Skip to main content

CTD Backpack

Welcome to the CTD community!

CTD courses are one place that students can connect with each other, but CTD also has vibrant online spaces for students and parents year round. CTD BackpackTM is a set of online communities one for parents and one for students.

Members of CTD BackpackTM for Parents have the opportunity to connect with other parents and hear from CTD's experts in the field of gifted education through monthly live webinars. Webinars address topics such as creativity, nurturing talent in young children, working effectively with your school, planning for college and careers, and more!

Members of CTD BackpackTM for Students can converse and connect with other CTD students from around the globe and engage in student-initiated discussions on topics of their choice and activities of interest that can support their talent development (e.g., video chats with professionals, student-driven clubs). The community is led by student moderators and monitored by CTD staff. Clubs include, but are not limited to CTD Writers, Debate, Dungeons & Dragons and Earth Warriors.

If you are a student (Grade 4 and up) enrolled in a CTD course, you will have access to CTD BackpackTM for both parents and students.

Get Started in Backpack

Once you have received a CTD course acceptance email, log into my.ctd.northwestern.edu. Click on the Backpack for Parents or Backpack for Students buttons and use the code provided to get started! Both communities are hosted on Schoology, which is the learning management system CTD has adopted for online programming. Once online, you can set up your profile, modify your settings, and begin participating in discussions and events.

 

Inside CTD Backpack for Students

What do students do in CTD Backpack?

Our Backpack online community is driven by student interests, has discussions initiated by student participants, hosts clubs facilitated by student moderators, and is managed by CTD staff. In this brief video, a Backpack student explains in her own words what the community is about and encourages new students to get involved in the activities. Check it out! 

Backpack for Students Pathways Webinar

View one of our CTD Backpack for Students live webinars to get a feel for what the community can offer. Students have the chance to learn about a variety of fields of study and types of careers and submit questions to our guests.

2023 © Northwestern University Center for Talent Development