Friday, September 18, 2009 10:24 PM CDT
Parents help retain program
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — When Andrew White sat down with a group of third-graders this week and used colored blocks to help them understand spatial relationships, it was something that almost didn’t take place in the Charleston school district this year.
White is an Eastern Illinois University math professor who volunteered to work with gifted students each week at Carl Sandburg Elementary School. He was recruited by a parent who’s on the district’s Gifted and Talented Program Committee as part of a way to bring activities to the students now that the program doesn’t have a coordinator.
“If it means giving them something to stretch their minds, I’m willing to do it,” White said.
Facing financial shortfalls, the district made several budget cuts for the school year and one of them was to eliminate the gifted program coordinator’s position. Part of what teacher Howard Taylor did in the job was to have elementary school students in the gifted program spend time in classes with him taking part in activities.
The committee, which has been in place for some time and reviews the program, started to come up plans as soon as the school board decided to make the cuts, district Assistant Superintendent Todd Vilardo said.
“We’ve increased our efforts since the gifted coordinator’s position was eliminated,” Vilardo said. “We’re exploring the possibilities of what can be done.”
Jodi Cline is one of the parent members of the committee and an education student at EIU and said she asked White and her other instructors for ideas about what could be done.
“It just seems like Eastern is such a great resource,” Cline said. Other EIU instructors and graduate students have said they’d be willing to work with students and parent volunteers might start a reading program, she said.
“There are just a lot of ideas out there,” Cline said. “We have a lot of planning going on.”
White said he tries to put the nine third-graders through a different hands-on, problem-solving strategy each week. Another lesson had them make guesses about something, explain how they came up with them and test if their guesses were right, for example.
“They all did well,” he said. “They like it. They say it’s different.”
Vilardo said the districts tests students and places about 5 percent from all grade levels in the gifted program, which would mean about 140 with this year’s enrollment. Because Taylor administered and processed the tests, the district now has to rely on one test instead of multiple assessment methods, but “we’re exploring options” on how to do multiple measures in a cost-effective way, he said.
The “pull-out program” where Taylor worked with students outside of their regular classrooms was for third- through sixth-grade students in the gifted program. Vilardo explained that students in middle school and high school have the option of taking advanced classes.
Vilardo also said some parents are considering starting a “booster club” for the gifted program, which might work much like support organizations for athletics. The group could contribute financially, with volunteers or in other ways to be determined, and that would be welcome for the gifted program and “in general,” he added.
“The district is interested in forming partnerships with the entire community,” he said.
Also, teachers have and continue to direct curriculum toward their students’ learning abilities based on each student’s learning style, needs and interests, Vilardo said. New assessment techniques have helped focus that effort concerning all students, not just those in the gifted program, he said.
“It’s a strategy quality teachers have been using for years and year,” Vilardo said. “It’s one of the best learning strategies available.”
Vilardo said Taylor is missed and admitted that when his position was eliminated, “we didn’t feel very good for our school community.” He credited teachers and parents for working well together to keep the program on track.
“The people involved are committed,” he said. “It encouraged us all to be creative in meeting the needs for all our kids.”
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.
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