Baylor Hosts Conference For Teachers, Gifted Students Feb. 28-March 1

February 7, 2003

by Lori Scott Fogleman

Baylor University's School of Education and the Center for Community Learning and Enrichment will host the 14th annual "Interdisciplinary Creative Problem Solving Conference" for gifted students and their teachers Feb. 28 through March 1 on the Baylor campus.
Educators from throughout Texas will see how master teachers build an interdisciplinary curriculum for their students by using the Creative Problem Solving process (CPS). Teachers will observe laboratory classrooms as students in grades 8-12 are presented with a complex crisis, then begin a 10-hour journey to a workable solution. The conference also will allow teachers to participate in small group discussions, network with other educators and gather innovative teaching ideas, lesson plans and strategies for their classrooms. In addition, Baylor will present teachers who complete the conference with 12 hours of gifted professional development credit.
During the gifted student conference, young people in grades 8-12 will explore and solve a worldwide crisis given to them at the beginning of the conference. As student teams develop a solution, they will create and perform an original skit with their team members and use the university's computers to design a creative pamphlet, banner and PowerPoint presentation to outline their solutions. Students also will eat in Baylor dining halls and enjoy a time of fun and games on the Baylor campus.
The deadline to register is Monday, Feb. 10. Registration fees are $90 for teachers and $75 for students, and include materials, dinner and lunch, as well as a t-shirt for students. The conference begins with early registration at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 28, in the Draper Academic Building. The conference begins at 3 p.m. Friday and ends at 4 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, contact Dr. Mary Witte, director of the Center for Community Learning and Enrichment, at (254) 710-2171, or visit the center's web site at www.baylor.edu/SOE/CCLE/.