Join Us for the Opportunity & Access Symposium, May 29!

By Debi Torres and Jolene Teske

On behalf of our colleagues on the NAGC Symposium Planning Group, we are excited to share the new Opportunity & Access Symposium on May 29, 2025 with our NAGC community. This rebrand of the NAGC Equity Symposium brings you a unique approach to learning about current education trends at a lower cost through a 1-day virtual event. Here is a sampling of the sessions that will be offered:

• Making Space for Familial Partnerships and Cultural Appreciation

• In Full Color: Historical Consciousness in Education

• Teaching for Culturally Responsive Creativity

• Bridging Multidimensional Identification and Local Norms

• Expanding Access: K-2 Enrichment as a Gateway to Talent Development

The event will also feature a keynote session by María del Carmen Salazar, professor and researcher at the University of Denver, Con Promesa: Nurturing the Promise and Gifts of “Roses that Grow in Concrete”. In this session, Dr. del Carmen Salazar will share testimonies of her own experiences as a rose that grew from concrete. Her stories, research, and scholarship elucidate the importance of asset-based perspectives and inclusive strategies in meeting the needs of historically marginalized gifted and talented students and their families.

Based on your positive feedback, we are hosting another student panel this year. Dr. Joy Lawson Davis and Dr. Erinn Fears-Floyd will moderate the discussion with NAGC Jenkins Scholars and Excelencia Latina award winners. The multiage and culturally diverse student panel will share their experiences, thoughts, and hopes for how schools can improve services to meet their unique intellectual and social-emotional needs. This special event is sure to leave a lasting impression and help us all improve the opportunities we offer to gifted students in our local communities.

Why should you attend the Opportunity & Access Symposium?

• Hear lived experiences from real voices

• Build your capacity to improve opportunity and access in your sphere of influence

• Share the struggle of current trends in American society

• Energize yourself with knowledge and shared successes

We must adjust our personal journeys as we navigate current distractions to ensure that all means ALL in gifted education. This includes zeroing in on specific words and practices that support this vital work. We realize educators have limited time and finances, so the Symposium Planning Group rebranded the previous Equity Symposium as a 1-day event to make it easier for everyone to attend the 2025 Opportunity & Access Symposium. 

We hope you’ll consider joining us and your fellow educators for this year’s Opportunity & Access Symposium!