GATE Parents Newsletter January 2025

CASINO VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: March 6 and 7

The GPA Casino Fundraising Event is coming up on March 6 and 7, 2025 at Pure Casino (1420 Meridian Rd NE). We are in particular need of volunteers on the evening of Thursday March 6, as well as in the count room on both nights.

This casino event is expected to raise approximately $70,000 for GATE students! These funds are vital to be able to provide our students with curriculum enhancement opportunities such as: science equipment, technology, field trips, drama and music workshops, classroom literacy materials and math resources. Without these funds, each experience would be an additional cost to parents, or not take place at all.

Training for each position is provided on-the spot and no special skills are required. It is also a nice way to meet other GATE parents and hear about student experiences in other grades/schools.


Stars For Scholarly Youth are offering their mentorship program to GATE students. This is SSY’s fifth year running this program with GATE students. We have received great feedback from our previous mentees and many have had the chance to make informed decisions about their post-secondary careers. 

This program aims to prepare students for better integration into post-secondary life in the future. Mentees are paired up with a postsecondary student Mentor. The students meet a minimum of once a month online or in-person to discuss University, career aspirations, useful resources, and purpose. The mentor is responsible for engaging the mentee in these conversations (mentees are likely to be shy), but conversation topics and some resources will be provided. 


Parent Education Session – Monday March 3 at 7:00pm

Guest Speaker Dr. Matthew Makel will speak on the topic “Goals of Gifted Education”. Dr. Makel is Professor and Research Chair in High Abilities Studies in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on academic talent development and open science research methods.

Save the date for this session, which will be followed by a GATE Parent Association general meeting – Registration details will be sent in February.

VOLUNTEER WITH THE GPA

The GPA is a great way to stay connected to the GATE community and receive updates on GATE-specific matters. We are currently looking for volunteers to fill the following roles: 

  • Site representatives for Louis Riel and Henry Wise Wood Schools. This involves attending school council meetings and GPA meetings and sharing school updates between the two.
  • General Fundraising Chair
  • Parent Education Chair

Email us at info@gatecalgary.ca for more information.


UPCOMING PARENT EDUCATION SESSIONS
The Community Education Service (CES) is offering the following sessions for parents and families. Sessions are offered at no cost but registration is required.

February 4, 2025: Healthy Relationships
This is an interactive workshop to learn how to navigate those sometimes awkward but essential conversations that foster well-being, healthy relationships and informed decision-making. We empower parents with knowledge, skills and confidence to engage in open, honest and supportive conversations about sexuality and sexual health with their children.

In this workshop, we will describe and explore healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationship patterns. We will learn about effective communication and practice discussing topics related to romantic/intimate relationships in ways that are grounded in your values. February 6, 2025: ADHD and Executive Functioning
The session will provide an overview of ADHD and how issues with impulsivity and/or inattention impact children’s ability to manage their environments. The session will also explore the impact ADHD has on Executive Functioning and how it relates to managing everyday tasks, and meeting daily expectations at home and at school, including social, emotional, behavioural, and academic demands.

February 24, 2025: Managing Challenging Behaviours
Everyone has intense emotions, the trick is being able to navigate them.
Through this presentation you will learn about the crisis cycle and how to intervene at a different moment to reduce the risk of an intense emotional outburst. You can use these strategies with anyone in your life, despite their age.

March 4, 2025: Navigating Technology with our Youth
The message of this presentation is not only based on technology, but also about a child’s healthy brain development and the necessary parenting/caregiver role in creating healthy, emotional, regulated, and integrated brains. This presentation will address the underpinning of a child’s emotional brain development and how to grow it, as well as how technology can dangerously hijack this. The presentation is facilitated by a therapist from Juno House who has years of both clinical and facilitating experience. 

This workshop is designed to give attendees the skills to become their child’s emotional coach. The workshop will provide participants with:

  • An understanding of the basic neuroscience behind healthy brain development,
  • The dangers of technology for healthy brain development,
  • Technology use rules that will help your child
  • When building healthy brains, how to identify emotions in your child/student, and
  • How to become your child’s/student’s emotional coach in only five steps and in that, build a resilient child.

DID YOU KNOW you can access pre-recorded sessions for free HERE.

ALSO CHECK OUT resources available through Mental Health Literacy HERE.

How can we help you?

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