Salvete!  Quid novi?

Professional Information

For Mrs. Navik, the year 2001 has been a year of striving to learn more about the gifted middle school scholar.  In the spring, the faculty of St. Mary's School in Lake Forest welcomed her into their Middle School Endorsement cohort, taught by Dr. Sharon McNeely and Dr. Ellen Fiedler of Northeastern Illinois University.  At the same time Barrington District #220 offered a course discussing issues in advocacy for parents of gifted children with Michele Kane as instructor  The highlights of the summer were the Illinois Gifted Institute under the direction of Dr. Penny Choice of Lake County, Illinois, and Differentiation, taught by Mary Klos of Woodstock and Linda Lanphier of Huntley through KIDS.  The North Park University cohort continued to make progress toward the Teacher Leadership Master of Arts, focusing on issues in Special Education, Assessment, and the Design of Research.

The National Council of Teachers of English hosted their fall 2000 convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  At the Middle School luncheon, Linda Rief of Oyster River Middle School, Durham, NH inspired those present with her love of learning and teaching.  She  received the Edwin A. Hoey Award for excellence among middle level educators. The Middle School has become a strong component of NCTE.

In June of 2000 Mrs. Navik attended the Association of Illinois Middle Schools' conference at North Park University, Chicago.  Among other seminars she studied with Dr. Peg Hoskin, North Park University, the challenge of integrating reading across the disciplines.  The National Association of Middle Schools provides publications and support.

August of 2000, Mrs. Navik returned to McHenry County College Kids on Campus to publish two editions of a Kids on Campus Newspaper with eight gifted junior high school students.

Fall 2000 marked the beginning of Mrs. Navik's Master's of Education classes with North Park University.  Her first class, Cognitive Thinking, with Dr. Gerald Palmer, focused on the teaching of Jim Fay and the Meyer's Briggs personality studies.  In the second quarter she studied Technology in Education with Pam Imholz, pimholz@enc.k12.il.us.

The summer of 1998 Mrs. Navik was a fellow of the University of Chicago's Graham School of General Studies. The University conducted a series of intensive Summer Seminars for middle school and high school teachers in the Chicago area .  The goal of the program was to bring teachers up-to-date in their fields and to renew their enthusiasm for teaching. The seminars also provided new materials and new approaches to take back to the classroom. The seminars held this summer were: Biology, Calculus, Chicago in the Classroom, Integrating Theater into the Humanities.

Mrs. Navik holds a Bachelor of Arts in the Teaching of English from the University of Illinois.

Mrs. Navik is the Exceptional Talent Development Coordinator Grades 6-12 for Huntley School District #158, Huntley, Illinois.