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
4th and 5th 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 7th
Period study hall…lunch works also
possibly.
We’ve utilized this
speakers.
time
to
bring
in
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.
Middle School “Top Ten” Speaker Series:
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
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 email 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)