History of the TDI Summer Camp

The Talent Development Institute (TDI) was created by Dr. Carol Story in 1998 with the support of Johnson State College (now Northern Vermont University-Johnson).  The original goal of the Institute was to provide an opportunity for professional development of classroom teachers regarding the nature and needs of gifted learners in Vermont schools. By the second year of TDI, an institute for gifted learners was started. The teacher institute ran for three years, and the student institute continued on to become the TDI Summer Camp we know today. In 2004, the Leadership Program (essentially a counselor-in-training program) was added, serving students in grades 10-12. It has grown to a three-year program, helping 17-25 teens each year learn about themselves and other gifted people, and guides them in learning how to teach and supervise our campers.

For more than two decades, TDI has served over a thousand young minds from Vermont and beyond. TDI continues at Northern Vermont University-Johnson, serving offering opportunities to discover art, drama, computers, science, math, writing, and so much more. In 2016, a second week was successfully added to the original week-long program, and has remained ever since. Over the years, there have been other iterations of TDI in week-long, daytime programs, including those at Williston Central School and at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester in the mid-2000's. The core TDI Summer Camp at Northern Vermont University-Johnson is currently our only TDI program, but as we grow, we intend to expand our offerings beyond those two weeks, providing more and more unforgettable experiences for our campers and their families.