Mensa Scholarship Essay Competition Open

The Mensa Scholarship Essay competition opened September 15, 2017 and will remain open until 11:59 p.m. Central Time, January 15, 2018.

The Mensa Foundation scholarship program is an essay contest that is open to all students who are enrolled in a U.S. college or university in the academic year following the award. Applicants write 550-word essays that describe their educational and/or career goals. Entries are judged solely on content – including grammar. No financial information needed or considered for awards. You do not have to be a member to be eligible for the public scholarships, and there also are 2 scholarships for a Mensa member and/or member’s dependent.

NO PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION CAN APPEAR IN THE ESSAY OR IT WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

There are 3 unrestricted National Awards, 2 unrestricted Local Awards, and 4 unrestricted Regional Awards.

In addition, there are restricted special category scholarships for:

  • Graduate student planning a career in professional writing, teaching English grammar and/or writing.
  • Study of aeronautical engineering or an aerospace field.
  • A female returning to school after any absence of 7 or more years.
  • Pursuing a degree in Natural Sciences or Mathematics.
  • Study for an undergraduate liberal arts degree (BA or AA)
  • Graduate study in history.
  • Study in journalism.
  • Pursuing a degree in the Art, including creative writing and journalism.
  • Pursuing a degree in the Fine Arts.
  • For a Veteran.
  • For study in interpersonal communication, mediation or related study.
  • Study in Fine Arts that include applied arts such as architecture, photography, ceramics and textiles.
  • For an LGBT applicant.

Four scholarships were new last year:

  • 4 Paws and a Tail ? $600.00
    Restricted to graduate level studies or continuing education of an established Veterinarian
  • Dr. Peter M. Kendall Science Scholarship ? $600.00
    Restricted to the Natural Sciences including but not limited to Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Geology, Environmental Science, Forestry, Pre?Med, Pre?Dent
  • STEM Scholarship ? $2,000.00
    For natural and applied science, technology, and math majors
  • Carol Martinez Scholarship ? $2,500.00
    Restricted to the field of information technology

To apply go to: www.mensafoundation.org/scholarships

Michigan Association for Gifted Children Annual Conference

Have Gifted Children?  Work with Gifted Children?  Have questions about education for Gifted Children in Michigan?  Here’s the perfect event for you!

Come and join our friends at the annual Michigan Association for Gifted Children (MAGC) conference, Saturday, October 21st, 2017 at the Roeper School, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

If you are a parent, educator, or friend of gifted children, this conference is for you!

The team at MAGC has put together  a great list of speakers, including:

  • Tom Clynes – Opening Keynote Speaker, Author, The Boy Who Played With Fusion
  • Dr. Michele Kane – Closing Keynote Speaker, Living with Asynchrony: Living with Intensities Gifted Education Program, Northeastern Illinois University
  • Andy Mahony, Mark Talaga – Center for Identity Potential
  • Ellen Fiedler, Sherry Sparks – MAGC

Please feel free to share this information with other interested parents or teachers. Looking forward to seeing you there!

More details.
Register here.

September Monthly Gathering – Scam Class 101

Join us for an entertaining and informative evening designed to help raise awareness of one of the most prevalent, yet little known and under-reported types of crimes. Sadly, scams are also crimes that are often perpetrated upon our most vulnerable populations; the poor and elderly. Learn how to not be a victim of: utility worker impersonators, pigeon drops, police impersonators, computer and phone scams, and more! Our guest presenter, Robert Haig, a 27-year
veteran of the Detroit Police Department, will relate his first-hand experiences with these most insidious crimes; from identifying, to targeting and surveillance, to final prosecution.

Robert Haig was born and raised in southwest Detroit. At the age of twenty-five, he joined the Detroit Police Department and remained on the force for twenty-seven years. He walked away from a career he truly loved, bitter over the politics and inept command structures he had witnessed, and decided to write a book. Choosing the title was easy, as he had ten different
chiefs in his first twenty-five years of service. According to Mr. Haig, some were good, most were horrible. “Ten Little Police Chiefs” is his story.

Forewarned is forearmed! Join us on Saturday September 16 to learn more about scams, why they are so effective, and yet often go unreported! Actual items recovered from suspects being investigated will be available for your examination.

DATE
Saturday, September 16, 2017

TIME
Mingling begins at 7:00pm, program at 8:00pm

ADMISSION (Exact change appreciated)
Adult members: $4, or a strip of 4 tickets for $12
Adult guests: $5
Children 12 and under: $2
Members receive free admission
in the month of their birthday

LOCATION
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church
23925 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

AFTERWARDS
The gathering adjourns to –
Buddy’s
31646 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

August Member Gathering – Cluttered Lives, Empty Souls: Compulsive Stealing Spending and Hoarding

DESCRIPTION

  • Have you ever shoplifted? About 1 out of 10 Americans shoplift regularly and 90% have shoplifted at least once.
  • Committed dishonesty in the workplace? 75% of Americans have committed some form of dishonesty in the workplace
  • Overshopped or overspent? Roughly 10% of Americans will experience a period of compulsive shopping, spending or buying.
  • Been embarrassed by your clutter and had a hard time letting go of things? 5% of Americans will suffer from a hoarding disorder.

Well, if you answered no to all of these, then you’re even more rare than a Mensa member! Most of us have either had some issues with–or known someone who had some issues with–stealing, spending and/or hoarding.

To learn more, join us on Saturday, August 19, when our guest speaker–attorney, addictions therapist, author and consultant– Terrence Shulman, founder and director of The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft & Spending, will guide us through an overview of these disorders.

A native Detroiter and longtime Southfield resident, Mr. Shulman has been featured on over 100 TV shows, notably CNN News, Fox Cable News, The Today Show, 48 Hours, The Discovery Channel, Oprah, and numerous local news programs. He’s written and published 4 books on addiction-recovery topics, including his latest from 2011: “Cluttered Lives, Empty Souls: Compulsive Stealing, Spending and Hoarding.” Mr. Shulman presents seminars and speaks at conferences both locally and nationally. And in 1992, he founded the support group C.A.S.A. (Cleptomaniacs And Shoplifters Anonymous)–one of the first groups of its kind–here in Southfield. C.A.S.A. now has 8 weekly groups meeting in Michigan, about 15 chapters in other states across the U.S., as well as online and phone support groups.
See more info at: www.theshulmancenter.com

DATE
Saturday, August 19, 2017

TIME
Mingling begins at 7:00pm, program at 8:00pm

ADMISSION (Exact change appreciated)
Adult members: $4, or a strip of 4 tickets for $12
Adult guests: $5
Children 12 and under: $2
Members receive free admission
in the month of their birthday

LOCATION
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church
23925 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

AFTERWARDS
The gathering adjourns to –
Buddy’s
31646 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

Slides from “Paint With All the Colors of Wine!”

Presented by Kathleen Giesting and Spencer Wolff at SEMMantics 2017.

There are more choices than Red or White or Rose! Let’s look (and taste) a rainbow of colors you may not have realized exist. No artistic experience required. It’s all about the grapes and how you treat them!

Download here: SEMMantics2017 Wine Tasting Slides

Questions may be sent to Kathleen at ‘kgiesting at gmail.com’