A member of the Kiowa and Comanche tribes, Tonemah directed the first office of Native American Programs at Dartmouth, testified to Congress on Native American students鈥� needs, and wrote commissioned reports on K-12 gifted education best practices for talented indigenous students.

鈥淭his is a very fun project for me. Lots of scholarship is fun but this study is a delightful walk down memory lane,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚 met Stuart Tonemah twice in my life. He was extremely kind and made quite an impression. He was easy to talk with and always interested in whatever early career scholars were doing. He was incredibly innovative in advocating for the development of programs for gifted and talented Native American youth.鈥�

In 1969, Tonemah established the National Indian Education Association to advocate, plan, and promote the unique and special education needs of American Indian and Alaska Native people. It has grown into the largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native educators, administrators, parents, and students in the country, providing a much-needed forum for the issues affecting the education of Native people in the U.S.

鈥淗e was one of the few Native American scholars interested in gifted education,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淗e did a lot of work for the U.S. Department of Education, served on presidential commissions, and was a skilled diplomat. He wrote and published in the field when not many Native American scholars were interested in gifted education. He also started a foundation in Oklahoma to assist with all kinds of projects to develop talents among Native American students.鈥�

Tonemah passed away in 2009. Robinson has been collecting information on Tonemah鈥檚 life through newspaper articles, scholarly work, and even a family Facebook page celebrating his life.

鈥淎 Kiowa educator, Stuart鈥檚 life and work are exemplars for educational advocacy and action today,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淒r. Tonemah lived much of his life in Oklahoma where there are family and tribal community members whose perspectives are critical to this research project. I found the Tonemah family Facebook page. There are clips of Stuart talking with community members at gatherings, and those are just precious.鈥�

Robinson had the opportunity to learn more about Tonemah鈥檚 life through interviews and a trip to visit with his daughters, Carrie Tonemah Parks and Jennie Tonemah Underwood, at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Surrounded by photos and scrapbooks, she learned endearing details about his life. In 1961, Tonemah earned the nickname of 鈥淕olden Toes Tonemah鈥� and helped lead the Oklahoma Junior College football team to .

Robinson also learned about Tonemah鈥檚 dedication to providing summer educational programs for American Indian children. He started Project Eagle as a summer camp for American Indian adolescents and their families. Another summer project, Explorations in Creativity, was a four-week summer program for American Indian high schoolers held at Riverside School in Oklahoma, a former boarding school. One of Tonemah鈥檚 daughters attended the camp, while another served as a camp counselor and met her future husband there.

鈥淔ortunately for us, Dr. Tonemah鈥檚 research ended up published in the scholarly literature and in governmental reports, but it鈥檚 clear to me now that I鈥檝e only seen a tiny portion of the projects he created,鈥� she said.

Robinson has presented her biographical research to the American Educational Research Association and the National Association for Gifted Children. She also wrote a blog for the National Association for Gifted Children that traces Tonemah鈥檚 influence. In the future, she would also like to include his story in a second volume of a book project she edited, 鈥淎 Century of Contributions to Gifted Education: Illuminating Lives.鈥� It represents a history of the field of gifted, creative, and talented education told through life stories of influential scholars in the field.

鈥淗is story needs to be documented and shared in a permanent way,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat is most distinct about his life is how he influenced not one but two educational movements 鈥� gifted, creative, and talented education and Native American education. Few figures in educational history influence more than one area of inquiry. He was such a humble person that he didn鈥檛 particularly make sure we knew about all of the wonderful things he accomplished. He made a significant impact. Even 15 years after his death, I don鈥檛 think his whole story has been told. We have more to learn from Stuart Tonemah.鈥�

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The (NAGC), the nation鈥檚 leading organization focused on the needs of gifted and talented children, awarded the Jodie Mahony Center employees with the 2023 Professional Learning Network Award. The award recognizes an individual, institution, or organization for planning and implementing sustained professional development on gifted education given to educators and service providers in PreK-12 or higher education.

The award recipients include Dr. Ann Robinson, director; Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director; Dr. Monica Meadows, research associate and technical assistance director; Dr. Jill Adelson, Adelson Research and Consulting; and Kristy Kidd, technical assistance associate.

The Jodie Mahony Center team received the award for professional development delivered to gifted education professionals and second- and third-grade teachers participating in the STEM+C2 program.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the STEM+C2 program is an evidence-based school intervention project designed to identify promising students through universal screening and provide services to gifted and talented second and third grade students, including students from underrepresented populations.

鈥淭he project really got underway in 2019,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淭he project is in about 20 schools, and it serves well over 1,000 children every year. This is focused on Arkansas kids, Arkansas teachers, and Arkansas schools. It engages kids and teachers, and it produces achievement and engagement outcomes for STEM learning.鈥�

Through professional development, STEM+C2 prepares second- and third-grade teachers in gifted, creative, and talented education with summer institutes and academic year support. The professional development equips teachers with content related to STEM disciplines, strategies to identify promising students from underrepresented groups, and a STEM+C2 toolkit with engineering design challenges and computer science explorations.

The program also prepares teachers to implement 鈥淏lueprints for Biography: Computer Science Series鈥� in their classrooms. Developed by researchers at the Jodie Mahony Center, the series features STEM innovators Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace, and Raye Montague, the 2019 recipient of the Fribourgh Award at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.

April Blackburn, gifted and talented coordinator and teacher for Bigelow School District, spoke about the advantages regarding implementing STEM+C2 professional development in her school district.

鈥淚t was an all-around great experience for myself, my teachers, and my students,鈥� Blackburn said. 鈥淚 felt like we got a lot more out of how to find those STEM ideas for our students and how to make them into STEM thinkers. I thought it was a brilliant program all around. I would love us to keep it going and get it to where it goes to all schools. This can be a movement in our state.鈥�

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The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the nation鈥檚 leading organization focused on the needs of gifted and talented children, has awarded Sheyanne Smith, a graduate student from Lincoln, Nebraska, the Master鈥檚 and Specialist Award.

The Masters and Specialist Award is presented to those who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and in increasing knowledge about and creating positive classroom and community environments.

鈥淚 am truly honored to win this award,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t is a priority for me to do everything to my fullest capability, and that includes maintaining a full-time job and being a graduate student. Winning the Master’s and Specialist Award means that I must be doing something pretty well!鈥�

Smith earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in English and a master鈥檚 degree in teaching from Belmont University. She has been working in gifted and talented education for five years, starting as a teaching assistant at Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth and following up as a middle school gifted teacher in Tennessee.

Smith now serves as the director of high ability learning at the Nebraska Department of Education, where she follows her passion for bridging the gaps between research, policy, and classroom practice. She is also pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in gifted, talented, and creative education from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock

鈥淭he program at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has been invaluable,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 have the flexibility to follow my classwork with my job whilst still having strong guidance and support from my professors. Everything has been directly transferable to the real world, and that has really expanded my abilities. Through my degree, I am gaining a better understanding of designing and analyzing research and interventions to best support initiatives in Nebraska.鈥�

Smith is grateful to her professor, Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, for nominating her for the award.

鈥淗er recognition of my potential is empowering,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲hen I got the call that I won, I was shocked. A recognition at the national level is indescribable. What I love most about this award is that it is a reflection of the dedicated educators, professors, and colleagues that make my work to support gifted students possible.鈥�

Robinson notes, 鈥淪heyanne is a busy professional in an important leadership role in gifted education at the Nebraska Department of Education. I鈥檓 delighted that she selected the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock masters program in Gifted, Creative and Talented Education for her graduate preparation. Not only is she receiving an award from NAGC this year, she appears multiple times on the program as an early leader in the field. We are proud of all her accomplishments and know there are many, many more to come!鈥�

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The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the nation鈥檚 leading organization focused on the needs of gifted and talented children, has awarded Lauren Smithey, a graduate student from Cabot, Arkansas, the Javits-Frasier Scholar Award.

The Javits-Frasier Scholars Program is a unique professional development opportunity for teachers, school counselors/psychologists, and others who work in Title I schools and are passionate about helping all gifted children. The program provides scholars with a travel stipend and complimentary registration to attend the NAGC Annual Convention, a professional mentor from the NAGC community, and a two-year membership to the NAGC.

鈥淲hen I first was informed about receiving the Javits-Frasier Scholarship Award, I was overjoyed,鈥� Smithey said. 鈥淭here is always a need and desire to create more equitable, diverse access to gifted education, which this program strives to achieve. It is not just an award but a commitment to the ideals of Dr. Mary Frasier (an internationally recognized scholar and researcher in gifted education) in further identifying and servicing underrepresented populations in gifted education.鈥�

Smithey serves as the gifted and talented facilitator at Indian Hills Elementary in North Little Rock, the District II representative on the Arkansans for Gifted Talented Education (AGATE) Board, and the volunteer coordinator/materials manager for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Summer Laureate University for Youth (SLUFY) program. She is also pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in gifted, talented, and creative education from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock

鈥淲hat I have come to discover while on the path to achieving this degree is a wonderful sense of belonging,鈥� Smithey said. 鈥淚t’s akin to finding a group of people who not only speak the same language as you but happen to also have the same accent and the same mannerisms. I came into the program at the height of the pandemic and from a very dark place, so I am unafraid to say that this program helped save me from drowning. What I have encountered is an onslaught of highly educated professionals who are eager to assist in any way they can just for the sake of helping.鈥�

Smithey is grateful to her 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professors and North Little Rock School District colleagues who have helped advance her career in gifted and talented education.

鈥淚 would not be where I am today without the grace and guidance of Dr. Ann Robinson, Dr. Christine Deitz, Dr. Monica Meadows, and the Jodie Mahoney Center,鈥� Smithey said. 鈥淢y colleagues at North Little Rock both past and present have been instrumental in my growth as an educator: Mrs. Bonnie Curlin, Dr. Amber Harbin, Mrs. Kay Adams, Mrs. Tina Johnston, Mrs. Elena Reyes Lovins, Mrs. Karen Moss-Newburn, Mrs. Mindy Bissett, Mrs. Nancy Simpson, Mrs. Kim Fonville, Mrs. Heather Theodore, and Mr. Kris Smith. My gratitude to every one of these individuals is never-ending, and I thank them so much.鈥�

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