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Action program fosters talents of gifted children
First grader Sally Smart is expected to be quiet, shy, and always do what she is told. Teachers who see Sally think she would be the star student, but she isn't. Sally hates school. She doesn't understand why she has to practice reading and writing with everyone else when she has been doing that since before kindergarten. So instead she puts her head down and sleeps until it's time for art. She doesn't have good grades and barely turns her work in. Many people would think Sally is the classroom dunce, but actually, she is quite intelligent. Sally Smart is gifted.
Sally Smart is a fictional character who struggles in the regular classroom because she finds the work boring and a waste of her time, but her struggles are examples of real life problems for gifted students. Emily Scarborough, a 2005 Nevada High School graduate was a student in the Action program who often felt like Sally.
"Being in Action definitely helped me in day-to-day activities while I was in school," said Scarborough. "First, Action gave me an escape from the regular classroom, which I enjoyed but which I also often found slow-paced. Second, Action gave me the skills and the subjects to keep myself occupied and out of trouble during downtimes in regular classes. Third, Action kept me interested in education and learning, while the pace and material of other classes occasionally made me question the usefulness of the traditional educational system."
Christine Copeland, a former Nevada R-5 Action teacher feels the program "fosters creative and critical thinking and gives good opportunities for higher-level skills."
The school board adopted Nevada's gifted program on April 19, 1979. A committee was formed to evaluate the need Nevada had for a gifted program. "A Program for Gifted Children; Nevada Public School" in 1979, states that the philosophy of education at Nevada states it is "the responsibility of the schools to provide maximum learning opportunities for all the educable children of school age in the community." This was why the Action program was designed so as to meet the requirements in education of intellectually and creatively superior students.
The Action program began in the 1979-'80 school year with Pat Haggans teaching second through fourth grade. The name "Action" was chosen because of the interaction of ability, creativity, and task commitment students use to achieve. The next year Action was expanded to the second through eighth grades and Ed Grooms was hired to teach as well.
Since that time, the Action program grew to encompass, at one time, teaching gifted students from kindergarten to high school.
When forming Action, the committee members set goals such as providing community involvement, appropriate curriculum, and needed funds to maintain the quality of the program. The teachers of Action set their own goals as well. According to a newspaper article written by Sherry Kuhn on Jan. 1, 1981, one of Haggans' goals was to have the students, "become independent learners. I hope they will be more intellectually curious. I want them to find the sheer joy of learning, not for a grade or reward, just the want to learn." In the same article, Grooms expressed comparable goals such as wanting students to develop desires to learn and accept their intelligence as a gift to be appreciated.
The Nevada R-5 district formed Action because it believed differentiated curriculum should be provided for gifted students. This curriculum should focus on having the student become abstract, complex and in-depth thinkers. One of the goals of the program is to offer opportunities for gifted students to learn things above and beyond what they would in the regular classroom. Such areas of study included research projects, problem solving, geography, languages and much more. Copeland wanted to provide her students with coursework that was challenging but also intriguing.
One memorable unit for both Copeland and the students was the Japanese pre-history through the 1950s unit -- something that would never be taught in regular elementary classrooms. "She made learning fun and interesting, flexible without descending into chaos, both cooperative and individual. Mrs. Copeland led me to disassociate education with school and to view it instead as a life skill and privilege," said Scarborough.
Besides being taught a different curriculum, students in Action are given a different learning environment. For many students, being in the Action program was the first time they were not the smartest one in their class. This allowed students to become challenged in a way they never were before. Action taught students a different way of thinking and questioning about what they were doing. Everyone was encouraged to speak up. A lesson taught to all who passed through the Action doors is, "No idea is a bad idea, but a possible one to branch off of."
Reflecting on Copeland's teaching style, Emily Scarborough said, "She sneakily taught us not only the skills that I continue using daily in upper-level university class work, but also the problem-solving "real" life skills I use outside of class."
Marilyn Lovinger has had all four of her children go through the Action program she feels her children benefited from the program because "they learned tools to expand their thinking capabilities."
Her children were all tested and met the requirements to be in the Action program at a young age.
Offering gifted or enrichment classes to children when they are in kindergarten through the second grade is important because that is a key development age.
If children come into kindergarten knowing how to read and do many basic skills, they often get bored while waiting to learn something new. Lovinger was told that her children would be "in an environment with like-minded children, be challenged with enriched studies, and be given the opportunity to study areas that they may wish to study."
For many gifted students, having the chance to be in Action is a blessing. Current Nevada High School Action teacher Tina Sudkamp says, "students appear to be glad to have a class that moves at a quick pace, lets them choose what they want to study, offers guidance in choosing a career and college, and gives them a place to vent frustration while meeting their affective needs." Being in action helps gifted students cope with the everyday struggles of school.
Sudkamp also believes Action, "helps highly sensitive students who view the world and think differently. These students very often act and react differently than their peers while making their way through a school system that teaches to the average student. Gifted education is part of the special education program for a reason. The "typical" education program does not meet the social, emotional, and intellectual needs of a student with higher than average IQ. Gifted education is a intervention program designed to help its students be successful."
The Action program has been serving the community for almost 30 years. Nevada was one of the first schools in the area to form a gifted program.
Unfortunately, the reduced funding for gifted programs in Missouri has caused many to downsize their programs or cut them all together. The Action program in Nevada has had few alterations due to the funding changes. The administration and school board say they understand the need for a quality gifted program in the school system.
One of the challenges, however, is that Action does not extend below the third grade. Copeland says not being able to serve the needs of younger children causes parents to ask, "My child is bright, what are you doing for her?"