Released July 25, 2005

Hattiesburg– The Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi will hold its 22nd Annual Parenting Gifted Children Conference on Sept. 24, 2005. The event is offered to assist parents and other concerned adults to better understand the unique intellectual, academic, and social-emotional needs of the gifted and talented and to provide an opportunity to interact with leaders in gifted education from across the state and nation.

Dr. Sylvia Rimm, director of Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, will be the keynote speaker. Rimm's presentation is titled "Growing Up Too Fast: What Parents Can Do to Help Their Gifted Child." Rimm was a contributing correspondent for NBC's Today Show and was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in People magazine. She is also a clinical professor at Case School of Medicine in Cleveland.

Other sessions to be held during the conference include "Developing Parent Leadership," "Science and Your Gifted Child," "How to Start an MAGC Affiliate," "The Young Scientist," "Supporting Visually Artistic Children," "Instructional Management Plans," "Resources for Scientific Exploration" and "Appropriate Practices for Gifted Preschoolers."

The conference will be held in Joseph A. Green Hall on the university's Hattiesburg campus. The cost to attend is $30, and the deadline for registration is Sept. 10. For more information, call (601) 266-5236, e-mail gifted.studies@usm.edu, or visit our Web site at http://www.usm.edu/gifted.

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