AFCSLS Young Talents

The Young Talents Program

The objective is to help develop the talent of exceptionally gifted Czech and Slovak children to its potential. With Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth (CTY) we make available educational programs for these children. We intend to gradually expand - using CTY know-how to create a system to identify, motivate and support exceptionally gifted Czech and Slovak children all the way from the first grade to high school graduation, crowned with admission to some of the best universities in the world.

This year we start again with competition for participation in CTY summer programs. Nominated by their school directors, students with strong English skills and in the top 5% of their class in mathematics and science will have to submit online applications and write a two page essay in English. We are accepting applications for 2012. The submission deadline is February 29, 2012.

Limited funding forces us to give preference to students two to three years from high school graduation. They are beginning to think about universities and are likely to benefit most from this experience. About 30 will be invited for interviews in early April at Masaryk University, Brno. Successful applicants will each receive $5,000 scholarship to cover the full cost of their three weeks in the United States.

The response to 2011 CTY summer programs was most encouraging. Ten students out of 151 qualified in a tough competition. They loved it and for many of them it was truly a life changing experience. Read "My American Experience" by Martin Kabrt, student of the Open Gate Boarding School near Prague.

This year we will expand CTYOnline. Last year we registered over 60 students for CTYOnline courses. Most are taking Advanced Placement courses in math, science and English covering material at an introductory American college level. Students who do well in CTY courses have superior chances of admission to top universities and prospects to receive generous tuition assistance.

Finally this year, we start on setting up CTY Central Europe, modeled on CTY Ireland, which has been operating successfully for over 15 years. Depending on the generosity of those sharing our objectives, CTY Central Europe could become reality by 2013. With CTY know-how and support, CTY Central Europe will gradually develop a system to identify, motivate and support exceptionally gifted Czech and Slovak children all the way from the first grade to high school graduation.

Application Deadline

CTY Summer Programs
February 29, 2012
Online Registration

2012 Competition

CTY on

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CTY Summer Programs

The CTY Summer Programs offer exceptionally gifted students from around the world the opportunity to engage in challenging academic work with their peers sharing their exceptional abilities and love of learning. Czech and Slovak students should find participation most helpful in considering their university education options. This is why at this stage of our program we give preference to students who are at least two to three years from graduation (maturita).

The focus of the summer programs is on rigorous academics and learning studying a single topic. Perhaps as valuable is the opportunity to meet and to exchange experiences with their peers over a three week period of the program. These programs are held on 25 university and college campuses around the United States.

CTY 2012 Summer Programs Competition

The CTY 2012 Summer Programs competition is on! Students with strong English skills and in the top 5% of their class in mathematics and science should apply. They need to be nominated by their school director, and will have to submit an online application and write a two page essay in English. About 30 best applicants will be invited for interviews in early April at Masaryk University, Brno.

Successful applicants will each receive $5,000 scholarship covering the full cost of their three weeks in the United States. They will only have to pay for their trip to and from Ruzyne airport. They will be joined by a few best-performing students currently taking university level CTYOnline courses, who will receive these scholarships as bonus for their outstanding performance. All expenses paid, the Czech and Slovak students will join their peers from around the world this summer in the United States.

Competition Calendar

The following critical dates apply:

January 23, 2012 – start of the CTY Summer Program competition
February 29, 2012 - deadline for submitting online applications
March 2, 2012, 9:00 – 11:00 am,– English essay assignment
March 3 – 23, 2012 – evaluation of submitted applications and essays
March 23, 2012 – selection of successful candidates for interviews
Early April 2012 – interviews of candidates and nomination of winners
Late April 2012 – Summer Program course selection
May – June 2012 – travel arrangements

Choosing CTY Summer Courses

Students should be checking directly the CTY 2012 Summner Program website for details. Once nominated, students will be enrolled based on their preferences into two sessions:

First session: June 24 - July 13, 2012
Second session: July 15 - August 3, 2012

CTY staff meets students at their port of entry, New York or Washington, escort them to their summer site, and follows their progress throughout the session.

At the end of the three-weeks, CTY will arrange visits to two universities to include admissions office briefings and personalized campus tours. It will further arrange a one-day visit to the departure city encompassing a city tour and visits to museums and other cultural sites. this will require an additional two nights' stay in hotels. Departure for home will be on the Sunday or Monday after completion of one of the three-week academic sessions

Application Deadline

CTY Summer Programs
February 29, 2012
Online Registration

Center for Talented Youth

Czech Schools

Slovak Schools

Partners

We are building a network of like minded individuals and organizations in the United States and the Czech and Slovak Republics to facilitate the objective of the Young Talents Program - helping gifted Czech and Slovak students develop their talent to its potential and thus boosting their chances of admission to top universities in the United States and elsewhere. Top universities seek top talent. Talented and hard working students receive generous tuition assistance. We invite all those who share this objective to join us.

Center for Talented Youth

Our partner - Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is a non-profit institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. CTY is recognized as a world leader in education for the gifted and stepping stone to admission to top colleges and universities in the United States. Since 1979, CTY identifies students with high ability, and provides them with rigorous and engaging academic programs, and services. Since 1992, CTY has been involved internationally.

CTY helped Dublin City University establish CTY-Ireland. Entirely Irish-operated, CTY-Ireland continues to thrive. Other versions of CTY include locally operated CTY-Spain, and others staffed and administered by CTY-USA as is a summer residential program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Also, CTY has provided consulting in countries ranging from the United Kingdom (for the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (for the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity).

CTY is building a worldwide network of the brightest pre-university students on the planet. With its partners, it will engage these students in "world courses" offered at first online in which the students grapple with key challenges to humankind not solved by earlier generations, ones ranging from epidemiology to water availability, from human aggression and war to climate change. Students may participate without revealing their nationality. Eventually these courses will be offered in summer residential sites all over the world. Admission to any CTY will bring admission to all. The prototype of the world courses exists at CTY, Princeton University. By bringing the brightest young minds together earlier than is usual, CTY hopes to engage them in improving human outcomes.

Our objective is to establish CTY Central Europe open to top students of the region. This organization may eventually join CTY worldwide network and at the same time establish the Czech and Slovak Republics as regional leaders in gifted education and the critical thinking skills it can foster.