Clinton schools `in the money' with `gifted' grant.

Byline: John Weeks

CLINTON - Terrance Ingano has secured the Clinton school system a two-part grant from the state Department of Education (DOE) that will train staff to set up programs for gifted and talented students at the elementary and middle schools.

"We are all very excited about it," said Ingano, the school district's curriculum director and grant manager. "It is the state's Gifted and Talented Planning Grant and it is really two grants, one for the school year and one for the summer. We had to apply for both separately and we have been approved for a total of $11,108. That doesn't sound like a lot of money but we're still excited."

Ingano said the first grant will fund the tuition and textbooks of four staff members for an online graduate course run by the University of Connecticut (UConn). The course, Introduction to Gifted Education and Talent Development, "focuses on issues encountered in developing giftedness and talents in students." It will be taken by Ingano, Elementary School Principal Geraldine Sargent, Melissa Walters, math department head and math teacher at the elementary school, and Linda Powers, a grade 5 teacher at the middle school.

"The grant requires that you have one administrator, someone from the central office and two teachers," Ingano said. "Originally we were going to have six people enrolled in the course, but they cut us back to four."

Ingano said the course will begin in January and will be completed during the spring semester. In May, the second grant will kick in.

"The four of us will start teaching other staff what we have learned," he said. "The grant will provide stipends for teachers to have meetings and plan out a talented and gifted program for the district. There will also be money to bring in a consultant from UConn. That might be only for one day, or just half a day, but it will be someone coming out to Clinton to meet with us. By September, the goal is to have in place the program in at least one of the schools, hopefully in both the elementary and middle schools."

Ingano said the high school does not need a talented and gifted program because it already has accelerated coursework and programs in place to challenge bright students. The brightest students at the high school have the opportunity to partake in AP courses or internships within the community. Several students have even interned with the Item. Grades 7 and 8 also have accelerated courses.

"Kindergarten through grade 6 will be the main focus," Ingano said. "I don't want to start it too early. I think grade 4 would be a good place to start it, and that is just my personal opinion. I may learn a lot more when I take the course. This is smart use of money by the DOE. It's not just giving people money to go start a program. It's having us take a graduate course so we can actually know what we're doing. But, I don't want to start it too early. Parents think their children are gifted when they come out of the womb but we shouldn't start them too young."

Ingano said it is important to recognize that gifted students always need a challenge to keep them learning.

"Gifted students are special needs students," he said. "We don't usually think of them that way, but they are. They have special needs. We need to identify them and find ways to challenge them. There are many different programs throughout the country for gifted students. Some involve before or after school programs. Some have students skipping grades. There are many different models and that is what we will learn about in the course."

Ingano said gifted programs are often the first part of a budget chopped when money runs short. He wants to make the new gifted program a part of the school system that can be sustained throughout the years.

"I really want to start something and keep it rolling," he said. "I don't want it to be an add-on or an extra. I want it to an integral part of the system."