Southern Miss News Briefs

Southern Miss Leadership Studies Program set for June 12-17

The Frances Karnes Center for Gifted Studies' Leadership Studies Program will be held June 12-17 on the University of Southern Mississippi's Hattiesburg campus. The one-week residential program is designed for students in grades 6 -11 who want to develop and enhance their leadership abilities.

Training will include those in areas necessary for leadership development, including: fundamentals of leadership; written and oral communication; group dynamics; problem-solving; planning; personal skills; and decision making. Avenues for becoming leaders in schools, communities, and religious affiliations will be utilized to heighten the awareness and development of leadership potential.

Students will be housed in dormitories on campus. Tuition includes room, board, recreational activities and limited accident insurance. Financial aid is available based on need, on a limited basis. The deadline for registration is March 31.

For additional information about the Leadership Studies Program, write The Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive #8207, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001; or call 601.266.5236; or e-mail gifted.studiesFREEMississippi. Information may also be found online at  http://www.usm.edu/gifted

Karnes Adds New Book to Series on Gifted Education

Dr. Frances A. Karnes, Distinguished University Professor of Gifted Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, along with Duke University Assistant Professor Dr. Kristen R. Stephens has co-edited another book in the Practical Strategies Series in Gifted Education, published by Prufrock Press.

Teaching Gifted Students in the Regular Classroomwas authored by Dr. Tracy Riley.  Riley specializes in gifted and talented education, and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in addition to supervising postgraduate research. She is the coeditor of the APEX: The New Zealand Journal of Gifted Education and is on the editorial board for Gifted Child Today. 

This book provides teachers with practical strategies for identifying and meeting the abilities and needs of gifted and talented students through differentiation in general classroom settings.

Appropriate learning for gifted and talented students is adjusted in pace, depth, and breadth through differentiated curricula that are both enriched and accelerated. This is often accomplished through segregated programs, within and outside school; however, the reality is that these students continue to spend the majority of their education in general classroom settings. 

Riley's work has been recognized with a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching and a national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr. Karnes is director of the Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies and a member of the faculty of the Southern Miss Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education (CISE). For more information on the Center, online visit https://www.usm.edu/karnes-gifted; for information on CISE, online visit www.usm.edu/cise