Chas: Students to be honored for gifted education

[Editor]

This just in from Charles County Public Schools...

Students to be honored for gifted education accomplishments

Four Charles County Public Schools students will be honored this month for their accomplishments in gifted education by the Maryland State Department of Education's (MSDE) Maryland State Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education. They are Michael Gill, sixth grade, Milton M. Somers Middle School; Cayla Riddick, eighth grade, General Smallwood Middle School; James Wash, eighth grade, Theodore G. Davis Middle School; and Eric Wood, fifth grade, J.C. Parks Elementary School. They were nominated for recognition by the gifted education resource teachers at their schools, and are four of nine Maryland students to be recognized Feb. 28 during a state reception at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Gill consistently scores advanced on the mathematics Maryland School Assessment (MSA) test and is enrolled in accelerated algebra and language arts courses. He has received the President's Award for Educational Excellence and the 2011 Outstanding Maryland Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) award. He is also a member of the Somers' eCybermission and math teams. For her high academic achievement on mathematics exams, Riddick was selected to take an honors geometry course at a local high school. She was identified for gifted education services as a third grader and is in all advanced level courses, enrichment social studies and science, and language arts. She is a member of the MESA and math teams at Smallwood, and the chess club. Wash maintains a middle school grade point average of 4.0 and has scored advanced on both the mathematics and reading MSA tests since the third grade. He is enrolled in an honors geometry course at the high school level and has already completed the Gateway to Technology pre-engineering course. He is a member of the advanced orchestra as a violin player and the chess and math clubs at Davis. He is also a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Wood is consistently on the honor roll and has scored at the advanced level on both the reading and mathematics MSA exams. He received the highest score for his grade level in the elementary math competition last year and was honored in November by the Board of Education in the area of career readiness. He takes gifted math and reading courses, is a member of the MESA, math, Destination Imagination and Dream teams, and plays in the school band. Along with these students, T.C. Martin Elementary School will be honored with the Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) award at the state reception, and two teachers – Joyce Campbell and Mary Seremet – will be honored of their work in gifted education. Charles County Public Schools provides 26,700 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 35 caring community schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

Read More on the Charles County Public Schools Web site...