Gifted program keeps students engaged
JASA SANTOS Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:00 am
Call Shobi Burris and her classmates weird. The fifth- and sixth-graders in Pineview Elementary's gifted and talented class won't mind a bit.
"Everyone in a GT class is weird in a good way," Shobi said.
"Weird is a compliment in a GT class," added fifth-grader Jacob Narotzky.
"It's fun to say we're geeks," Shobi said.
Shobi, Jacob and 71 other students in Natrona County are in the school district's gifted and talented program, a set of four self-contained classes specifically designed for intellectually advanced students.
Students in the program attend either Park or Pineview elementary schools; both have wait lists. Gifted students are placed in a separate class, which becomes a reprieve from being bored or frustrated with school.
"You get some challenge," Shobi said. "It's good because some things in my other class were too easy."
Classmate Aurelie Gedeon said her last classroom was, "torture," especially spelling.
"Laugh … return … they were like so easy," the sixth-grader said. "I always aced my spelling tests."
Now Aurelie is spelling words like 'Dalmatian' and 'emancipate.'
"It's awesome," Aurelie said. "The whole class is my friend."
Gifted students often feel different from their other classmates, so having a separate class actually benefits those students socially, said Jeanne Spawn, the program's director. They find others who understand their jokes and their rapid learning style.
Classes are based on projects and hands-on learning, with little repetition of material. Students work at their level, Spawn said. Instead of simple division, a gifted fourth-grader might take junior high algebra classes
In most cases, gifted students are two or three years ahead of other students. An IQ of 130 or above is needed to be part of the district's program.
"When planning curriculum, we keep that in mind," Spawn said. "It's all individualized. It's not that much different from special education at the other end."
Because of their tendency to be disorganized, gifted students actually struggle with school, Spawn said. Homework goes unfinished and classwork is seen as boring or unnecessary.
"In most cases, gifted kids are not kids that are successful in school," Spawn said. "A percentage of our gifted kids are very much at-risk."
Spawn screens nearly 100 students every year and works with parents and teachers to carefully select which students go through advanced testing to be placed in the program. After a series of tests, Spawn interviews individual students before the final decision about placement is made.
"The last thing I would want to do is place child that would struggle," Spawn said.
For students not placed in the program, Spawn arranges for accelerated classes or extended day classes to keep them engaged at their home schools.
Deborah Hudson said her daughter Rebecca was struggling to stay interested in school before Hudson enrolled her in the gifted and talented program. The change opened another world of learning for Rebecca, who is now a sixth-grader at Dean Morgan Junior High.
"It really helped her to find who she was," Hudson said. "I think children should be with their peers, and this program allows that."
Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.
Wonder if your child is gifted?
Contact Jeanne Spawn, the director of Natrona County's gifted and talented program. Spawn can arrange for your child to take the appropriate screening tests to determine if he or she is gifted. She can be reached at 577-4485.