Exciting Events Coming This Fall

Welcome back to school everyone!

It was great meeting everyone at our Bring Your Own Picnic to the Presidio event earlier this August and we had a small furry friend crash our Mensa picnic!  Thanks to Karen Lee and her family for hosting the event and we hope to have another BYO picnic and possibly an event at the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk very soon.

Here’s the latest edition of SFRM’s Gifted Youth Corner:

• Reel Reads
• Make New Friends
  • GY activities at SFRM’s Regional Gathering
  • SFRM GY Special Interest Groups
• For the Grown-ups: GY Parents Special Interest Group

Fall Activities

REEL READS

I’m excited to share a monthly GY Zoom series called Reel Reads where we discuss popular books and compare them to their TV show/movie adaptations. Usually books are better than the movies, but sometimes a movie can bring a book to life!! For example, are you bummed they removed your favorite part or do you think they got the casting just right? Let’s talk about it! 🙂

This event is open to all gifted youth members and their parents or guardians of American Mensa and is sponsored by San Francisco Regional Mensa’s Gifted Youth Program.

This month’s Reel Read:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Sep 21, 2024 09:30 AM Pacific Time
Registration link: Contact the GYC

Make New Friends

GY ACTIVITIES AT SFRM’S REGIONAL GATHERING

Every year, SFRM hosts a Regional Gathering (RG) in a different location around our area where members and their friends get together for a weekend of activities, speakers, workshops, games, and lots of opportunities to meet new people and make new friends. This year, our RG is in San Rafael in Marin County on November 22-24 and it’ll be the first time we’ll have something for gifted youth!

All gifted youth activities will take place on Saturday, November 23rd so if you can’t stay the entire weekend, just stop by for one day. It’d be so neat to meet you in real life!

One of the RG highlights is the Gifted Youth Homeroom that’s a space dedicated for kids to hang out. Only youth and their grown-ups are allowed in this room and we’ll have members of our Gifted Youth Program there at all times to make sure you’re having a blast! The homeroom is open to all youth attendees – the more the merrier!

Other highlights of the weekend include:

• FREE testing for GY parents! Share Mensa with your gifted child. Email testing@sfmensa.org for more information and mention that I told you.
• Playtest an RPG game where YOU are the superhero!
• GY Parent presentations
  • Crucial Conversations with Your Gifted Teen
  • Light their Fire: The Brilliance of 2E/IG kids
  • …and more!
• GY-friendly presentations
  • Gonzo Trivia!
  • Making A Game: The Importance of Creativity
  • Mentally Multiply to 10,000 and Beyond!
  • …and more!

Find out more about SFRM’s Regional Gathering here or apply to be a speaker here. I’d love to see a gifted youth present!!!

SFRM GY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (SIGs)

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are organized around particular topics or interests and since Mensans’ interests are as diverse as Mensans themselves, joining a SIG is a great way to meet others who like the same things as you!

• Biblionasium Book Club (Age: 6-13)
  A fun, reading-focused and encouraging community of friends and family. Kids can log their reading, play games, complete reading challenges and earn rewards within a safe social network built especially for them.
• Goodreads Book Club (Age: 13-17)
  A cozy corner for bright minds aged 13-17 to discuss their favorite reads! This group is all about exploring exciting books, sharing insights, and connecting with fellow Young Mensans who love diving into a book. Whether you’re a die-hard bookworm or just getting into reading, there’s a place for you here.
• Teen Google Group (Age: 13-17)
  A space for teens to connect with each other on a Google Group email list. Feel free to share your thoughts, ask questions, and join the conversation. It’s a great way to meet other gifted youth and stay in the loop!

Learn more about and request to join a SIG here.

For the Grown-ups:

In addition to the Parents of SFRM Gifted Youth Ms group, I’m creating a National GY Special Interest Group (SIG) for all parents of Gifted Youth within American Mensa to connect with one another. Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are organized around particular topics or interests and you can see American Mensa’s full list of SIGs here: https://www.us.mensa.org/connect/sigs.

The reason for this group is that not all local groups have a Gifted Youth Coordinator and, for reasons that are too complicated to get into (bylaws, handbooks, fiduciary duties, etc.) it’s simpler for me to create the SIG. I understand that everyone has their preferred communication platform and I won’t be able to please everyone, but I have to think of what is best for the organizers for now which means that the SIG will be on Facebook.

Request to join the Gifted Youth Parents SIG. To become nationally recognized, we need to have at least 10 members before I can apply. Hope to see you there!

Keep in mind that this group doesn’t replace the SFRM GY Parents group so I hope to see you there as well.

That’s all for now. Hope to see you at Reel Reads in September and at SFRM’s RG in November!