Houston Attending National Conference on Gifted Children in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Heather Houston, director of the Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi, is attending the National Association for Gifted Children's Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Washington D.C. this week. Dr. Houston will join Connie West, president of the Mississippi Association for Gifted Children, as the only two from the state attending the event.

The conference is designed to provide information to key stakeholders in each state regarding the current legislation under consideration that impacts gifted and talented education. Dr. Houston said of particular concern to many attendees of the conference is a potential loss of funding for the Jacob K. Javits Act, which is the only dedicated source of Federal support for gifted and talented children.  Dr. Houston

“I'm excited about attending this event and returning with information that valuable to parents and teachers of gifted students throughout the state,” Dr. Houston said.

The Karnes Center for Gifted Studies, housed in the USM College of Education and Human Sciences, provides support for teachers of gifted and academically talented students and their families, and has impacted public policy in Mississippi and across the nation to improve gifted education curriculum and funding. Thousands of students have enrolled in the Center's popular Leadership, Saturday Gifted Studies, Summer Gifted Studies and Summer Academically Talented Youth programs over the years, which offer courses and enrichment/accelerated programming and activities taught and facilitated by qualified educators and presenters from professional backgrounds.

Learn more about USM's Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at https://www.usm.edu/karnes-gifted.