Gifted Updates @ WGSD High School
Newsletter, May 2022
Gifted 12 Senior Send Off!
After a year that began with the college essay and application process, our seniors are graduating and sailing off toward amazing new horizons! We are so proud of all they have achieved! Here are their plans for next year:
Adelyn Armstrong
I am planning on going to Mizzou and majoring in business. I am most looking forward to meeting new people and being able to focus more on my major/ what I'm interested in.
Andrew Bacon
I am going to Missouri S&T, majoring in Nuclear Engineering, and I am most looking forward to running in college and operating the nuclear reactor.
Ivy Clark
I am planning on attending the University of Notre Dame, majoring in Chemistry with a concentration in Neuroscience and minoring in Compassionate Care in Medicine.
I am most looking forward to football games!!
Matthew Curtis
I am attending MIT next year and I am majoring in Finance. What I am most looking forward to about next year is being able to have the opportunity to take more business/finance focused classes, and being able to start building my resume towards starting a career.
Elisabeth DeFoy
I'm going to Boston College and planning to major in Biochemistry.
I'm most excited about meeting new people and taking cool classes.
Mia Fiehler
I plan on attending Dayton University majoring in human right studies and double minoring in pre-law and studio art. I am most excited for the people I'm going to meet.
Isaac Groene
I will be attending Knox College, majoring in physics. I’m looking forward to being able to participate in real research.
Calli Hepfinger
I will be attending Truman State University next year, majoring in English. I am most looking forward to joining a badminton club!
Camille Herrmann
I am going to Hope College to study Environmental Studies and Forensics, and I am most looking forward to starting over next year.
Marshall Hoover
I am planning on attending the University of Arkansas and majoring in exercise science and I'm most looking forward to being on my own in a new environment next year.
Finn Jeanmougin
Attending Missouri S&T.
Joel Lazarow
I’m attending The Ohio State University next year. I plan on majoring in sociology or political science. I’m most looking forward to meeting new people and building a strong friend group.
Joseph Leyson
Hi, I am Joseph Leyson. I am majoring in biochemistry at Seton Hall University or at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What I am excited about next year is starting my journey to become a doctor.
Ben Miller
Next year I will be attending the United States Naval Academy, will be majoring in Foreign Areas Studies, and am most looking forward to sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
Gabriella Ramirez
I will be attending University of Missouri and I am undecided on my major at this point.
I am most looking forward to studying abroad and meeting people of different backgrounds.
Ben Rodebaugh
I'm going to be attending The University of Missouri and majoring in sociology. I'm looking forward to being more independent.
Emma Rohrs
I'm planning on attending Macalester, and am interested in both English and Biochemistry. I'm most looking forward to getting to learn about new subjects that I haven't yet been able to study.
Jessica Schneider
Attending Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Taylor Smith
My plans have been set on Bradley University pretty early on, as they have a program to help with undecided students. I'm most looking forward to getting a fresh start and hopefully meeting new people with similar interests to me
Tyra Smith
I plan on going to Depaul University in Chicago and majoring in Neuroscience. I think I'm most excited about independence and a change of scenery. I think college is going to be the first real different experience for me.
Myka Stewart
Next year I am planning on attending St Olaf College and studying both cello performance and a biology/ecology-related science, possibly with a minor or even major in French studies. I'm most excited about getting to explore all of my interests more in depth and make new friends and memories next year.
Alex Vance
Next year, I’m going to attend Missouri University of Science & Technology, and my intended major is aerospace engineering. I’m most excited about: S&T’s student design center building, their recently renovated gym, meeting new friends, being able to room with a friend who might go there, having 10x more agency than at home about what I do with my time throughout the day.
Abigail Woodfin
I am attending Missouri State University's Honors College this fall and majoring in Psychology, with the intention of taking my degree further and specializing in Neuroscience. I am most looking forward to joining different clubs and intramural sports and living in Springfield because it's such a cool place.
Gifted 11
Gifted 11 is working on reading William Faulkner's Modernist masterpiece, As I Lay Dying. Goodreads describes it as the "harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members -- including Addie herself -- as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic." This novel is a great way to stretch the mind and end Junior year.
In addition, we have one more synthesis essay to go before students will come home with their writing portfolios. It will include essays from the 3 main units: synthesis, argument, and rhetorical analysis; as well as a poetry section, and a creative work. I am so excited about all the growth this year! It has been an incredible year of learning. I am so glad to have had a full, in-class year with these students!
Please be on the lookout for summer reading.
Congratulations to the Missouri Scholars Academy Winners!
MSA is a three-week-long residential program for gifted rising 11th graders. It takes place on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus, June 12 - July 2, 2022. Students have a variety of classes and activities from which to choose. This is a prestigious opportunity, and the students who have participated consider it a transformative experience. The WGSD Gifted Department supports and encourages students to apply for the program. Nominations for MSA 2023 will open in December 2022.
The selection process includes looking at a student’s:
Grade point average
Aptitude Test Scores
Two student essays
Two letters of recommendation
Evidence of leadership, creativity, curiosity, problem solving ability and other attributes
Commitment to participate fully in the Academy’s offerings
Gifted 10
Gifted 10 students are currently completing their Persuasive Research Projects. Students were asked to create a thesis and conduct both traditional and experiential research on it. This has taken most of the semester, and it’s exciting to see the culmination of their learning in this last paper they’ll write.
In addition, we’re in the middle of our last literature unit: A Tale of Two Cities. It’s been fun to get into the French Revolution. As we prepare for finals, I am reminded of much more time I wish I had with these students--they are a fantastic group of people.
Gifted 9
Gifted 9 students are closing out the year with presentations on their I-Search projects, sharing with one another their job shadowing experiences. This is a great way to end our freshman class together, as students will be introduced to a variety of careers and get to learn from one another.
We are also finishing up our last literature unit and will then end with The Little Prince, which is a lovely book about friendship and love and building relationships; it helps us wrap up the first year of learning and growing together and gets everyone ready to do more of the same in Gifted 10
Updates for the 2022-23 School Year
Gifted Seminar is a new course offering that provides an opportunity for students in Grades 10-12 and identified as Gifted and Talented to receive academic and affective support in a structured environment. Student check-ins; grade monitoring; test preparation; reinforcement of time management and workload management strategies as well as additional executive functioning skills will all be emphasized. In addition, the curriculum also addresses the social emotional needs of gifted students by providing strategies to help students work through challenges with school and personal relationships; to reinforce communication skills in order to effectively interact with others; to nurture individual problem solving to foster resilience; and to emphasize personal goal setting and follow-through with reflection. Students may elect to complete an action research or project-based learning service component.
Gifted Academic Lab provides an opportunity for students in Grade 9 and identified as Gifted and Talented to receive academic and affective support in a structured environment. Student check-ins; grade monitoring; test preparation; reinforcement of time management and workload management strategies as well as additional executive functioning skills will all be emphasized. In addition, the curriculum also addresses the social emotional needs of gifted students by providing strategies to help students work through challenges with school and personal relationships; to reinforce communication skills in order to effectively interact with others; to nurture individual problem solving to foster resilience; and to emphasize personal goal setting and follow-through with reflection.