Gifted education advocates recognized

Teachers, administrators and parents from local communities received recognition last week for their contributions to gifted education.

The honorees included Patti Kolb, a second-grade teacher at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park; Sarah Perry and Liz Silverman of Pleasant Valley Unified School District in Camarillo, and Jennifer Jackson, Dr. Jon Sand and Judy Steinmeyer from Conejo Valley Unified School District. All were recognized by the Tri-County GATE Council during an assembly at the Ventura Unified School District offices.

In addition, Oak Park parent Judy Wiener received the Pacific Region’s Distinguished Service Award from the California Association for the Gifted.

The council, an affiliate of the California Association for the Gifted, is made up of educators and parents in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Formed 20 years ago, the group is open to the public and offers conferences, workshops and presentations on gifted education issues. Each year school districts nominate recipients for the awards.

Gifted children’s educational needs are important because these students learn differently from other students, from even the high achievers, said Maryanna Gray, council spokesperson.

“Gifted children think more abstractly. They need challenge, choices. They often come to school already knowing the material being taught,” Gray said.

Unless challenged, gifted children become bored, Gray added.

“Now, when we are trying to bring everyone to proficient, we often are overlooking our advanced students, and often they are the lowest achieving based on their ability,” Gray said. “Everyone thinks, ‘These students are gifted. They’ll be fine.’ But they’re not,” Gray said.

There are many misconceptions about gifted kids—that everything is easy for them, that they all get straight A’s, that parents brag about them and that they should be the last ones to need extra help, Wiener said.

“On the contrary, along with the ‘gifted abilities’ come characteristic challenges and problems,” Wiener said.

As a parent of two gifted children, Wiener became a member of the Oak Park District Advisory Committee and advised the district on implementing new state standards. She served as a co-president of the Tri-County GATE Council and created a council website and electronic newsletter. As a psychotherapist, Wiener offers social and emotional needs support groups for parents of gifted children. Gray called Wiener’s contributions to gifted education “extraordinary and remarkable.”

Patti Kolb created classroom lessons that promote higher-level thinking beyond basic standards for all of her students. She presented her curriculum to schools in surrounding districts and at several conferences.

“Patti did an extraordinary job of integrating and enriching her students’ curriculum with depth and complexity,” wrote Red Oak Elementary teacher Enid Miller in her nomination of Kolb. “She is generous in sharing the lessons she developed and serving as a mentor for her peers.”

Jennifer Jackson teaches a combined kindergarten/first-grade class that includes many gifted students at Conejo Elementary School in Thousand Oaks. Her nomination form states that she helps students work at high levels of thinking and reasoning by offering challenging instruction and experiences and by focusing on individual needs.

Judy Steinmeyer is a fifth-grade teacher and GATE facilitator at Acacia Elementary School in Thousand Oaks. As stated in her nomination, she helps train teachers in gifted instruction, organizes lunchtime sessions for gifted students, provides resources to students and parents, and creates opportunities for gifted students to further their learning.

Dr. Jon Sand, principal of Sycamore Canyon School in Newbury Park, is supportive of gifted education training and enrichment and initiated several new programs, according to his nomination.