At NKU, smart is new cool

Kimberly Clayton-Code, Director of the Institute for Talent Development and Gifted Studies at Northern Kentucky University, would like to reach 6,000 students a year, doubling her five-year-old program's current rolls, witth programming that supports their academic gifts and allows them to meet like-minded peers and to flourish.

"These children’s needs are just as diverse as children across the spectrum," says Clayton-Code, who helped launch the institute at NKU five years ago. "They’re a group of students whose needs aren’t always attended to."

She notes that having high-profile "nerds" making news--people like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates--helps make some paths easier, but that the typical white-male image can make it more challenging for females and minorities to relate. 

That's why NKU hosts the ExploreMore Program for students in grades K-8, the Dreamfest Conference for grades 4-8 and the Young Women LEAD Conference, which welcomes 700 young women to the campus in October.

"Working with these children, seeing what they can do and where they can go – I’m just amazed at their level of knowledge and interest and thirst for learning," Clayton-Code says.

Do Good:

• Check out the ExploreMore brochure for fall 2012. 

• Like NKU on Facebook.

• Find out the latest offerings at the Institute on its Facebook page.

By Chris Graves