HEROES will host its 4th annual social gathering for profoundly gifted students and their families on Sunday, July 25. The exact address of this Central NJ event will be provided to qualifed registrants. Three hundred people attended last year's event. You must meet HEROES qualification requirements to attend. Qualification requirement are either to meet the IQ requirement for DYS or to have at least one standarized test score that places the student in the 95th percentile compared to students three years older than the applicant. For information about the event and qualification information visit www.About.HEROESgifted.com.

What are the benefits? Do you know if 132 overall on Standford Benet would qualify?

A 132 on the Stanford Benet would not qualify. IQ cut-off would be 3 standard deviations above the mean.

HEROES runs a number of academic and social programs for the profoundly gifted including an annual conference and a writing talent search. Some of the people that will be attending the party will be faculty and administrators from Rutgers, Monmouth and Johns Hopkins Universities as well as representatives from other programs like ROGATE. We have worked with Rutgers to create programs that make it easier for kids to take classes there and are working to develop programs to help the kids get involved in research. We awarded $1500 in scholarships at our recent Writing Talent Search, helped a team of 13-15 year olds compete in an undergraduate math competition and are working to offer our first on-line classes that will allow kids to explore Sci-Fi Fantasy as literature and develop elements for their own piece of writing.

Many families find that just meeting other profoundly gifted kids to be very valuable for support and social opportunities.

This sounds great, and I'd be all over it if ds13 wasn't away that week. Please check in again and let us know how it went.

Thanks Lorel, you are alway so supportive. Hold the Saturday and Sunday before MLK B-day for me. We're going to have a two-day conference next year. It will be at Rutgers New Brunswick again. Please feel free to suggest speakers or program ideas.

That sounds terrific. My ds15 is a member of SET, and we were very disappointed not to be able to go to your upcoming gathering (to which ds was invited), since he will be in California then (taking classes at UCLA). I will hold that Saturday and Sunday before MLK B-day as well, and we look forward to coming then!

HEROES-

I'm so impressed with what you and your group have done for PG kids, both socially and academically. I was toying with the idea of driving down with my girls, but that date conflicts with something else for us. Will definitely pencil in the conference, though it is too early to commit at this point. Will pm you with my thoughts!

We have a vacation right before that, but should return that Saturday. I'm giving it serious thought....

What a wonderful group! I wonder if there's anything like HEROES in Northern California.

If you want to try to start something like HEROES, go to the HEROES web-site and send me a message and I'd be happy to tell you how I got this going. If you'd like to bring some of these programs to Northern California I'd be happy to help out in exchange for some help with some of the administrative parts of running a program like this -- bookkeeping, govenmental filings, web-site, list maintenance.

Even if you just want to bring one part of it to your state like the Writing Talent Search, I have the graders lined up and the system, we could work on having additional sites for final rounds in Northern California and offer it there too.

The NAGC is working on a book about how to start parent organizations like this. It only takes one person and a dream. I run HEROES with the help of my 15 year old daughter and a few people who are willing to help out on the day of an event.

You are cordially invited by Robert, Rita, Danielle, and Ryan Ostrager to attend the Fourth Annual HEROES party at their home in Middlesex County, NJ. HEROES is a non-profit organization that is committed to promoting the educational, social and emotional development of profoundly gifted students. HEROES is currently planning its third annual conference which will be held on January 15-16 at Rutgers University and its second annual Writing Talent Search, which provides recognition and scholarships to profoundly gifted writers. You may go to www.HEROESgifted.com for additional information about this organization.

When: Sunday, July 25 noon - 6:00 p.m. (rain-date: August 1st)

Where: Middlesex County, NJ. Detailed directions will be provided with your reservation confirmation.

Who: HEROES Members and their family

What: Swimming, ping pong, badminton, fun & games, BBQ, networking with other families. Also meet with representatives from HEROES, EIRC, Johns Hopkins SET, Rutgers and Monmouth Universities to find out about programs that may be suitable for your children.

Schedule of presentations by special guests:

1:00 � Maria Cotton, Director of National Talent Network, the Gifted and Talented Service of EIRC will provide information about programs for students to participate in research, model congress and other programs designed for the gifted and talented

2:00 � Dr. Michelle Muratori, Senior Counselor, Johns Hopkins Study of Exceptional Talent (SET) will answer questions regarding social and emotional issues related to meeting the needs of the profoundly gifted.

3:00 � Elizabeth Hough, Director of Summer/Winter Sessions, Rutgers University will provide information about opportunities at Rutgers for younger students who are ready for college level work

4:00 � Rita Ostrager, President & Founder of HEROES will provide information about competitions, classes, conferences and scholarships that HEROES is offering.


Menu: Sausage with peppers & onions; hot dogs; hamburgers with fixings bar; veggie burgers; BBQ chicken; spinach enchiladas; corn; bean salad; veggie baked beans; veggie chili; fruit; desserts; iced tea & lemonade.

Cost: The $35 annual membership dues includes admission to the party for the entire family. Visit http://www.about.heroesgifted.com/eligibility.html to see if you qualify.

To join HEROES and RSVP at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx

We hope you can make it!