Student Teachers : GATE Program’s Gifted Kids Learn Much From One Another

English teacher Robert Carney takes little credit for the top-notch work cranked out by students in his Gifted and Talented Education classes. To hear him tell it, those classes practically run themselves.

“The greatest influence on middle school GATE students comes from their colleagues,” explained Carney, who is in his 13th year of teaching in the GATE program at Balboa Middle School.

“The students are the ones who do the work and make the achievements,” he said. “I’m a very common teacher, surrounded by uncommon students who perform in uncommon ways.”

Indeed, the bulk of the 150 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade GATE students perform remarkably. In Carney’s class, for example, many are superachievers who have a remarkable grasp of writing and language.

“It’s not a class where you just sit around and listen to the teacher,” said Mike Derse, a 13-year-old eighth-grader who has been in GATE since the third grade. “The students are the ones who set the level for the class. You’re with smart people who are going to push you to do your best.”

Launched about 25 years ago, Balboa’s GATE program combines seventh- and eighth-graders in history and English classes. GATE students are in regular classes for all other subjects.

A variety of criteria is used to funnel students into GATE, including teacher recommendations, academic achievement and test scores. More than 1,000 students in the Ventura Unified School District are enrolled in GATE, a number that represents about 5% of the students districtwide.

Margaret Gosfield, who oversees GATE for the district, said she knows that some people believe the program is elitist. But she and others are quick to point out that exclusion from GATE is not necessarily a reflection on a student’s ability to learn. There are plenty of bright students--many who get straight A’s--who are not enrolled in GATE.

Rather, GATE is meant to address the special learning needs of gifted students by providing a program that is accelerated, more complex and more in-depth.

“There are so many misconceptions about gifted kids,” she said. “These students, just like special-education students, are so far different than the norm that a typical class does not meet their needs.”

There is nothing typical about Carney’s class. Words and phrases dominate every nook and spare space. They are plastered to walls and scrawled on poster boards hanging from the ceiling.

Class always begins with students shaking hands and exchanging an inspirational greeting. A series of daily activities follows that allows students to comment on issues of the day or to share fine literary works.

There are no textbooks, no outlines. Instead, students spend the bulk of their time examining the written word, dissecting it and making it their own.

“I like writing a lot, I like to get creative with it,” said eighth-grader Annie Marostica, 13. “It’s totally different than any other class at this school.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ABOUT THIS SERIES * “Coming of Age: Learning the Lessons of Middle School” is an occasional series tracing the progress of a group of students at Ventura’s Balboa Middle School through their seventh-grade year. This installment provides an overview of the third quarter, including the nervous tension of a middle school dance and a frantic push to prepare students academically for eighth grade as the school year races to a close.