Get Involved

Getting involved with BVPAGE will give you access to a wealth of information and other parents who are or have been in your shoes - with kids aged elementary to high school, and even into college. It's also a great opportunity to support our teachers and the Blue Valley Gifted Community.

Here are some ways you can get involved in BVPAGE:

General Membership

General membership is open to anyone who has an identified, in-process or high-ability child, in Blue Valley or in any other district. We don't check IEPs at the door! Join our mailing list, subscribe to announcement updates, and join us on Facebook to get information about meetings. To cover our costs and to allow us to grant money to gifted teachers, we do charge for some events. However, our coffee events and daytime meetings, along with several other events, are open to general members at no charge.

Join Our Mailing List

Stay up to date on our latest meeting and events by subscribing to our monthly newsletter. Due to privacy laws, BVPAGE is not notified when a child is identified as gifted. Please join our email distribution list to receive monthly emails.

Facebook

We are also active on Facebook. We have a closed Facebook Group where you can talk with other parents between meetings. This is a great way to stay up on BVPAGE happenings. Please note: in order to join the closed group, you MUST answer the membership questions.

Volunteer with BVPAGE

There are many ways to get involved in BVPAGE. All of our members are welcome - and encouraged - to volunteer.

Committees

Committees are a great place to start. There are a variety of ways to help and a time commitment to fit almost any lifestyle. We even have some great volunteer opportunities for students! Please contact the specific Committee Chair or be on the lookout for the sign up, if one is indicated.

Gifted Teachers Professional Learning Day Treats Committee

Summary: BVPAGE provides refreshments and treats for all of the Gifted Education teachers in the district to enjoy during their Professional Development Day. This includes breakfast type finger foods and drinks and afternoon snacks and drinks. We coordinate with District; plan and purchase the food, drinks, and necessary serving items; create a small treat with a fun twist; set up the food in the early morning; and clean up/pick up the leftovers at the end of the day (if needed).

Date: Usually the last day of Spring Break in March, when teachers are back in school, but students are not. This should generally be considered when volunteering for this committee.

Location: Varies

Committee Chair: 1 (President)

Plan, organize, and oversee the event.

Committee Volunteers: 1-2 - OPEN

Assist with planning 2-4 weeks before event, and setup and cleanup the day of event.

Time Commitment: Minimal

Brain Blizzard Committee

Summary: Brain Blizzard is BVPAGE’s Knowledge and Trivia Contest for Blue Valley 7th & 8th grade gifted students. The contest was developed to allow the gifted kids from different middle schools to meet each other and to have fun seeing what they know. The contest is held in or around February, when there are not too many competing activities. The trivia questions come from a variety of sources and many may be recycled every other year so that they are not repeated for students who attend in both seventh grade and eighth grade. There isn’t any big honor that comes with winning this contest, just bragging rights and fun prizes.

Date: Weekend day in February or March

Location: TBD - Scheel’s sporting goods for the first four years

Committee Co-Chairs: 2

Plan, organize, and oversee the event. Choose the date, find the venue, arrange for snacks, develop the site (Google docs) for signing up, create flyer and distribute through District to middle school gifted teachers, find other volunteers to help during the contest, choose questions and confirm answers (if needed), find donations for goody bags and prizes, and make name tags. Chairs have a notebook with historical information and important notes.

Time Commitment: Moderate

Committee Volunteers: 2-3 (OPEN)

Assist the Co-Chairs on the day of the event with scoring, snack management, setup, cleanup, and whatever else they need.

Time Commitment: Minimal

Student Volunteers: 2-4 high school students

Act as Graders, Runners, and Tech Support for the duration of the event. The volunteers receive service hours.

Time Commitment: Very Minimal - day of event.

Summer Opportunities Fair Committee

Summary: Summer Opportunities Fair connects vendors offering gifted and high ability summer camps and programs with students and families in a single location. Families drop in to visit with vendors and get information about offerings.

Date: First or second Tuesday in February

Location: Hilltop Campus

Committee Chair: 1

Plan, organize, and oversee the event.

Time Commitment: Moderate, but over eight months

Committee Volunteers: 3-4 (OPEN)

Attend and participate in committee meetings (usually only 1 or 2); proofread and give feedback on vendor and attendee invitations in a timely manner; suggest and research possible vendors; assist with distributing invitations through personal contacts and social media, assist with obtaining items needed for event (i.e. balloons, bottled water), staff the event as greeters, assist with setup and cleanup of event, attend the follow-up committee meeting to celebrate and make notes for next year. (This is not a demanding job for committee members. Most of our work is done by email. The most intensive work for committee members is at the event itself, but we divide up the tasks so no one has to do it all.)

Time Commitment: Minimal to moderate, but over eight months

Student Volunteers: 2 high school students

Help at the event with setup and greeting. The volunteers receive service hours.

Time Commitment: Very Minimal - one evening

Board & Leadership Positions

Feeling brave? Consider taking on a more active position! We are a fully volunteer organization and we are always looking for people who want to be more involved.

Our board is typically comprised of the following, but positions and titles change as needed.

Executive Board

President*

Vice President*

Treasurer*

Secretary* - OPEN

General Board

Membership Chair - OPEN

PR/Marketing Chair

Social Media and Website Chair - OPEN
Brain Blizzard Co-Chairs

Summer Opportunities Fair Chair

Outreach Coordinator

Advisory Members (up to 3, chosen by the Executive Board as needed)

While not necessarily voting board members, these specialized leadership positions can be in conjunction with a board position or stand-alone.

SENG Liaison

Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) Liaison

BV2E Liasion