48th Annual CAGT
Conference 2026
Cultivate the Extraordinary
Believe it or not, our 48th Annual CAGT Conference 2026, Cultivate the Extraordinary, is in the initial planning stages. We hope those of you who joined us for our 2025 conference experienced an incredible event and will return this year for our 48th annual conference, and those of you who did not have the opportunity to attend will consider coming this year. CAGT’s annual conference is one of the largest and most revered events focused on gifted students and their education in the nation.
For more information about our various conference events simply scroll down to find the event(s) that might interest you. Student Impact Awards, Leadership Awards, and CAGT Scholarships are now open with more events like Call for Proposals, Exhibitors/Sponsorshipis and Conference Register for our 48th Annual Conference continuing to open throughout April. We hope to see you at the Embassy Suites, Loveland, Oct. 18th-20th, 2026.
CONFERENCE EVENTS:
Youth Impact Awards – Now Open
Leadership Awards – Now Open
Conference Scholarships – Now Open
Call for Proposals – Now Open
Conference Registration – Opens April 17th
Exhibitors and Sponsorships – Opens April 26th
SCROLL DOWN TO ACCESS ALL EVENTS
*Scroll down to see the 2025 Award Winners, Art Contest, Conference photos and presenter resources.
2026 Call for Proposals
The window for submitting presentation proposals for CAGT's 2026 Annual Conference Cultivate the Extraordinary is now open. Please consider sharing your knowledge and expertise about our gifted children and their unique needs this year at our 2026 conference, October 18-20. Our professional conference offers over 80 presentations from experts in the field of gifted education and has an annual attendance of over 800 educators, administrators, parents, and community members. Any topic that addresses and supports the needs of gifted learners, best practices for teaching this unique population, and ideas to help both new and veteran educators hone their pedagogy will be considered. For more information and to submit your proposal, please click on the Green Button below. For breakout session information please click on the Blue Button.
2026 CAGT Leadership Awards
The time period for submitting nominations for the 2026 CAGT Leadership Awards is now open. It's your opportunity to nominate incredible educators, administrators, parents, advocates and community members from your corner of Colorado who are doing amazing things for gifted children and their education. Please consider nominating deserving individuals for the 2026 Leadership Awards for this year's conference in the following categories: George T. Betts Inspiration Award, Jacquelin Medina Visionary Leadership Award, Parent of the Year, Educator of the Year, Administrator of the Year, Special Advocate of the Year, the Lifetime Achievement Award and NEW this year, the Director/Coordinator of the Year Award. We can't wait to honor outstanding individuals from our gifted community at CAGT's 48th Annual Conference this October. Click the Green Button below to begin your nomination and the Blue Button below for the criteria for each award. Be sure you follow the specific criteria for the award and submit a complete nomination for your submission to be considered.
Youth Impact Award Nominations
The 2026 Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT) Youth Impact Awards are now accepting nominations. Each year these awards are granted to children ages 7-18, who have made a positive, meaningful, and beneficial impact on others in their classroom, school and/or community. CAGT chooses four children from the state of Colorado who will be named CAGT Youth Impact Award Students: one student for the Junior Division (ages 7-9), one student for the Senior Division (ages 10-12), and two students for the Masters Division (ages 13-18). All four students who are selected receive a CAGT Certificate of Excellence and a cash reward. Please consider nominating students who you feel are deserving of our 2026 Youth Impact Awards.
CAGT Conference Scholarship Applications
This year's CAGT Scholarships to attend the 2026 annual conference, Cultivate the Extraordinary, are now open. For information to take advantage of the many scholarships to attend this year's 2026 conference click the link below. We offer four scholarships to attend conference for educators, administrators and mental health providers interested in learning how to better their pedagogy to support the needs of gifted students and programming at their schools. In addition to our Colorado Scholars and Leaders in Action scholarships, we offer scholarships to help send our teachers of color and our mental health support personnel to conference. Click below so you don't miss these opportunities to attend the 2026 conference!
Exhibitors and Sponsorships
Exhibitors and Sponsors - Come join us next year for our 48th Annual Conference, Cultivate the Extraordinary. We would love to have you exhibit and/or be a sponsor at our 2026 conference at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, October 18-20th as it is your support that helps make our conference a success! Information for both exhibiting and sponsoring will be available next March, so save the date!
We hope you join us next October!
Family Institute
CAGT's 2025 Family Institute is on September 4th and is now open for registration. This Family Institute is being co-hosted by our affiliate PPAGS (Pikes Peak Association for Gifted Students) and the AcademyACL in Colorado Springs. The format will be a choice of various 30 minute workshops that parents and guardians will rotate through for a total of three presentations. Click below for more information and to register for this informative event. We hope to see you there!
The 2025 CAGT Leadership and Youth Impact Award Winners!
Leadership Award Winners
George T. Betts Inspirational Award:
Jim Delisle
Jacquelin Medina Visionary Leadership Award:
Robin Greene (Thornton)
Lifetime Achievement:
Ruthi Manning - Freeman (Colorado Springs)
Special Advocate Award:
Jana Krutsinger (Boulder)
Educator of the Year:
Shelley Green (Westcliffe)
CAGT Special Recognition:
Ed Bowditch and Jennifer Cassell
Youth Impact Award Winners
Senior Division
Elaina Milliken Lord
Fairmount Elementary School - Golden (Jeffco)
Masters Division:
Blake Elliott
East High School - Denver (DPS)
Emma Luu
Pine Creek High School - Colorado Springs (Academy District 20)
CAGT's 7th Annual Art Contest Winners!
CAGT would like to congratulate our 2025 Art Contest Winners
Elementary K-2 Division
1st Place - Thea Light, 2nd Grade
“Change the Future--Love the Earth”
2nd Place - Noah Janzen, Kindergarten
“First Wave of Change”
3rd Place - Amaranthine Balares, 2nd Grade
“Rainbow Day”
Elementary 3-5 Division
1st Place - Olivia Montero, 5th grade
"Help Change"
2nd Place - Noelle Jung, 5th grade
"Channeling Your Spark"
3rd Place - Elle Khadem, 5th grade
“Frequency Of Freedom”
Middle School Division
1st Place - Stella Kim, 7th grade
“Awestruck Imagination”
2nd Place - Scarlett Kennedy, 6th grade
“Small Steps”
3rd Place - Emelia DuBien, 8th grade
"Future World"
High School Division
1st Place - Alegria Silvas, 12th grade
“Making Your Vessel Your Own”
2nd Place - Mason Clinkinbeard, 11th grade
“A Brief Memory”
3rd Place - Kadynce Welsh, 12h grade
“Native American Oppression”
Congratulations to all of our winners and every student who submitted their interpretation of our conference theme this year - Empowering Change. The artwork was remarkable and we hope to see even more incredible entries at our next conference!