[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 107 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S6275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF BELIN-BLANK CENTER

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 20 years ago this summer, the Connie 
Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education 
and Talent Development was established at the University of Iowa. 
Originally created by the Iowa Board of Regents as the Belin National 
Center for Gifted Education, the center was made possible by a million-
dollar endowment that established the Myron and Jacqueline Blank Chair 
in Gifted Education, which is held to this day by Professor Nicholas 
Colangelo. In 1995, the center was renamed the Connie Belin & 
Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and 
Talent Development, honoring a longtime leader in gifted education and 
a Des Moines philanthropist. In 2008, the Belin-Blank Center celebrates 
two decades of service to the international gifted education community.
  The Belin-Blank Center has earned a strong national and international 
reputation for its work on behalf of gifted and talented children, 
which my colleagues know is a subject of great interest to me. Since 
its inception, the center has pioneered unique and innovative 
opportunities for students, including academic talent searches designed 
to discover gifted students; weekend and summer programs on everything 
from algebra, art, and 3D design to chemistry, creative writing and 
LEGO robotics; and the National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and 
Engineering, which provides early admission to the university.
  Professional development for educators has been the foundation upon 
which the work of the center has been built. Examples of the center's 
work in this area include producing internationally acclaimed research 
symposia and developing specially designed coursework for Iowa's 
teachers to earn a State of Iowa endorsement in gifted education. As a 
result of the Belin-Blank Center's efforts, more educators today 
understand that supporting high-achieving students is an important 
aspect of successful teaching.
  The Belin-Blank Center has successfully competed for private, 
Federal, and State grants. I am proud to say that this includes two 
Federal Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Grants. This 
program, which I have championed, is designed to improve our ability to 
meet the unique learning needs of gifted students nationwide. The 
limited funding is quite competitive and it is a testament to the 
quality of the Belin-Blank Center's work that it has secured two such 
grants. The first grant, for the years 2003 to 2006, focused on the 
discovery and development of giftedness in students who attend 
alternative high schools and the second, for the years 2005 to 2008, 
focused on twice-exceptional students, which are students who are 
gifted and also have a disability. These projects have contributed 
substantially to our ability to serve these populations of students, 
who are often overlooked for gifted education programming.
  In 2004, the director and associate director of the Belin-Blank 
Center, Nicholas Colangelo and Susan Assouline, along with Miraca U.M. 
Gross, a colleague from Australia, published ``A Nation Deceived: How 
Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students.'' The landmark report 
helped move the subject of gifted education and accelerated programs 
for high-achieving students into the educational mainstream, drawing 
notice from Time, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and hundreds 
of other media venues.
  An important milestone for the center also occurred in 2004 when the 
Belin-Blank Center and the University of Iowa's Honors Program moved 
into a new building, the Myron and Jacqueline N. Blank Honors Center, 
which is located in the heart of the University of Iowa campus. In 
bringing the two programs together, the University of Iowa became one 
of the Nation's first schools to offer kindergarten-through-college 
support for gifted students under one roof.
  As an Iowan and an advocate for gifted and talented education, I am 
very proud to have such a highly esteemed center in Iowa. For its 
tremendous contribution to the field of gifted education 
internationally and for its positive impact on the lives of countless 
gifted and talented students, the Belin-Blank Center is truly deserving 
of recognition on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

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