The first quarter is over, and the second quarter has begun! It is amazing how quickly the school year moves!

Just a few reminders of important dates that are coming up:

October 6th and October 9th-School Holidays

October 10th

• College Park will be on a modified schedule that day to complete a PSAT device check for upcoming testing. We will be on a Pep Rally style schedule, but will have a 30 minute period in the morning (10:28-10:58) to practice logging in for the test.
• CISD College Night:
• Lone Star Convention Center (not Lone Star College)
• 5:30 pm Military Academy Info Session (this is really important for 10th/11th that plan to pursue this as an option)
• 6:00 pm College Night Doors Open
• Any student (9-12) can earn Exploration Credits for College Night. A College Night EC form is located in the AST General Course under the heading Exploration Credits 2023-2024

October 17th

• PSAT- 9th graders (who registered) and 11th graders (all)

October 21st and 28th

• AST Testing for 2028
• Practice SAT and ACT testing for those who registered

October 24th

• PSAT-10th graders

October 28th AST ALL GRADES Halloween Party!!! 7pm-10pm

• RSVP by 10/25 281-714-6463 $20 cost
• Open to all students--will be prizes for best costumes, treats to eat, games, etc!
• Rice Home, 2 Dovecote Court, The Woodlands, TX 77382

We know that being in AST is a big commitment--especially of time. It is not lost on the faculty and staff of AST that your students quite often spend more time with us than their families. We know that we have a unique privilege and opportunity to see their hard work every single day. In our meetings, we spend time each meeting sharing what we have observed and quite often the funny things that have happened since we have last met. I wanted to put together a few photos that the faculty sent me this week of students working on different concepts in class or practicing in their R&P. I hope to share things in each newsletter.

After sharing some books last newsletter, I wanted to share some other resources for parents. Parenting gifted students is not for the faint of heart. For all the positives that may occur such as being self motivated and retaining content easily (in many cases), there can be some hardships as well such as anxiety, lack of empathy, unhealthy comparisons to others, and not knowing how to cooperate in a team. We witness it in class each day...a 94 on a test could be a 95 or 96. A student in a group doesn't get a concept as quickly as other group members and is hesitant to speak up for fear of looking less intelligent. We try our hardest everyday to make sure our students know that AST is a safe place, but it takes time.

Here are some great resources to read more about parenting gifted learners.

Please note, these are just resources, they are a comprehensive list and, more importantly EVERY STUDENT IS DIFFERENT! Thank goodness! We do not expect every student to be the same, and we would not want them to.

Using the 3 3 3 Rule with Anxiety-as a counselor in my former life, we would often use the 3 3 3 rule with students. As a gifted learner that struggles with anxiety myself, the 3 3 3 rule is simple and does tend to work. Finding 3 things I can see, 3 things I can hear, and 3 things I can touch to focus on when I get overwhelmed helps ground me, and works well with our teenagers.

Using a 5 4 3 2 1 Grounding Technique--this is similar to the 333 rule, but takes a bit more time.

Cooperation and Competition-this is a fantastic article with actual examples of how you can help encourage your gifted student to work with others in a healthy way.

Emotional Intelligence-a great short video on explaining what EQ is and why it is important.

Prevention and Wellness Resources-a list of CISD resources that you may/may not be aware of

Meditation/Mindfulness Apps-sometimes spending just a few minutes a day to be away of themselves can be helpful to lowering stress.

Many students scoff at the idea of attending a "lesser known" or "lesser ranked" college after high school. Equating difficulty of admissions to future success can be dangerous. When students are researching colleges, one thing to keep in mind is that many of our instate and out of state public schools, that will offer our students wonderful scholarships for their academic prowess in high school, have some incredible opportunities through their honors programs.

These honors programs are extraordinarily selective, typically offer separate housing, additional scholarships, internship opportunities, and many other great things. Admission to the university itself might not be super difficult at these campuses--these schools want to accept the average student in the state, unlike universities like UT and A&M. Because they have slightly lower admission standards, they want to attract students who have done very well in high school--so their honors programs end up being a great opportunity for high achieving students.

University of Houston Honors College

University of Alabama Honors College

Barrett Honors College-Arizona State University

Texas Tech University Honors College

University of Arkansas Honors College

University of Maryland Honors College (Great Computer Science Program)