E.A. Young Academy is proud to announce that Southlake resident Kathy Lyda, MS, has been named as the 2013 Area Parent of the Year for the Piney Woods/Prairie Region by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT).
The TAGT Area Parent of the Gifted Award is presented to one parent from each of five geographic areas in recognition of outstanding service, contribution and commitment to gifted education. The TAGT Piney Woods/Prairie Area consists of 46 Texas counties, including Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Parker, Johnson and Rockwall counties, and covers the entire northeastern region of the state. The Area Award Winners are chosen for their efforts to: contribute time and effort in support of the education of gifted individuals; promote practices that benefit all gifted children; advocate on behalf of gifted children at the local, regional and state levels; and encourage shared leadership and participation among other parents, professionals and community leaders.
Mrs. Lyda and the other three Texas Area Award Winners was honored during the Awards Ceremony at the TAGT Annual Conference, which was held December 4-6 in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lyda currently serves as Head of School at E.A. Young Academy, a K-12 not-for-profit private academy in North Richland Hills that is dedicated to the gifted, talented, and high-ability scholar. Mrs. Lyda comes with an intrinsic, passionate commitment to gifted education.
As a parent of gifted children, Mrs. Lyda spent many hours volunteering in the classrooms of her daughters and their DI teammates, and soon recognized that many of students were capable of achieving much more than resources, time or opportunity allowed in the regular classroom. She volunteered with the GT advocacy group for her district (PAGE) as the district GTAC (Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee) liaison. As cuts were made to the GT program, she was a vocal advocate for the importance of the GT programs at the school and district level. Additionally, she volunteered countless hours at the elementary school as the Science Lab coordinator. She and her husband led numerous labs to spark the scientific curiosity of students across the entire school. She also arranged for TCU students to visit the campus, helping raise the level of science instruction. Conversely, she arranged for her DI team to teach a class of pre-education students at TCU about bullying – predominantly the type of bullying common in the gifted and talented population.
When DI was no longer supported by the district, Kathy joined a few other parents and educators to form “Keller Area Creativity,” which allowed teams to register for this creative problem solving contest by matching interested individuals up with team managers and teammates. Through DI, she has offered numerous “Instant Challenge” and team-building workshops at the local and regional levels. Unfortunately, even with the enormous amount of advocacy on the part of Kathy and other like-minded parents, the GT program in her daughters’ district was cut back two years in a row. Kathy saw her eldest daughter, normally gregarious and engaged in learning, withdrawing and losing interest in school. Kathy’s long-held notion of opening a new school for gifted children started to grow legs, and in January 2012, Kathy and her husband, Lance, opened the doors of E.A. Young Academy for a pilot group of sixth grade students. In September 2012, the first full school year began with grades 3-7. The 2013-2014 school year includes grades K-12.
In addition to the regular school day, Young Academy also offers summer programs, after school programs and parenting sessions for all members of the surrounding community. Kathy has opened the Academy's doors for observation by numerous parents and area school district professionals. Area gifted specialists, gifted/advanced academic coordinators and instructional specialists have spent hours observing in the Academy classrooms and talking with Academy faculty and students about best practices in GT education. Mrs. Lyda has also shared her knowledge about the social/emotional needs as a presenter at TAGT conferences and has led gifted youth in teamwork activities at the National Mensa Annual Gathering this summer. Kathy’s vision for E.A. Young Academy is not one of an elite gifted and talented school, sequestered from society. On the contrary, she wishes to share as much as possible with neighboring districts, students and parents! She freely gives her time, resources and insight to all parents and educators who walk through the school’s doors.
A fellow parent of gifted children said of Kathy, “When dealing with gifted children, the challenge is continuous and ongoing when it comes to collaborative programs and projects and [Kathy] never shies from taking them on. When most parents run from the prospect of leading a group of gifted children, she runs toward it, with arms opened wide and her arsenal of team-building and incredible grasp of group dynamics under her belt. I am amazed at her ability to think in new and creative ways when she is involved in any small group activity. My girls have learned to be true to themselves and to wear their quirkiness like a badge of honor. She has a genuine need to dig deep and reach kids where they are, which takes a very special person. In a time when bullying is rampant and kids are discouraged from being themselves, she pushes back by telling them that their value comes from within and not what the world tells them they’re worth. This is a lesson that needs to be heard by so many of our gifted children.”
One of Kathy’s students expressed his thoughts about her influence in this way: “Even when deadlines are approaching at work, Mrs. Lyda still takes time to sit down with me to share a life lesson that makes me stronger every time. Mrs. Lyda has been like a second parent to me, giving so much of what is hers to make sure I turn out ok. If anything was going bad at home, she was someone I could count on to have empathy to get me through it. She truly has a gift for working with the gifted as she seems to always understand what we need. It might be an hour-long discussion, a daily check-in to make sure we’re on track academically, or just a simple ‘it’s time to man up’ that helps us get back on track.”
Mrs. Lyda previously acted as President of Camenae Group, Inc., a strategic health promotion organization, where she developed and implemented post-graduate continuing education programming and award-winning health education curricula and models. In recognition of her work, Mrs. Lyda received the American Cancer Society "A Caring Spirit Award," the American Cancer Society "Exemplary Service Award," the Americaid Community Care "Outstanding Associate Award," the MD Anderson Cancer Network – Tarrant County "President’s Award," the Meadows Foundation "Best New Project Award for STEPs to Tobacco Control," and the University of North Texas "Outstanding Achievement in Health Promotion Award."
About E.A. Academy
E.A. Young Academy is a K-12 not-for-profit private academy dedicated to gifted, talented, and high-ability scholars. The school is located at 8521 Davis Boulevard in North Richland Hills, Texas, near the intersection of Davis and North Tarrant Parkway. For more information on E.A. Young Academy, visit www.eayoungacademy.com, email info@eayoungacademy.com, or call 817-601-5336.