Gifted students benefit from GATE programs

February 21, 2003

I am always amazed to watch my eight-year-old when he is doing his school work or playing a tough computer game. His mind is like a sponge. It seem like an eternity since I was able to take things in as fast as he does, if ever. He is one of those privileged few who can absorb things that he reads and hears and repeat it back to you a week, a month and sometimes years later. He is far ahead of other students in his grade in reading, math and science. He masters his work and complains every second he has to do it. That is just one of the marks of a gifted child.

Many people say that I shouldn't complain. After all, out of all of the children that attend Oakley's elementary and middle schools there are only 344 children who are considered gifted. Most of those children have been labeled gifted after receiving a score of 90 percent or higher on their STAR testing.

For those who don't have children in school, the STAR is a test given to students each year like a final exam and measures how and what children have learned throughout the year. Those with high scorers are brought into the GATE -- Gifted And Talented Education -- program that the Oakley Union Elementary School District offers.

With some 6,000 students in Oakley's district, which includes Kindergarten through eighth grade, 344 is a pretty small percentage of students to offer a special program to. Especially when those students are divided between four elementary and two middle schools. We have all heard of budget constraints and the fact that every year the budget seems to be dwindling. We wish for afterschool programs and more help for those students who are lagging behind and even those that are mentally and physically disabled. There are so many students to help with so little money in the system. We all realize that.

So the school district tries to work with programs and incentives that are best for all children. With that in mind, this group of 344 students is given a little extra through the GATE program. The program is available for students who are in third through eighth grades. The curriculum varies by grade. For example, the third graders are presently working on a pull-out basis where they leave the classroom once a week for about 45 minutes and have the chance to do things like learn about photography and work on putting together a school newspaper.

The fourth graders are working on a video production, and making art and ceramic projects that are going to be displayed at the Lynnwood Art Gallery in Antioch. In middle school the students work through a pull-out program as well as after- and before-school times. These students get to do things ranging from oil painting to learning to work with complex computer programs such as Powerpoint. They study advanced math and technology, and design power robots.

Mary Ann Hussey, who runs the GATE program for the Oakley school district, would like to see the program expanded with the help of the community. For one thing, she would love to start a mentoring program where professionals and people in the areas of writing and music come in and work with the GATE students. The other services include giving gifted students the chance to work at their own speed, which sometimes can be a lot quicker than the pace of the traditional classroom.

The important thing Hussey says to remember is that gifted children are gifted all day long. She also said that just because a child is gifted doesn't mean that he or she can't have problems with learning, and it is important to watch to make sure they have continued success in school.

The district is also offering programs to parents of gifted students to help them cope and understand what their children are going though. Last fall the district hosted a four-week seminar. It gave parents the opportunity to hear and be around other parents of children with similar experiences.

It is wonderful that the program exists, but as a parent of a GATE child, I can't help but wish there was something more. Other parents that I have spoken with either love or hate the program, their children want more and many feel they deserve it. It's hard to rack up sympathy when you have so much, especially when there are children who struggle so to learn, but there are all types of children in this world and we need to nurture all of them so they can achieve their full potential. That is why programs like GATE and even tutoring are so important to make a school district do the best it can for its students.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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