nuanced insights about learning, ethics, creativity, and responsibility.

✨ What your students actually think about:
• AI’s potential to transform learning
• Challenges around fairness, access, and assessment
• Balancing innovation with critical thinking

Read the full piece and join the conversation about shaping AI use in classrooms in ways that support informed, empowered learners.
https://www.nagc.org/news/high-ability-students-offer-nuanced-responses-to-the-rise-of-ai-models-in-schools

03/17/2026

📚 New Research Spotlight in Gifted Education

A recent study published in Gifted Child Quarterly explores an issue many educators and families grapple with: underachievement among gifted students.

In “Parental Narratives of Underachievement Among Gifted Children: Onset, Factors, and Perceived Resolutions,” researchers examine how parents describe the turning points that led their gifted children from early promise to academic disengagement.

🔎 Key insights from this qualitative study include:
• Underachievement often begins during late elementary or middle school
• Both internal factors (motivation, self-regulation, mental health) and external factors (school fit, teacher relationships, peer dynamics) play a role
• Families experience these shifts as complex, layered, and deeply contextual

This research reminds us that gifted underachievement is rarely about ability — it’s about the interaction between students and the environments designed to serve them.

For educators, administrators, and advocates, this study underscores the importance of responsive programming, relational support, and early intervention.

Research: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00169862251362841

02/17/2026

01/28/2026

01/24/2026

The Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) Competition 2026 is now open and invites students ages 4–16 to bring their math learning to life through short story picture books! 📘✏️

This global competition encourages creativity, problem-solving, and meaningful mathematical thinking through storytelling.

🏆 Why participate?
• International recognition
• £100 prize for each category winner
• £100 award for the winning student’s school
• Judged by renowned math-story authors including Kersti Worsley, Stuart J. Murphy, and Cindy Neuschwander

📅 Submission deadline: March 20, 2026

👉 Learn more and submit entries nctm.link/YMSA

01/23/2026

Math teachers are often told to use textbooks filled with short, narrow questions that leave little room for critical thinking and reasoning. 📖

Education professor Jo Boaler suggests going beyond these surface-level problems, and enriching your classroom with tasks that invite reasoning and creative problem-solving.

👉 Here are three ways she tweaks her approach to encourage deeper mathematical thinking… terrific approaches for our gifted learners!🧠

For more information—and two more strategies—check this out: https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-rich-math-tasks?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Q12026&fbclid=IwZnRzaAPZEelleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEedXeSAmRfOlbWHXHmyi-7_WOPqe75V3bE_E7Fo7l0aPv1g-zNS5__erSaHl8_aem_p4jKkXKqAuVeZ683FVKMEg