Advanced and Enriched Courses
The high school offers a wide variety of Enriched and Advanced Placement Courses which provide students with challenge. The content of these courses is advanced; Advanced Placement Courses typically cover college-level material. Enriched courses provide students challenge not only in the acquisition of more advanced knowledge, but also in the thinking skills required to analyze, synthesize, evaluate and think creatively about that knowledge.
Classroom Modification to Develop Students' Gifts
To provide challenge and meaningful instruction to students, teachers compact curriculum for students who have already mastered the material that is to be taught to the class. Simply put, this means that they teach the students what they need to learn and don't teach them what they already know. If students test out of working on a specific unit or topic, they may be given content which is more advanced than that typically taught at the grade level. They may become involved in related research which may lead them to examine more complex concepts and develop more advanced products. Teachers receive support and inservice training from the gifted and talented specialists as they work to provide for the diverse needs of the talent pool students in their classes.
Enrichment Workshops
Another example of special activities provided to students is the series of enrichment workshops sponsored by the Project PURSUIT Committee. Day long workshops are offered in such areas as Writing, Social Studies, Science and Technology, Literature, Power Thinking, and Mathematics. In addition, Book Club workshops are held for students in grades 6-12. These workshops serve students at all grade levels who demonstrate high ability, creativity, task-commitment, problem-solving abilities, and interest in the subject of the workshop. Each workshop is a special event where students are given the opportunity to explore, learn and produce.
Thinking Skills Curriculum
The Mequon-Thiensville School District, through Project PURSUIT, has developed an extensive K-12 Thinking Skills Curriculum. This curriculum covers critical thinking, creative thinking, and the development of leadership skills. Teachers, grades K-12, modify their curriculum for all students to teach for thinking. The gifted and talented specialists provide whole-class thinking skills instruction throughout the district. Our district thinking skills curriculum has served as a model for over fifty districts throughout the state of Wisconsin and has been used as a textbook at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Leadership Development
As part of the thinking skills curriculum, leadership is developed at the classroom level every day in our schools. In addition, talented middle school leaders may apply to work on the Middle School Workshop Steering Committee that plans and carries out a full day workshop for 75-100 of their peers. Clubs, sports as well as independent study at the high school provide other areas through which leadership is developed in the Mequon-Thiensville schools.
Independent Study
Independent Study at the high school is an opportunity for outstanding students who have exhausted the school's curriculum in a given area to continue to pursue their interest and talent in the area under the guidance of a teacher mentor. Since participation in independent study is a capstone experience above and beyond regular classroom work, students write a summary of their independent study to include in their transcript for submission to colleges. The projects developed through independent study have been diverse, including such things as original engineering designs, participation in an international computer programming consortium, the publication of books, production of art shows and music recitals, original music compositions and computer programs, participation in medical research and much more. This program is rigorous and has served as a model for other school districts in Wisconsin.
PURSUIT Room, Grades 4-8
Each elementary and middle school offers the PURSUIT Room opportunity to all students in grades 4-8. Students nominate themselves to go to the PURSUIT Room for approximately 1.5 hours per week to work on research and projects of their own design. Topics chosen by students are as interesting and diverse as the students themselves.
Interest and Learning Styles Inventories
The gifted and talented specialists administer interest and learning styles inventories to all students periodically during their elementary and middle school years. Teachers use the information provided by these inventories as they plan instructional activities for students.
School Based Enrichment
Part of typical gifted education programming is enrichment opportunities. These opportunities are provided on a regular basis for all of the children in our school district. Examples include speakers, artists-in-residence, field trips, service learning and more.
Competitions
Various competitions such as MATHCOUNTS at the middle schools and extra-curricular activities, such as Academic Decathlon, Debate, Forensics, Future Problem Solving, and Odyssey of the Mind, give students a chance to develop their abilities and to compete and receive recognition for their accomplishments.
Creativity Development
Creative/productive thinking is important for the advancement of our civilization. All inventions and discoveries involve creative thinking. Students are taught creativity skills through our thinking skills program. In addition, students are expected to apply their creativity in the creation of projects for their classes to demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned. In addition, creativity is developed through the PURSUIT Room opportunity, small group work and workshops.
Counseling
Gifted/talented students have unique social, emotional and academic needs. Appropriate programming for gifted students includes the opportunity for G/T counseling for both the students and the parents. The gifted/talented (PURSUIT) specialists are trained in this area and work with parents and students on a regular basis. In addition, the PURSUIT specialists work as part of a team along with the school counselors, social workers and psychologists to meet the needs of gifted/talented students. Parents interested in discussing their child should contact the PURSUIT specialist for their school.
Fine Arts Programming
K-12, outstanding fine arts opportunities are available for all students in the school district. Art and music are taught K-12. Drama is included in various classrooms as a learning tool as well as through music classes and productions at the middle level. The high school offers a rich array of art, music, and drama classes and activities. For our most talented art, music, dance and drama students, Project PURSUIT has a Fine Arts Program for grades 6-12. All students currently involved in art and music are evaluated for inclusion in the program each year. Open auditions are held each year in late November or early December for drama and dance. Each year, the students in the program work on the arts of a different period in history, as well as on the arts of a different culture. This program has been recognized as an exemplary program by the Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education.
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