Gifted Resource Council
Gifted Resource Council
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Summer Academies Opportunities are Wonderful — and Unique!

In addition to a curriculum rich with offerings ranging from the well-known Space Academy to the ever-popular Ancient Academy (now featuring Egypt!), Summer Academies provide exceptional children with opportunities for personal growth unavailable anywhere else in the area.

Learning to Learn
Gifted children tend to focus on proving to adults how smart they are rather than on the experience of learning itself, being well-rounded or developing healthy peer relationships. They expect to "be on top" and to prove it by earning scores as near to perfect as possible.

These fragile underpinnings of a child’s self-esteem reduce the richness of learning to racking up "measurable achievements."

To counter these destructive tendencies, GRC’s Summer Academies are ungraded and students are empowered to explore their interests and transcend the confines of what they will be tested on.

As they discover learning can be exploratory and fun, not simply linear, their motivation shifts from external approval to internal curiosity, from competitive to cooperative learning. "For many children," veteran teacher Sandy Kalin observes, "this is a very liberating experience."

No Longer "The Best"
GRC’s Summer Academies provide many students with their first experience of not being the best of the best.

Determined to nurture talented students and fragile egos craving recognition as "the best," GRC teachers insist on cooperative learning, teamwork and creative, fun-filled approaches to problem-solving. As they learn to cooperate, students develop respect for one another and accept their own limitations.

As Kalin puts it, "Many students discover that being the best isn’t always possible — or even that important."

Thinking Outside the Box
Not only are the Academies ungraded, but curricula emphasize trying new things, understanding connections, and utilizing multiple approaches.

Seven years ago Kalin, who has taught a wide variety of subjects at the Summer Academies, helped create an enduringly popular Academy for young children: Math, Marvels & More which links math with various creative arts and sciences. As the course evolved over the years, Kalin points out, it has involved a changing variety of creative activities, but has never narrowed its focus to simply being a high-powered math skills course.

The most recent Academy helping students learn to "think outside of the box" is the remarkable ECO Academy which was piloted just last summer.

Kalin, who serves as principal of Bethel Lutheran School and has a background in science, was also instrumental in designing this program to help students learn about how economics and ecology interface.

Kids loved it, Kalin reports, even if a few didn’t really understand what they were getting into. For instance, one boy was initially frustrated because he wanted to be allowed to simply study the stock market so that he could learn how to make money.

Because a narrow focus and learning in isolation are not the GRC way, Kalin and her colleagues insisted that the boy get involved with peers eager to learn how the stock market relates to the overall economy, the monetary evolution from bartering to stock options, and ways the economy and ecology impact one another.

ECO teams form corporations, design products and market them to other students. This hands-on approach makes learning more concrete and strengthens interpersonal skills.

And the boy who only wanted to retreat into the stock market? He got caught up in the interactive, inter-disciplinary, in-depth approach and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Special Relationships
Kalin believes that the relationships students form with one another are among the most important benefits of their participation in the Summer Academies.

Gifted children often feel estranged from peers who are not as talented, and this discomfort limits their opportunities to laugh and play, be silly or athletic, or even make casual conversation. Instead, they gravitate toward adults and concentrate on perfecting their special talents.

GRC’s Summer Academies allow children to interact with others who are equally gifted and form friendships with students throughout the entire metropolitan area.

According to Kalin, children cherish these relationships and look forward to seeing their friends when they return year after year. "They form friendships with peers who share comparable talents, similar interests and different interests, similar experiences and different experiences. Many times they don’t find this experience in their regular schools, and GRC provides a very healthy, stimulating environment."

Premier Faculty
Gifted Resource Council not only structures the Summer Academies to provide students with these important learning experiences, but also hires the finest teachers in the area to work with them. Teachers are encouraged to stress interpersonal relations, as well as the social and emotional growth of students.

Kalin, for instance, loves working with these students. "I look forward to seeing them return summer after summer, excited about the program, thrilled to reconnect with friends, and growing more mature every year. That’s why," she adds, "teachers keep returning and former students return to teach. They know from experience how much the Summer Academies can mean to a talented — but often isolated or one-dimensional — child."

Simply The Best
GRC’s Summer Academies offer students much more than simply an enrichment curriculum. Students have unique opportunities to work with others from many backgrounds and experiences who are their intellectual as well as chronological peers. These relationships, in combination with the carefully structured educational style, stimulate invaluable emotional and social development that are essential if children are to be healthy and well-rounded.
For more information regarding Gifted Resource Council, please call the GRC office at 314-962-5920.