Striving to provide for gifted students

For our students who qualify for gifted education, there are a variety of events and resources available.

Recent conversations with our district’s Gifted and Talented (GT) Liaison, Annette Walton, revealed the details of the overall program.

According to the National Association for Gifted Children, “… gifted education varies widely across the United States.” One of their goals is to “support those who enhance the growth and development of GT students through education, advocacy, community building, and research.”

Programs are developed and maintained on a state level and vary widely; for example, New Mexico and Florida have exceptionally high standards for qualifying for gifted education, and GT students in those states have an individualized education plan (IEP).

Walton, as the GT Liaison, typically meets with GT teachers once a month — generally by grade levels — for planning and collaboration, communicating needs and discussing how to most effectively help and support not only students, but also each other.

She explained, “We are not here to teach our GT students actual content necessarily, but more how to apply their unique skills, whatever those might be.”

Enrichment learning for GT students is generally organized in two ways: either as a “pull-out” session or as an elective class (primarily at the secondary level). Whichever means of providing enriched and/or accelerated learning is determined on an individual basis, after collaborating with parents and the GT students’ regular classroom teachers.

Recently, a GT Parent Advisory Night was held at Marshall Middle School, one of three of such events held throughout the school year. The purpose of the GT evenings is to provide parents with an opportunity to better understand what we are doing with their GT students and why. Also, it’s an ideal setting in which to provide parents with additional resources for helping their GT children.

Often on these evenings we will have older GT students come in to participate in presenting to parents and sharing with the parents of younger GT students the kinds of things they’re doing.

It’s not unusual for GT students to struggle with social and/or emotional issues; many are ultra-sensitive and often too hard on themselves.

The entire families of GT students are encouraged to attend these evenings, to better understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

Ultimately, we strive to provide an enriched, stimulating, and safe environment where GT kids can be themselves; where they can feel totally accepted and encouraged to explore and develop their own unique gifts.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools. She can be reached at

[email protected]