Speaking Out for G.A.T.E.

Dear Board of Education,

First of all, I would like to thank you for letting my friends and I speak out on behalf of the G.A.T.E program.  Due to prior obligations, some of our classmates could not attend tonight's meeting, but helped write and support our message. I am Lilly Strong and these are my friends Emma Foos and Sophia Bittel. G.A.T.E stands for Gifted And Talented Education. G.A.T.E is a great place to be and we like being in it. 

      G.A.T.E. is different from our other classes because it has the goal of building the capacity for highly complex thinking in an interactive environment.  It also meets the unique needs of not one, but all of the students in the program.

      G.A.T.E. is the best part of our day.  If you take it away, we will have nothing to look forward to. 

      Now you’re probably wondering why gifted students need a special program?  We can answer that! Recent studies show that if a child is gifted, he or she may need a program, like G.A.T.E., that is responsive to their level of learning and thinking.

      G.A.T.E. improves its students in many ways.  Brain Teasers teach us facts about the world. A brain teaser is question that challenges us students by questioning our knowledge of the world, science, history, and more.  The G.A.T.E. teacher also expects us to keep a daily journal.  Journal entries teach us writing skills and challenges us to think about the topic of the day.  We also learn different ways to solve mathematical problems.

            G.A.T.E. gives students a chance to go above and beyond.  It helps children learn critical thinking skills they will use for the rest of their life.

           

       The G.A.T.E. teacher receives a special training that she must have in order to teach G.A.T.E.  She has to update this.  I verified this with Mrs. Makulinski,the current G.A.T.E. teacher.

   We hope you think about all of the reasons we value the gifted and talented education program.  Please do not take it away.

   We would like to close with a poem by Olivia Vogelpohl...Sorry Liv, I gave the poem to the board and didn't make a copy.  Macey, Lilly added some from your speech and we also gave the board a copy of your hard work.

Thank you.
Lilly Strong, Emma Foos, Sophia Bittel, Alayna Hahn, Macey Bauder, Jordan Beam, Marissa Tracy, Olivia Vogelpohl