Yunasa Summer Camp for the Gifted

• Overview
• Brochure
  
• Faculty
• Program Cost
• Parent Participation
• Application Information
• Nomination 

Overview

Yunasa, the Lakota word meaning balance, is a weeklong camp experience for highly gifted youth. The mission of Yunasa is to teach campers techniques and skills for integrating the intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and physical aspects of their lives. Yunasa is devoted to reminding bright young people that they are more than just intellect. The Institute for Educational Advancement's (IEA's) trained staff provide campers with a physically and emotionally safe environment where each camper gains new confidence and skills and is challenged to achieve their personal best while making new friends and having fun!

Yunasa campers are highly gifted individuals between the ages of 10 and 14 who are performing at the middle school level or above, are ready to explore the natural environment, gain new confidence and skills, meet new friends, and be challenged to achieve their personal best.

Yunasa will take place from July 25 - August 1, 2010 at Camp Copneconic in Fenton, Michigan.

Camp Copneconic provides the ideal setting for Yunasa. It is an all-inclusive camp, complete with swimming, canoeing, campfires, archery, ropes courses, arts & crafts and much more. In addition to its wide variety of traditional camp activities, the peaceful lakeside setting at Camp Copneconic serves as the perfect backdrop to guided imagery sessions and small group workshops led by Yunasa's esteemed faculty.

Faculty

Yunasa faculty includes the IEA's Senior Fellows, all of whom are nationally known experts in the field of gifted education.

Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D.: Dr. Gatto-Walden is a licensed psychologist who has worked holistically with thousands of gifted and profoundly gifted children, adolescents and adults for three decades. In her adjunct educational consulting practice, she has helped parents, educators and administrators understand and accept the multifaceted inner world and needs of gifted individuals. She additionally provides two-day comprehensive family retreats, entitled "educational consulting and family renewal", which blends counseling and consulting services.

Elizabeth Meckstroth: Ms. Meckstroth earned a Masters in Counseling Education and a Masters in Social Work. She has worked in the field of gifted education since 1979, serving families and their social/emotional and educational issues. She has published numerous articles and is a co-author of Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom, Guiding the Gifted Child, and Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K-5. Her work focuses primarily on self-development and the highly gifted.

Michael M. Piechowski: Dr. Piechowski is the author of "Mellow Out" They Say. If I Only Could. Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright. Earning a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology as well as Counseling Psychology, he served as a faculty member at four universities. He has published extensively in both scholarly and popular journals in the areas of emotional development, developmental potential of the gifted, and emotional and spiritual giftedness. He is one of the original designers of Yunasa.

Elizabeth Jones: Prior to assuming her current position as president and founder of IEA, she served for 10 years as the Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and Director of the Western Region. Ms. Jones has worked with learning disabled students and designed and implemented exemplary nationally recognized programs for gifted and highly gifted children. She consults with individual students, families and schools regarding needs of gifted children.

Stephanie Tolan: Ms. Tolan is the author of more than 25 books for children and young adults. She has won the Newbery Honor for her book Surviving the Applewhites and the Christopher Award for Listen! in addition to several state young reader awards. An international lecturer and advocate for the gifted, she is also the co-author of the classic, Guiding the Gifted Child , and the author of "Is It a Cheetah?" an article about the needs of highly gifted children that has been translated into more than forty languages.

Dan Tichenor: Dan Tichenor is a journalist, editor, storyteller, and teacher of gifted and special needs students. He is also the Dad of six gifted (now adult) kids and has been active in summer programs for gifted kids in the college and private school sector. Dan is a firm believer in the notion of "taking it outside" and his activities are firmly rooted in being outdoors and in learning from the environment. Dan received his Bachelors Degree in journalism and has two Masters Degrees in teaching from Northeastern Illinois University.

Program Cost

The tuition for those who apply before April 20, 2010 is $1,200. The tuition for those applying after April 20, 2010 is $1,300. This includes housing, food, activity fees and supplies. There is a $50 non-refundable Application Fee that will be applied towards the cost of tuition.

Refer a friend to any 2010 IEA program and receive a $25 discount off the cost of your Yunasa tuition when he/she attends!  (One referral discount per camper; referred student must identify you as the referrer.)

A limited number of scholarships are available. Those applying for scholarships should submit their applications by the early application deadline, April 20, 2010.

For more information, please email the Program Coordinator and indicate "Yunasa Scholarship Inquiry" in the subject line.

Parent Participation

Participation in Yunasa also includes an opportunity for parents to gather with Yunasa faculty members to discuss the unique challenges of raising a gifted child and to develop the skills necessary to meet his/her needs. The date for the 2010 parent session will be announced soon.

Application Information

• Applicant Information
• Essay-style Questions
• Academic History (includes GPA or progress report, standardized test scores, etc.)
• Letters of Support
• Signatures

Nomination

If you know a student who would benefit from participating in Yunasa, you can nominate the student by sending an email to Yunasa Nomination . Please be sure to include contact information for the student in your email.

Final Deadline

Applications must be postmarked by June 5, 2010 to receive consideration.