It's graduation season, and many of our ATYP alumni are headed off to college. This is an emotional time of year for those of us who work with these wonderful students, who are so full of potential and promise, as we watch them venture out into the world. We know just what they're capable of, but not only do we want them to be successful students, we also want them to be happy adults. We want them to attain their academic goals, but we also want them to attain maturity, wisdom, compassion, and strength of character.

In 2008, J.K. Rowling said in her commencement address at Harvard University:

"The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned."

We know that our graduates will face setbacks, but hopefully the lessons they learned here at ATYP make them more prepared to overcome them. We hope that they learned to work hard, to have faith in themselves and their abilities, to see the value in learning something new every day, and to fight for what they need and deserve - not just in education, but in life. We wish them all great luck on this journey.

It's the end of the school year, and we are so sad to see you all go! You might not all believe it, but our office is way too quiet without you! We hope that you had a great year here at ATYP - that you learned a lot, and made new friends, and came to understand what you're truly capable of achieving if you're willing to do the hard work necessary to meet your goals.

We're curious about what you plan to do with your summer. Plan to see TFIOS a dozen times? Traveling somewhere? Taking a mission trip? Going to sports camp? Have a summer job? Laying around like a slug? Other than your summer reading/homework (I know, deep sigh), what do you hope to accomplish between now and Labor Day? We bet it's something great, so put up a comment and let us know what you're going to do with yourself.

If you're still looking for something to do, check out the ATYP Summer Camps. They're lots of fun, and don't worry about the age cut-offs - if you want to come it's no problem. Check out the brochure at http://www.wmich.edu/atyp/pdfs/2014SummerProgramBrochure.pdf.

We will continue to post on the blog this summer, letting you know what's going on here, talking about plans for the fall, and discussing the world of gifted education in general. Want to be a guest blogger? Send us material and we'll add it.

Thanks to all of you - students, instructors, and parents - for a fabulous, fantastic year! See you in September!

Many ATYP students testify to the fact that high-quality, engaged, and dedicated instructors are among the greatest advantages to the program. Our teachers have earned countless teaching awards, including many "Significant Educator" awards.

Our students show their appreciation in a variety of ways, including this gift of "Dandelion Wine" for English teacher Becky Cooper!

If your student has benefited from the gift of great teaching, please consider honoring that instructor at the end of this year with a monetary gift to ATYP - it's a great way to say thanks!

This week's guest blog is written by Ynika Yuag, a Year I English student:

As the final weeks of my first year at ATYP fly by, I’m left to reflect on my new experiences at this amazing program. One of my favorite things about being in ATYP is that it allows me to work my analytical mind to harder levels. As a more creative and artistic person, it still provides me an outlet to express myself in a way that does not hinder my creative capabilities, but rather sharpen them by teaching me about new structures and forms that I can still apply my own creative touch to. I can’t read a single paper, whether it’s for ATYP or in regular school, without mentally revising and analyzing it along the way. (I still don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing. Oh well.) 

Another thing I love about this program is the instruction and class participation. My teacher, Mr. Brieger, does an excellent job at reinforcing interpersonal bonds between students while keeping them on task and maintaining a fun and safe classroom atmosphere. He keeps the intelligent conversation flowing and never completely rejects a student’s ideas – only helps them to improve and even build off of. And, thanks to the small class sizes, it’s easier to focus and learn, which is important because the work pace feels about ten times faster than regular school.

The work is, at times, extremely challenging. But the biggest thing I love about this program is that it pushes you to achieve things you never knew you were capable of. Before I joined the program, my friend (and ATYP alumni) Jessie told me, “In regular school, the teachers will slowly wade their students into the water and teach them how to swim. In ATYP, the teachers will throw you into the deep end and tell you to swim.” A year later, and I completely understand.

Sid Redlin is our guest artist in ATYP English classes this week - thanks, Sid, for helping us out!

On a different note, we know that many of our brightest students struggle with stress and anxiety. There are lots of theories regarding why gifted children seem to have more problems with anxiety than others, but high expectations, perfectionism, and difficulty in finding like-minded peers can all exacerbate these issues. A recent article on salon.com, "5 Reasons Why Anxiety is so Hard to Manage (and What You Can Do to Cope)" discusses some strategies parents and children can use to mange these problems. PLUS, a local advocacy group for gifted children and families, will also hold a presentation on this topic at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 19th, at the KRESA building on Milham Road in Portage. If a student is having a lot of trouble coping, please talk to the instructor or ATYP staff to discuss ways to help lessen the problem. We will do everything we can to be of assistance!

It's almost spring break! We hope that all of our ATYP students will be taking some time to relax and decompress after what has been a long tough winter.

We know that many of you are feeling the stress of having a lot to do and not feeling like you have enough time to do it in - which makes it difficult to appreciate what you learn from ATYP while you're in the middle of it. We recently received a letter from Spencer Lenfield, ATYP alum, Harvard grad, and current Rhodes Scholar. Spencer writes,


"Having a lot of untrained brainpower can be indescribably isolating. And isolation, unfortunately, can cool and warp the heat of even the brightest stars. The reason why programs like ATYP are so essential for smart middle- and high-school students is that the most nourishing thing for young intellect to have is a connection to what Matthew Arnold once called “the best which has been thought and said”—the sense that someone else out there, decades, centuries, or millennia ago, has thought, felt, and worried about the very same things that you yourself have known. And even in this age of Wikipedia, the best way to do that is to have a good teacher to show you to the novel, poem, theorem, or article with which your heart beats in time. We tend to think that the very bright will tend to themselves. But we forget that no fire burns for long without someone to add the right fuel."

So maybe take a moment this break to say thanks to your teachers for all they do - and then go back to your relaxing!

 ATYP would very much like to thank WMU librarian Pat VanderMeer for her fantastic work in helping the Honors English 11/12 students do research for their conspiracy theory projects. Mrs. VanderMeer has set up an entire special page to help students with their papers; you can see it at
http://libguides.wmich.edu/ATYP.

Vincent won the Wednesday contest!

While we're on the subject of conspiracy theories, it's Tinfoil Hat Week!

Dan Johnson and Wednesday's English 11/12 class.

Thanks to author Dan Johnson, guest speaker and Tinfoil Hat Contest judge!