Gifted Resources

Looking for resources for your gifted students? There are many free and low-cost opportunities in our area and online. Here's where to start:

Free ACT Prep

Great Expectations is a boutique college prep company that offers one-on-one test preparation, college counseling, and athletic recruitment counseling, among other services. We are thrilled to be accepting nominations for our community outreach program. We provide each student with 15 free hours of remote ACT prep (ten 1.5-hour sessions), and we provide all of the materials. The only thing we ask in return is that the student fill out an online survey upon program completion to rate their tutor so we can assess his/her performance. Students enrolled in our outreach program are paired with tutors who are in the final process of our extensive tutor training program, enabling them to familiarize themselves with the curriculum and become more comfortable with the flow and structure of each session. Students are accepted to this program based on availability and eligibility* as spaces are limited.

Eligibility requirements

To qualify, students must be rising high school juniors or seniors and interested in applying to 4-year universities. Students must have access to online platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet for weekly tutoring sessions. Email addresses are required for the student and his/her parent or guardian in order to facilitate scheduling and receive weekly session reports/assignments from the tutor. Students must be ready to begin immediately and show up to all scheduled sessions on time.

Students must be nominated by a school counselor or non-profit organization. Please let us know if you have any current high school students who would be interested in this opportunity. Eligible students are assigned tutors on a first-come, first-served basis. For additional information or to find out whether you or someone you know qualifies for the program, please email us at contact@gecollegeprep.com or contact the office at (888) 917-7737.



In Your School
Many elementary schools and most middle schools and high schools offer a variety of clubs and after school programs. While the actual opportunities may vary by school, some popular programs are Science Olympiad, MathOlympiad, Odyssey of the Mind, MathCounts, and First Lego League (Robotics). Although teams may be staff-led, at the elementary and middle school level these activities often depend on parent support. Many after school programs will offer a chess club, computer science or gaming, or science activities. Contact your principal, after school coordinator, or the appropriate subject area teachers to find out more about what is offered at your school for a particular interest area.

Many schools also offer the AMC 8 (some Elementary and Middle Schools), or AMC10 and AMC12 (High School) and FCAG has long supported this in schools as well as, in the past, offering the AMC opportunity to students whose schools do not offer the competition. While the AMC was offered virtually this past year, only schools were approved to offer it online. Therefore, FCAG was unable to offer it directly to students this past year and we do not yet know whether FCAG will offer this next year.

In Your Community
Take advantage of opportunities within your pyramid. Many high schools not only offer drama productions and concerts but also STEM or science fair events that your student may enjoy. Often middle and high school honor society students need service hours, which they fulfill with projects or volunteer tutoring. High School students in your pyramid can also be a source for coaches or helpers for teams or events at the elementary and middle school level. TJHSST also offers programs for younger students such as the TJHSST Invitational Science Fair for grades 5-8 tjsciencefair.wordpress.com/about/ and Techstravaganza -- a STEM activity fair for families of students in elementary and middle school tjtechstrav.org/

Libraries are not just for books! Many have summer events, events throughout the school year, and some locations have 3D printers. During COVID closures, events have not been possible in person so libraries have been offering events online, such as online coding club, cyber safety and STEAM activities for elementary age students, and writing workshops and book club discussions for teens. For more information visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/events

FCPS Summer Programs
While FCPS's summer enrichment programs are fee programs, FCPS offers these at free or reduced rates. This summer, these programs are free to FCPS students who receive Free or Reduced Lunch.

• Tech Adventure Camp (TAC) is a weekly exploratory camp designed to give students the opportunity to explore STEAM, culinary, health, trades, business and marketing areas. Each of the 3 week-long programs has a different theme. The camp is open to students in grades 2-6 during the 2020-21 school year. For more information visit www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning-programs/camps-and-institutes-tech-adventure-camp
• IFTA (Institute for the Arts) is a 2 or 4 week summer program for grades 6-11, offering classes in art, dance, music, Theater, and, for high school students: Health/PE 9 and self-directed economics and personal finance www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning-programs/camps-and-institutes-institute-arts-ifta
• CTE Summer Academy (CSA) is a week-long (offered for 3 weeks) enrichment program that allows students to dive deeper into CTE program areas (such as family and consumer science, health and medical sciences, business and information technology, marketing, technology and engineering education, and trade and industrial programs), and encourages skill development and career exploration. The program is open to students in grades 7-11 during the 2020-21 school year. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning-programs/camps-and-institutes-CTE-summer-academy
  
  

AOPS Free Resources

• Alcumus is a free online learning system that adjusts to student performance to deliver appropriate problems and lessons for a customized learning experience. AOPS also offers fee-based live classes, books, videos, and other resources. For more information visit www.artofproblemsolving.com/alcumus
  
  
• MathCounts Trainer delivers MATHCOUNTS problems one at at time. A wonderful resource for preparing for MATHCOUNTS competition or just sharpening your math skills. For more information visit www.artofproblemsolving.com/mathcounts_trainer
  
  
• CrowdMath is an open project that gives all high school students the opportunity to collaborate on a large research project with top-tier research mentors and an exceptional peer group. MIT PRIMES and Art of Problem Solving are working together to create a place for students to experience research mathematics and discover ideas that did not exist before. The problems in the CrowdMath project are open, unsolved problems in mathematics. Discover new truths that were unknown before. For more information visit www.artofproblemsolving.com/polymath
  
  

Fairfax Math Circle
The Fairfax Math Circle (FMC) is a math enrichment program that focuses on exploration and problem-solving. It is a program dedicated to providing opportunities for motivated students to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of math. FMC works to expose students to math concepts they would not normally be exposed to in a traditional school setting. FMC is not designed as remedial math program, test prep or competition math. The FMC website provides links to additional math resources. For more information visit www.fairfax-mathcircle.org/

AlphaSTEM Free Resources
AlphaSTEM offers a variety of free programs. In addition to those listed below, they also offer Summer STEM Night, the When STEM Meets Art Contest, and the Phoenix Chinese Essay Contest. For more information visit alphastem.us

• Phoenix Chess Club features fun, annual events, open to all interested chess players!
  • Annual Phoenix All-Girls Chess Camp - Learn Chess from US Women Champions, and other National Girl Champions! This is a special non-profit event to encourage more girls to play chess!
  • VA State Chess Championship warm-up camp - Annual workshops, panel discussion, game analysis
  • Summer Puzzle Challenge!
  • National/SuperNational Team Tournament Training & workshops & more!
  • All-Star International Chess Camp & Friendship Tournament
  
  
  
• Alpha STEM Math Club - Math contests for all levels of aspiring mathletes! Team Alpha STEM won many National/Regional Champions for various Math tournaments.
  • Annual Girls Scholarship for Math
  • Summer Olympiad Challenge (for MOEMs fans)
  • Jr. Math & Logic
  • Mental Math Workshop & Contest
  • MathCounts Warm Up Tournament
  • AMC 10/12/AIME mock test
  • National/International Team competitions
  • Stanford Math Tournament, TJIMO, Purple Comet, Carderock, Johns Hopkins Math Tournament, LMT, Harvard-MIT Math Tournament, etc.
  
  
  Alpha STEM Coding Club - Come code fun games!
  • Fun Scratch Challenge
  • Summer Coding Contest
  • Hour of Coding
  
  
  Alpha STEM Physics Club - Learn about the way the world works
  • F=ma
  • Physics Bowl
  
  
  Athena Writing Center (STEM-focused Essay Writing Team Contest)
  • Future Problem Solving State Bowl - Team Alpha STEM won VA State Champion twice in a row
  • Future Problem Solving International competition - Team Alpha STEM qualified for International twice in a row

Khan Academy Free Resources
Khan Academy is a non-profit offering free personalized learning for students to work at their own pace. Courses are available across a variety of subjects for students ranging from pre K to high school and college (including AP and SAT test preparation) for math, science, reading and language arts, Computer science, and arts and humanities. For more information visit www.khanacademy.org

Numberphile
Numberphile is a series of videos that explores numbers and mathematics in a variety of fields. This project is supported by MSRI, an independent non-profit mathematical research institution. For more information on MSRI visit www.msri.org For more the numberfile videos visit www.numberphile.com/

Hour of Code
Free coding activities and introduction to computer science. One hour tutorials for ages pre-K to High School https://hourofcode.com/us and the www.code.org site also links to other coding resources.

Girls Who Math
Girls Who Math offers free individual tutoring and group classes in math, science, and computer science subject areas to empower girls to pursue their interest in STEM. For more information visit www.girlswhomath.net

Girls Computing League
Girls Computing League is an non-profit focused on empowering girls to pursue their interest in computing through regional summits, project-based learning, and local support of scholars. For more information visit www.girlscomputingleague.org

mathAntics
mathAntics offers videos and worksheets on basic math in a fun way. It covers topics from numeracy (place value, rounding, decimals), arithmetic, and fractions through basic algebra, geometry, and statistics. For more information visit www.mathantics.com

expii
expii offers video, image and text explanations of math and science topics such as pre-algebra, algebra, and biology and also offers free Daily Middle Schedule Math Challenge Problems with (USA Math Olympiad Team Coach) Po-Shen Loh, free mock AMC and Math Counts tests, and a collection of interactive math puzzles. For more information visit www.expii.com

National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame offers a variety of STEM activities kids can do at home using simple materials. Examples include Fibonacci Design, Geology Detective, Make Your Own Movie Reel, and Pi Day Activities.. For more information visit www.girlscomputingleague.org

Do Re Mi Project
The Do Re Mi Project offers free elementary and middle school online music lessons including string instruments (including piano), woodwinds, brass, percussion, and voice as well as music theory and composition by connecting students with free tutors. There are also a limited number of scholarships available to help students with music expenses. Tutors are high school volunteers with at least 5 years of experience with their instrument. For more information visit www.doremiproject.org/

Remake Learning Days
Choose from over 40 free, hands-on activities where kids, families, and educators can make, play, code, design, tinker, and explore at the Remake Learning Days Festival held May 8-22. Events include in-person and virtual options. Experience this national celebration of innovation and creativity in education right here in our region.For more information visit remakelearningdays.org/dmv/

The National Math Festival
Held in the Spring of odd number years in Washington DC, the National Math Festival brings together some of the most fascinating mathematicians of our time to inspire and challenge all ages to see math in new and unexpected ways. The 2021 festival was online, and there are many resources available on the site including printable, hands-on activities. The National Math Festival is organized by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath). For more information visit www.nationalmathfestival.org

K-12 STEM Symposium - postponed until further notice
Tysons-based WashingtonExec hosts an annual STEM Symposium. The K-12 STEM Symposium is a free, exciting and all-day forum that equally engages children, parents, and teachers, coupled with corporate, government, academia, and non-profit volunteers alike from the STEM fields. Each attendee receives a 50+ page Parent-STEM Action Plan geared towards nurturing a child's curiosity towards the STEM fields. 3,000 students (first grade and above), parents, educators, nonprofit leaders, corporate leaders, and federal leaders with a vested interest in the National Capital Region's STEM pipeline are expected to attend.

More than 60 high-tech, engineering and science education, nonprofit, government, academic and industry organizations are represented through keynote and panel discussions, classroom breakout sessions, interactive exhibits, and top student science fair projects. Demonstrations include flight simulators, smallsats/drones, physics experiments, connected cars, 3D printers, robotics, and other exhibits aimed at students in kindergarten all the way through college. Other activities for the day include local student science fair projects presentations and STEM-related high school and college internship information.

The web site with more information is at http://www.stemsymposium.com

USA Computing Olympiad

The USA Computing Olympiad on-line programming contest schedule for the season is:

Contests are free and open to all. They are targeted specifically at pre-college students, although others may compete as observers, ranked separately.

Contests are available in several levels of difficulty. In response to feedback from our participants, they have now expanded to a set of four divisions: bronze (novice), silver (intermediate), gold (advanced), and platinum (elite).

1. Bronze-level problems are designed to be accessible and engaging for students who have learned how to program but who do not yet have any formal algorithmic training, although they are still designed to require creativity and "algorithmic thinking". Compared to the "old" bronze division, problems in the new bronze division are planned to be much more accessible to novice students.
2. Students in the silver division begin to encounter fundamental algorithms, such as recursive searching, "sort and scan" type algorithms, basic data structures, simple greedy algorithms, and others. Compared to the "old" silver division, problems in the new silver division are planned to be roughly between the old bronze and silver divisions in difficulty.
3. The gold division requires knowledge of more advanced algorithmic concepts, such as dynamic programming, various graph algorithms, and more advanced data structures. Compared to the "old" gold division, problems in the new gold division are planned to be roughly between the old silver and gold divisions in terms of difficulty.
4. Platinum problems are quite challenging, requiring clever combinations of sophisticated algorithmic ideas. These problems are intended to challenge even the very top competitors.

All new competitors start out in the bronze level, and earn promotion to higher levels by demonstrating excellent performance on a contest in their current level. Students can submit programs in C, C++, Java, Pascal, or Python. All contests are taken individually. Further technical details and rules are available here.

Beyond hosting contests, this website also offers hundreds of hours of free on-line training materials for those seeking additional resources to help improve their algorithmic coding skills. For additional practice, you can also view contest problems and their solutions from the past few years, and try submitting your own solutions to see if they are judged as correct.

The very best students in the USA who excel in these contests will be invited to attend the USACO summer training camp in late May, where they will receive advanced instruction and the opportunity to compete for membership in the 4-person team representing the USA at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), the most prestigious high-school computing contest at the international level.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.usaco.org