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.