When one person just isn’t enough… Expanding Gifted Services Through Community Involvement

Gifted kids are underserved. There are not enough gifted personnel. There needs to be more money for gifted. The gifted budget is what?? What do you mean there’s no federal money for gifted education???? It sure would be nice if we could do more, but I’m only one person…

I had a student in isolation. I heard an expert speak. I knew a parent…who was an expert at something. She knew some other colleagues… All you have to do is ask.

Morehead State University Friday Class 4 th and 5 th grade General Intellectual students go to campus on selected Fridays and work with college professors. We work in a specific department each semester. We rotate through the Science, Art, Math, and English departments. I have a contact person in each department who gets their colleagues to sign up for sessions. Each professor is only responsible for one stand-alone session. This helps them say yes.

Logistics: I have a bus that starts at one elementary school at 1:00 on Friday and then travels to each school to pick up the students at that school and then brings them to meet me on campus. The class meets from 2:00 to 4:30. The parents have to pick the kids up when the class is over. We usually have 9 or 10 sessions per semester. STUDENTS MAY OPT OUT!

Thanksgiving Week Seminar: I actually got this idea from something Nathan Levy said in a presentation once… Students go to school and a bus picks them up starting at 8:15 and brings them to me at the board of education office. We then spend those two days doing various labs and other critical thinking/performance activities.

Thanksgiving Week Seminar: Some of the activities I’ve done during this time: --Stories with Holes --CSI Lab activity (the central office staff posed as “suspects” for this) --Zendoodling --Math puzzle solving --Space Science Center labs --Found-Art Sculpture/Folk Art Center --Annual Holiday Radio Show

Middle School “Top Ten” Speaker Series: Our middle school schedule contains a 7 th Period study hall…lunch works also possibly. We’ve utilized this time to bring in speakers. People from the community volunteer to come in and present a session about their topic. The students help us come up with ideas of topics they’d like to have sessions about.

Topics: Space Science Medical Careers Relay For Life Music History Books Environmental Issues Law Careers How to Handle Money Volunteer Firefighters Broadcasting/Sports News Photography Dramatic Arts Distinguished Young Woman Program How to prepare for High School/College Music Dept Professors Investing money Veterinary medicine Art Psychology College Athletics Physical Fitness Importance of volunteering FFA Program Middle School “Top Ten” Speaker Series:

Logistics: The middle school counselor is the contact person for the speakers. We use the library for the sessions. I make a sign up sheet and the kids sign up for which sessions they’d like to attend. I then take those and make a roster for each session…I provide the middle school counselor with these. Sessions are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I the speakers for the next week on Friday each week. We usually aim for 10 to 12 sessions per semester.

Annual Radio Holiday Program It’s called The Children’s Holiday Hour. We take the kids to the radio station and they record poetry that is topical (holidays, snow, winter, etc). I take that and program the songs. The radio station puts it together into a show. **We’ve also done PSA’s with leadership groups.

Find a friend. Pay attention to logistics. Start small. Be willing to talk about the needs of your kids. (be a guest speaker)