Sorry to have posted and then disappeared for a couple of days. We are tearing out all of the (hopelessly) outdated carpeting, paneling, etc. from our basement, so I've been having loads of fun there!
It is true that the activities for children vary widely from local group to local group. At the national level of Mensa, however, there is increasing focus on the importance of having programs in place to meet the needs of gifted kids. In fact, American Mensa just this year established an award at the national level for Best Local Gifted Children's Coordinator, given to two GCCs during the national Mensa convention, going on right now. (OK, I have to be honest--I just found out today that I won one of the awards...)
Something I tell people who have run into dead ends when trying to find things happening with their local Mensa group is that, if they'd like to see a certain activity (whether it is camping, listening to opera with a group, or events for gifted kids) on the calendar, they may need to be the folks to get the ball rolling. It can take a while to establish a program, but once it is in place and families know about it, they start showing up fairly regularly (as possible, given people's busy schedules these days).
I always invite people from the state GT organization (MN Council for the Gifted and Talented), as well as the folks I have on our local DYS list. I figure the kids will benefit from all the contacts, and families (like "kimck") may decide to join Mensa after checking out our activities.
This went on for a bit! BTW, Cathy was right that my PEG is a Mary Baldwing student. She will be a junior this year.
I welcome any other questions about Mensa, so feel free to ask. I'll try to reply faster!
Teresa
