GT Times
March, 2020
Welcome to the newsletter of the Gifted and Talented Department for the Egg Harbor Township School District! This newsletter will be published once per month, and you will find information about all of the fantastic activities we do with our students. We will also post upcoming events and important dates at the bottom along with links to each of our web pages. Enjoy!
Miller School Wins Lenovo Traveling Storybook Competition!
On the evening of Friday, March 20th, Miller School GT teacher Miss Hunt received the email she had been hoping for from the Lenovo Traveling Storybook competition. In part, it read:
"The voting period for Lenovo’s Traveling Storybook competition is now over. And, we’re proud to say that your students’ hard work and creativity has won Dr. Joyanne D. Miller School the $25,000 Grand Prize! Out of all the submissions, your school’s story for the future of education blew us—and the voters—away. We simply couldn’t stop watching! Everyone involved in the project should be proud of their submission—the Grand Prize is well-deserved."
Congratulations to Miss Hunt, Mrs. Slusarski, the Lenovo team of Jason DeNafo, Ben Gettings, Steve'O Slusarski, Madison Gladney, Brianna LaChina, and Ana Mytnik, as well as the entire Miller School! We are so grateful for all of the support from the EHT School District family, as well as everyone out there who voted for our video! We couldn't have done this without all of you!
The students' winning video can be see on the Lenovo Traveling Storybook School Gallery. Stories can also be found on SJN tv.
ALDER SCIENCE FAIR
Thirty-eight students competed in the 2020 Alder Science Fair on March 11th. Throughout the year, the students had worked on projects in which they completed an experiment of their own design or created a product using the engineering design process or coding. First-, second-, and third-place ribbons were given to the top projects in six categories. Fifth-grade GT students from the Miller School attended the fair and served as judges for the "People's Choice Award." Judges also awarded medals to the top three projects overall in the entire fair. Shout out to Miss Hunt, Mrs. Dempsey, Mrs. Pettit, Miss Cunningham and Mrs. Hinlicky for helping out as judges!
*The photo above shows Alder MS Principal Mrs. Giardina, the overall winners and 6th Grade GT teacher Mr. Warner.
Below are the students who were recognized at the awards ceremony:
BOTANY and ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE:
1st - Eva Nye
2nd - D.J. Finn
3rd - Jack Stetser
BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCE:
1st - Suneri Desai
2nd - Tom Norkevicius
3rd - Brooklynn Conley
Honorable Mention - McKenzie Finn
Honorable Mention - Adrita Othoi
CHEMISTRY and MATHEMATICS:
1st - Carter Chew
2nd - Skyler Wood
3rd - Mikey Baxter
COMPUTERS and MEDICINE:
1st - Devyn Per
2nd - Nathan Sarfert
3rd - Monica Eskandar
PHYSICS and ENGINEERING:
1st - Lucas Cross
2nd - Paige Pacquing
3rd - Sofia Vitiello
EARTH SCIENCE, MICRO, AND ZOOLOGY:
1st - Hannah Lee
2nd - Nathan Hornikel
3rd - Josh Cochran
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD:
Paige Pacquing
OVERALL MEDALISTS: (See photo below)
1st - Lucas Cross
2nd - Hannah Lee
3rd - Suneri Desai
Honorable Mention - Paige Pacquing
Honorable Mention - Carter Chew
FLIPGRID FUN!
Swift's GT students are learning how to use Flipgrid. Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create "grids" to facilitate video discussions. Each grid is like a message board where teachers can pose questions, called "topics," and their students can post video responses that appear in a tiled grid display.
This week, Mrs. Sooy's students learned how to create their introductory video. Next week, they'll use Flipgrid to respond to questions.
Exploring America's History!
In preparation for our Civil War unit, the 5th Grade GT students are getting a crash course in American History! Beginning with the explorers, they are learning how we became the United States of America, and what events divided the States and caused the Civil War.
In order to become more familiar with the explorers who sailed from Europe and other locations to claim riches and land in the New World, students selected one explorer and created a poster about them. Using the online program LucidPress, which is part of our Google Learning Suite, they added facts and supporting graphics to make some fantastic posters!
Rapunzel’s Tower
In the beginning of March, 2nd grade Pep classes at Davenport were using teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking to participate in a Rapunzel’s Tower STREAM Challenge. The objective of the project was to use the Engineering Design Plan to build the tallest tower out of paper that also holds a lock of Rapunzel's hair. The materials each group used were: 4 pieces of paper, tape, scissors, and 'hair'.
Mock Trial
The coronavirus may be slowing things down in the U.S. Court system, but it cannot stop justice in our 6th grade GT classes! Yes, the instruction became virtual, but we have moved right into our Mock Trial unit! Students have learned about different types of courts and cases within the court systems of the United States and New Jersey. They analyzed fourteen possible trial case files and selected their top 5 choices for the case they'd most like to be a lawyer in. We then started learning about opening statements and how to write and present them. Moving forward, we will be learning how to develop and execute a direct examination of a witness, a cross examination of a witness, and a closing argument.
The students have been doing a great job of checking Google Classroom every day and keeping up with the assignments. We have also had some great video chats using Google Meet. It was awesome to see everyone again and catch up! Future Meets will take place according to the building schedule sent out by administration. GT will meet during 6th grade Tutorials (2nd period for Orange or Cobalt and 4th period for Burgundy or Emerald). You may come during whichever time works for you - Tuesdays at noon or Wednesdays at 8 AM. If cannot attend either time, don't worry... I will record the classes and post them online so you can catch up whenever you want. Keep up the great work and stay safe!
Davenport Students Balance Work and Play
Davenport’ GT classes are balancing work and play during the emergency closing. They have been working on Word Masters Google Slides as a team to put together the next list of words and information. The GT students also began a ‘Where in the World?’ cultural heritage project. Students will research a country of their heritage, and then choose a project in which to share their cultural information. The class and Mrs Pettit have been virtually meeting together through Google Meets in order to stay in touch and continue learning. GT students Addison and Isabella are finding time to be creative as well, with outside play and baking.
Stay safe and well! We hope to see you all soon!
Fernwood Science Fair
Forty-three students competed in the 2020 Fernwood Science Fair. Throughout the year, the students had worked on projects in which they completed an experiment of their own design or created a product using the engineering design process or coding. First-, second-, and third-place ribbons were given to the top projects in six categories. Fifth-grade GT students from the Miller School attended the fair and served as judges for the "People's Choice Award." Judges also awarded medals to the top three projects in the entire fair. Shout out to Miss Hunt, Mrs. Dempsey, Mrs. Sooy, Mrs. Flesch and Mrs. Arce for helping out as judges! The students will next compete virtually at the Jersey Shore Science Fair.
*The photo above shows 6th Grade GT teacher Mr. Warner, Fernwood MS Principal Mr. Frick, and the overall winners
Below are the students who were recognized at the awards ceremony:
BOTANY:
1st - Elli Morris
2nd - Rishan Rashed
3rd - William Seaman
BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCE:
1st - Belina Zhang
2nd - Harris Aron
3rd - Samantha Ho
CONSUMER SCIENCE:
1st - J.J. Lemon
2nd - Alex Griffin
3rd - Sara LoCasale
COMPUTER SCIENCE and ENGINEERING:
1st - Easton Dilks
2nd - Nicole Walczak
3rd - Kiara Ygana
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE and PHYSICS:
1st - Carmella Werleman
2nd - Bella Ronca
3rd - Alan Mejia Aleman
MICRO, BIOCHEM, MED, and CHEM:
1st - Carrie Sutton
2nd - Eva Corbin
3rd - Trina Grawl
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD:
Easton Dilks
OVERALL MEDALISTS (ALL CATEGORIES):
Gold Medal (1st) - Easton Dilks
Silver Medal (2nd) - Belina Zhang
Bronze Medal (3rd) - Elli Morris
Honorable Mention: Carrie Sutton
Crime Solving Kids!
Slaybaugh GT students are virtually developing their critical thinking skills by solving a “crime” that was staged at Slaybaugh GT teacher Mrs. Dempsey’s house. Was it Lucky the dog? Mr. Dempsey? Pikachu? Or was it one of the other suspects? Students have to determine who was responsible for the mess on the couch. They examined the suspects and searched for clues hidden in the photographs. They then used this information to develop a theory of the case. We will have the opportunity to debate our differing theories and the true criminal will be revealed in our upcoming virtual class.
The photo below shows Lucky looking guilty at the scene of the crime!
Jersey Shore Science Fair
The 6th grade GT students received some discouraging news recently: the event many of them were working towards for much of the year, the Jersey Shore Science Fair, was not going to be taking place. After some time, however, the fair decided to go virtual. The problem was that students were going to have to create an entire online presentation from scratch, and they were only given a couple of days to do it. And these days coincided with the first days of EHT schools going virtual. So, in the midst of adjusting to that, students who wanted to compete had to find time in those first couple days to also create an online presentation that showcased all of their work.
Nineteen students took on the challenge, and they all did an amazing job with their presentations. Their hard work and grit paid off, and when the awards were announced, many of them received recognition from the judges. The following projects received awards in the Junior division (6th-8th grades):
1st Place in Computer Science: Easton Dilks
1st Place in Earth & Space Science: Carmella Werleman
1st Place in Microbiology: Aidan Federico
3rd Place in Biochemistry: Eva Corbin
3rd Place in Earth & Space Science: Samah Sheikh
3rd Place in Microbiology: Carrie Sutton
3rd Place in Zoology: Hannah Lee
Honorable Mention in Behavioral & Social Science: Belina Zhang
Honorable Mention in Biochemistry: Carter Chew
Honorable Mention in Botany: Elli Morris
Honorable Mention in Botany: Jack Stetser
Honorable Mention in Engineering: Nicole Walczak
Honorable Mention in Medicine & Health: Monica Eskandar
CONGRATULATIONS! It took so much work (and then extra work!!!) to get to this point. We're VERY proud of everyone!
By placing 1st in the categories, Easton, Carmella, and Aidan will move on to compete in the Delaware Valley Science Fair, which will also be virtual, in late April. Good luck to Easton, Carmella, and Aidan! We'll all be virtually cheering for you!
*The photo above shows Easton Dilks and below, Carmella Werleman, both presenting their projects at the Fernwood Science Fair recently.
Rock Hounds
The 4th grade GT students have begun a unit on rocks and minerals during their present virtual learning session. Students will learn the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks as well as minerals. They will do some virtual spelunking, and then teach their peers what they have learned about their Rock Hound speciality!
Stay tuned for more from the Rock Hounds!