NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS - Link Below 
 
Candidates should be skillful, dedicated teachers, whose primary goal is to encourage and inspire a love of learning in their students. Nominees should exhibit some or all of the following qualities:
* A concern for students and the ability to inspire them
* The ability and willingness to work cooperatively with colleagues
* A drive to initiate activities that improve instruction for students
* The desire to stay informed about current educational theories and practices
* An ability and willingness to make meaningful contributions to education 
 
It is helpful to include specific examples of any innovations or methodologies that make this nominee stand out among their peers.

Submissions due on or before Friday, April 28, 2017.

Nominating Form 

Nominating a teacher is a great way to honor and celebrate any teachers who are special to you. Anyone may submit a recommendation including students, parents, and colleagues. All teachers are eligible for nomination. It is not restricted to TAG teachers.


Questions?
Contact Amy Peck ​

Please click on Download File below for more details

​I wanted to have a program about high school GPAs values because before I had kids in high school, I didn't know much about them. GPAs are not a secret, in fact in the student handbook called The Kiltie, grade point values are listed for the different types of classes. It can be found on the high school website.
 
Since this is a TAG Program, I'm going to assume that a lot of TAG kids are hardworking, inquisitive and eager to learn and want to take TAG classes.
 
There are several different kinds of classes:
Regular classes - the highest grade point available is a 4.0.
Pre-AP classes - the highest grade point available is a 4.5.
TAG Pre-AP classes - the highest grade point available is a 4.5.
AP classes - the highest grade point available is a 5.0.
TAG AP classes - the highest grade point available is a 5.0.

On January 5th three HP graduates, John Herrick, Bethanne Bradshaw and Jacques Friedman spoke about their college experience and the college application process. It was an enlightening program because of the diversity of fields of study. We got a perspective from an honor's computer science major at UT, a biology/music major at SMU and a history major at Vanderbilt. Their thoughts and advice on the college process was well received and appreciated. 

Please join us in 1/24 at 10 am in the 5/6 Assembly Room at MIS for our program on "How play the grade point game in high school" and "How to be successful in math".
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Jacques Friedman, Bethanne Bradshaw, John Herrick
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Jen Wheeler, Amara Durham, Steeve Gruber, Susan Bailey and Anne McPherson

At the TAG Program on 11/7/16 "What I Wish I Knew When My Kids Were Young" a panel of experienced parents shared their wit and wisdom. Among the advice were the following tidbits:

1. Be open-minded about your child's choices for extracurricular activities. Know what your child is capable of and his/her limits. Encourage him/her to get involved in a group activity. This will be their friend group in high school. 
2. Even when your child is ready to quit an activity, give him/her the freedom to do that even though all of your mom friends are still in that activity. 
3. Try and get rid of that one activity that is wreaking havoc or exhausting your family. 
4. To keep your kids from getting too stressed out, make sure they are getting enough sleep. 
5. Friend group changes are normal during and after middle school. Kids usually make friends with the other students in their activity such as band, football, choir or theater. 
6. Know your child and trust his/her judgement. 
7. Don't pressure your kids on grades. They are under so much pressure from their peer group too. They do not need the extra stress from their parents. 
8. One way to stay connected with your children is to schedule a family dinner most evenings. A fun tip is to have everyone at the table tell 3 things that happened during the day, but only 2 things should be true. It's up to the family to identify the false statement. 
9. Don't be fixated on your child's grades being in the top 10%. It's not that important. They all get into college. 
10. Don't stress if your child doesn't get into TAG. They can still take pre-ap and AP(advanced placement) classes. 
11. Have a curfew for your child. 
12. Download Uber on their phone
13. So they can have a ride home any time they need it. 
14. Let your kid just be. Allow them to tell you how they are. 
15. Create a family mission statement. If you know who you are, you can determine what you want. 
16. Create a family agreement. 
17. Effort over outcome. Progress vs. perfection. 
18. Listen to your kids. 
19. Have self-worth. Respect your body. 
20. Help your kids develop resilience by allowing them to fail. 
21. When something bad happens to your child react in love, not in fear. 
22. Be careful with parental expectations & don't stress out your kids. 
23. Don't worry too much about how your child acts when they are 6, because it isn't who they will be at 18. 
24. Get off their backs!

On Wednesday October 5, PC-TAG, HPMS and MIS welcomed Ann Batenburg, Ph.D., who serves as a clinical associate professor of Gifted Education in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University to explain the importance of a growth mindset to parents, administrators and counselors.  Dr. Batenburg's presentation "Your Mindset Matters" was designed to provide parents with the tools they need to assist their students in developing a growth mindset.  Dr. Batenburg will be speaking to students campus wide at HPMS and MIS in four separate grade level assemblies during October.  The student assemblies are open to ALL 5th- 8th grade students.  If you missed her first parent presentation, be sure to come to her second on December 6th from 10:00-11:30 am in MIS 5/6 assembly room.  Dr. Batenburg’s October presentation is available here.   And Dr. Batenburg created an online forum to allow further discussion among separate parent and student groups.  The Canvas course: Growth Mindset and Social Emotional Learning for parents and students.  To access the course, you can self-enroll https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following code: YA7RPP.  
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Please join us for our next TAG program on October 18 at 9:00 am at McCullough Intermediate School in the 5/6 Assembly room to hear several counselors from Lifeworks discussing identifying depression, anxiety, stress in our children and how to deal with it. We hope to see you there

Mrs. Mobh teaches fourth grade at Armstrong Elementary and was selected from teacher candidates across Highland Park's campuses.  A fifteen year teaching veteran, she was selected because she inspires and challenges her students.  Ashraf Mobh was nominated by parents who praised her dedication, creativity and inspirational teaching style.  Many of whom described how Mobh has introduced global perspectives through literature, participating in Skypes and interviewing outside speakers. 

 PC-TAG's Julie Young and Amy Peck presented the award to Ashraf Mobh on May 18 in front of a classroom of her cheering students and Principal Skip Moran.  Through its annual Teacher of the Year award, PC-TAG seeks to recognize those HPISD teachers who through their instruction significantly impact the lives of their students by embracing and recognizing the educational, social and emotional needs of gifted children. ​
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