We are experiencing difficulties with comments posting to this page. Please send your comments/signatures to me at jenny.denton@cox.net. If you read through the comments section and your previously left comment isn't visible, please respond to my email as well.
This petition is the first step needed to move toward better programs for the gifted in MPS. By signing this petition, you will be advocating for change in MPS's gifted program.
When I talk to the district administrators, I will take this list with me to demonstrate how many students, parents/grandparents/guardians, teachers, and friends hope for better services for the gifted in Mesa Public Schools.
Don't feel like you need to leave a long comment, just your name is enough. (I do love the long comments, and they will be incorporated into my presentation to the district, but don't feel like it's necessary to sign the petition.). Please identify yourself in your comment as a student, a parent/grandparent/guardian, a teacher, or a friend of MPS.
Thank you.
When I talk to the district administrators, I will take this list with me to demonstrate how many students, parents/grandparents/guardians, teachers, and friends hope for better services for the gifted in Mesa Public Schools.
Don't feel like you need to leave a long comment, just your name is enough. (I do love the long comments, and they will be incorporated into my presentation to the district, but don't feel like it's necessary to sign the petition.). Please identify yourself in your comment as a student, a parent/grandparent/guardian, a teacher, or a friend of MPS.
Thank you.
The suggestions on this website are a terrific beginning to improve the gifted program for children in Mesa Schools. A strong parent organization is a most important method of driving change, so I hope you will join Jenny in this quest to improve the educational experiences for all of our gifted kids. I am the parent of two gifted boys and I work as an educator specializing in gifted education. Dawn Knappenberger
ReplyDeleteI support improvement in MPS Gifted Programs. Eye-opening to me was the numbers! 2000 in MPS vs. 6000 in PV??? We need to do a better job identifying and servicing the gifted students in our area. Thanks for tackling the dinosaur, Jenny...before it goes extinct. I am the parent of gifted kids who are and have been in MPS and am the product of a gifted education from another state. Janette Booth
ReplyDeleteI believe that our gifted kids are unacknowledged/under acknowledged. I worry that we are teaching them to be underachievers and that will persist through their college years and beyond. It is time for changes to be made in the way MPS addresses these children. Karen Cole
ReplyDeleteThe school system at large has failed me. I am a former student of Field elementary, Bush elementary, Poston Junior High, and Mountain View High School. I grew up my whole life in the Mesa Public School System, and despite the thousands upon thousands of hours I spent attending these schools, I can count on my old wood shop teacher's hand how many teachers were truly able to cater to my needs as a gifted student, and truly teach me. Because I already knew how to read and spell and do fractions, I was left largely alone as the teacher explained the same things to students with half my abilities, and who can possibly expect an eight year old to be responsible for their own education? Because of this lack of attention, I learned early on that minimal effort would grant me maximum free time. The underachieving reinforced itself continually until my entire education was permeated by "How can I get the teacher off my back?" curtailing my achievements as a student and as a member of society. If you care so much about lifting test scores, look to your underachieving gifted who can ace the AIMS -- or whatever other test they're using nowadays -- if you give them a little attention.
ReplyDeleteTucker Denton
Lily MPS Student
ReplyDeleteKarli West MPS student
ReplyDeleteTate Giguiere, currently enrolled in MPS, I have been identified as a gifted student since 3rd grade, and am going to begin my Junior year in High School next month. I would like to see more teachers like the first ELP teacher I had at Hale Elementary. She was amazing.
ReplyDeleteAllyson Van Patten. Mother of children attending MPS, and product of MPS myself.
ReplyDeleteKimball Layton, former MPS student, current MPS parent
ReplyDeleteAmanda Booth, currently a MPS gifted student.
ReplyDeleteBrenn Cole, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteKen Booth, Parent of gifted students.
ReplyDeleteLauren Fine, former MPS student. Being gifted gave me the ability to excel in school and receive recognition and accolades, but as that became my focus, I feel like I became just another cog in the machine. My creative abilities were never fully developed because I quickly learned how to fit into the cookie cutter education that treats everyone the same. I agree that it needs to be easier to tailor education to different students' needs. If there's anything else I can do to help you with this project, I would love to be a part of it. If anyone can change how gifted children are taught in the MPS system, you can! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteJoy Arnett, teacher of gifted students and former MPS student
ReplyDeleteHeidi Brubaker, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteBen Denton--recent MPS graduate and gifted student
ReplyDeleteJennifer West, MPS parent
ReplyDeleteAmy Beardall, former MPS student and mother of 3 children in the gifted program (plus a 2nd grader not yet in the GT program).
ReplyDeleteEllen Bouck, previous MPS ELP student and mother of 4 previous MPS ELP students (the last of whom transferred out of the district, skipped a grade, and is still ahead of grade level).
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in learning about and helping with your project. The truly gifted anomaly is a complex beast. Go Jenny!
Bryson Jones - friend of MPS; brother attends MPS.
ReplyDeleteJanee Layton MPS parent
ReplyDeleteKinsey Layton MPS student
Daisy Layton MPS student
Tamra Burrell parent
Amber Allison-Former MPS student
ReplyDeleteHannah Roberts, former MPS student.
ReplyDeleteKelly K. Biggs
ReplyDeleteRetired Educator and MPS parent
Micah Kyler - MPS Graduate, Gifted Student
ReplyDeleteDiana Tucker
ReplyDeleteGifted student parent
Lynndsey Ward, mother of gifted 5th grade student at Hermosa Vista Elementary
ReplyDeleteTanya Harrison - I am the mother of gifted students who are attending school in Mesa. I am a former MPS employee with a Master's Degree in education and a product of MPS.
ReplyDeleteZoë Brimhall, former MPS student (Highland Elementary, MacArthur Elementary, Entz Elementary, Poston Jr. High, and Mountain View High School)
ReplyDeleteAmanda Hallsted, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteKara Staples, product of MPS and former MPS teacher
ReplyDeleteJana Miller, MPS parent
ReplyDeleteKara Pothier, MPS Parent
ReplyDeleteJamie Giguiere, mother of MPS gifted students.
ReplyDeleteI am the mother of four former MPS students and grandmother of eight current MPS students. MPS has always had a national reputation for excellence - which is why we moved from out of state, specifically to have our children in MPS. Please don't neglect the gifted issue. Jenny Denton has done her homework; her proposal is reasonable, researched, thoughtful, current, and so very needed. Let's keep up MPS's national example of excellence in ALL areas, most importantly regarding gifted students. MPS deserves this recognition, but more important, our children deserve this education.
ReplyDeleteMatt and Natalie Olsen are happy to sign the petition.
ReplyDeleteNatalie and I love Mesa Public Schools, as both of us attended elementary school, junior high and high school in the district. Dawn Knappenberger, who was the first one to comment on this petition, was my fourth grade teacher at Field Elementary. I was in one of her last fourth grade classes before she took over as the head of the gifted program at Field. Seeing her comments brings a lot of credibility to Jenny's project.
I am a pursuing a Master's Degree in Elementary Education and am part of ASU's iTeachAZ program in the Osborn School District in Phoenix. I will be a certified teacher in December and finish with my degree in May 2015. I love the program and look forward to having my own classroom in the very near future!
When discussing differentiated instruction, gifted students are often overlooked in regards to how to scaffold lessons to bring out their full potential. I am very interested in Jenny's program and hope to implement some of her ideas into my own classroom someday.
Matt Olsen
Andrea Xidis
ReplyDeleteJennifer Badgett, mps parent
ReplyDeleteThomas Olsen, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteWhile I was not an academically gifted student when I was young, I do have gifts in other areas that I believe I was not able to fully understand and expand while I was a child, and so for that reason I can relate to what Jenny is doing. I think all children should be given the opportunity to explore the abilities in the best possible way, and I think Jenny has a good plane on how to help academically gifted children.
Doug Knappenberger - Prior MPS gifted program participant.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in MPS where both my parents and my grandmother spent their careers. I taught school for 4 years in a small private school for juvenile criminal and sex offenders that had sponsorship from MPS. Teaching is in my blood, and MPS is in my family history.
ReplyDeleteIn the 3rd grade I was tested for a gifted program and didn't pass. I only know this because my 5th grade teacher later told me she had to beg and beg for me to be retested. I spent an hour a week, in the 6th grade, in a pull out class with one of the greatest teachers I've ever had.
I was put in a gifted program in junior high, but the schedule conflicted with choir and art classes I'd wanted to take with my peers. It seemed so unfair that I had to choose. Partway through 8th grade I dropped out, partly over hurt feelings from a teacher's comment, and partly to be with my "normal" friends.
In high school I took AP English. And that's about it. At one point I decided to "test' my teachers to see if anyone was paying attention and stopped doing all homework. Two teachers noticed. I got good grades in their classes. The rest of my classes, well I pulled it out at the last minute because I couldn't bear to out and out fail. Now, I look back and wonder how any of that made sense to me, and I wonder about the cost of those decisions. How did no one else notice? Even my father who taught in the next building over? I was smart but doing dismally in school.
At my high school graduation I had to ask someone why my tassel was a different color than most. Turns out I was in the top 10% of my graduating class. I didn't know.
I applied to one college - because my friends were going. I didn't explore other options - even with some automatic scholarships for MCC and ASU that I was baffled to receive without applying - and did not have any idea that I even should turn to any adults in my school for help in knowing how to best reach my potential.
Sometimes I'm jealous of the opportunities gifted kids have, when I see some of the opportunities my friends' kids have today. I am a gifted kid that definitely fell through the cracks, in spite of MPS's efforts to meet my needs. I may not be a parent, but I am passionate both about education and about kids. I'm pleased to sign the petition and see how I can get involved. Thank you, Jenny, for taking this on.
Tara Cummins
Deleteformer gifted student in MPS
I just spent fifteen minutes typing my comment and when I tried to publish it disappeared. So in lieu of a long comment I will just say that I am a product of MPS and my children now attend MPS and none of our needs has ever been met through the gifted program offered in this district. From what I can tell, the program is virtually the same as it was 30 years ago when I participated. It didn't meet my needs then and it does not meet my children's needs now. I have long been frustrated with the lack of appropriate services and funding for gifted children and feel strongly that the program needs a drastic overhaul. I'm happy to help and participate in any way I can in bringing this about.
ReplyDeleteMads Layton- MPS Student
ReplyDeleteMy kids are in the GPS District and we have seen a decline in support in the last couple of years. The program that my daughter was in from 4th-6th, is now only available on a very limited basis- they no longer pull the kids out in 4th grade. Also we lost an outstanding ALP teacher to the Chandler School District due to funding. So sad!
ReplyDeleteKelsey Green, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteBen & Emily Layton, MPS parents of students who have & currently participate in the gifted program.
ReplyDeleteDawn Cluff-Lane - Prior MPS gifted program participant and parent of MPS gifted students.
ReplyDeleteMaegan Bingham, former MPS gifted student
ReplyDeleteHilary Bingham, former MPS gifted student
Tony & Pam Bingham, parents of MPS gifted and special ed students
Sydney Lane, MPS gifted student
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThane Giguiere, current MPS Gifted Student. The first time I began to understand I thought differently was in first grade. We were talking about farm animals, and my teacher told us to draw a cow. I excitedly drew a brown cow with dark brown spots. As the teacher came to my desk to check on my progress I couldn't wait to tell her about my picture. She frowned as she looked at my drawing and told me it didn't look like the cows in the book. I told her it was a Chocolate Cow and gave Chocolate Milk! She frowned as she picked up my drawing, she shook her head as she crumpled it up and told me to stop being difficult and draw a real cow. I watched as she walked over to the trash can and threw away my drawing. I drew a "real" cow. I hated it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got home I sadly told my mom the story of the "real" cow drawing and she went to the school and retrieved my crumpled up chocolate cow picture. She hung it on the refrigerator and we talked about all the fun possibilities for a chocolate milk giving cow.
It would have been amazing to have a teacher who understand that I wasn't trying to be difficult, I just thought differently.
Quinn Giguiere, Former MPS Gifted Student.
ReplyDeleteAlan and Erica Soelberg, former MPS Gifted Students, now parents of MPS Gifted Students.
ReplyDeleteHeather Robles - former gifted student and parent of gifted MPS students
ReplyDeleteAmy Dampt, parent of six MPS gifted kids
ReplyDeleteKerri Burns, friend of MPS
ReplyDeleteLOVE that you are advocating for Mesa's gifted kids! I LOVE that you are throwing all you have at the issue at hand. I LOVE that you are so gifted with words and I know that you can and will make a difference. THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeletePlease add my name to the petition. I will do anything I can to help further your cause. I will continue to advocate for my gifted kids and am grateful for all that is (and will be) done for them now (and in the future). I would love to see (and be part of change) in the gifted programs offered in MPS.
I am a product of gifted programs in Tempe and Mesa school districts. I am the parent of 5 MPS kids, 4 of whom are currently in gifted programs at their schools and one who is too young to know officially (kindergarten), but I she seems to be following the giftedness patterns of the older siblings so far.
Melissa Knighton
Andrea Gunnell, Parent
ReplyDeleteOwen Layton, former MPS gifted student and MPS gifted student parent
ReplyDeleteDan Evans- parent
ReplyDeleteJannalee Evans- Parent
Joanne Evans- grandparent
Chandler Evans- former ELP student
Hanna Evans- former student
Danica Evans- former student
Maranda Evans- student, former ELP
Andria Evans- student
Samantha Evans- student
Zanya Evans- student
As a former mps student who went on to be an elementary school teacher and work on my endorsement in gifted education, I would love to sign your petition. Good luck tomorrow!!
ReplyDelete-Laura Allred
Julianna Larsen, parent of MPS gifted student
ReplyDeleteI would like to sign the petition.
ReplyDeleteI did ELP in elementary school, did accelerated classes in junior high, and do advanced/AP classes at high school. I would love to see the MPS gifted program be improved in the ways you have suggested.
:)
Makenna Knighton
Maia Knighton... I am currently in honors classes in Mesa Public Schools, and I have been since third grade. There are many aspects of these classes that I love. However, parts of the gifted program are very dissatisfying, particularly at the junior high level. I would love to see some changes-better teachers, more learning, and less busy work.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps!
I really like this idea. I hope that it will be successful. Right now I am at Mesa Academy and have most classes that are my level but some of them are either boring or too low for me. I think that having ELP every day would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteTrevor Knighton
Shauna Tucker, McKay Tucker, Ashley Johnson, Parent and former MPS gifted students
ReplyDeleteSpencer Knighton
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you are saying. I am in a math class where there are about 30 8th graders with me being the only 7th grader in the class. I think it would be a great idea if gifted students in the same grade were put together so we didn't have to deal with older students. I am a current 7th grader at Stapley Junior High.
Helen Melzer-MPS Parent of 9 gifted children, a few who were "unidentified".
ReplyDeleteMy opinion about gifted kids, at least that I have seen at the grade school where I work, is that the most gifted kids are the ones that tend to have the discipline issues. They tend to get bored listening to the teacher re-explain things over and over and get into trouble. Something needs to be done to help this issue.
ReplyDeleteAlisa Radmall
Oregon Trail Elementary School
Twin Falls, Idaho
Aunt to Mesa Public School kids
Pam Blair, mother of three gifted kids
ReplyDeleteKatie Huston, mother of 8 gifted children. All five of my boys are twice-exceptional, diagnosed with either ADHD or Asperger's. The four oldest boys are exceptionally gifted, while my youngest son just began kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteIn order to challenge my children and keep them from losing their love of learning, we have enrolled them in college classes through Rio Salado and MCC. Some. As early as 10 years of age. Its time to put some curriculum in place for these kids.
Amy Rogers, former MPS student
ReplyDeleteKim Smith
ReplyDeletePaula Ames
ReplyDeleteJason Ames
Abbey Ames
Garrett Ames
Jeanne Koniuszy supports this effort
ReplyDeleteI only had one child declared "gifted" who participated. The other two didn't want to be in the "weird kid group". That's so sad. They've all graduated from college and I have to say they weren't as prepared for college curriculum as I wish they had been because they were able to coast through jr & sr high without really being challenged for good grades or more important, learning.
ReplyDeleteMore needs to be done for our kids and it needs to be done sooner.
Sheron Bradshaw
Reed Tucker
ReplyDeleteGifted child parent
Sally Delnort
ReplyDeleteRetired educator
Karen Thompson
ReplyDeleteParent of gifted kids
Susan Fitzgerald
ReplyDeleteMPS gifted students' parent
Hi Jenny, Thank you for all that you're doing for the children of MPS. I only have a few things to say. First, can we please get them to change the name from "gifted and talented"? I mean seriously, that is a terrible name on so many levels. Secondly, my son took the gifted and talented test a few weeks ago and did not pass it. I was a little surprised by this, as I'm sure most parents are and I talked to a few friends. One of my friends shared that her son's second grade teacher told her that she preps her students every year to take the test. She usually ends up with 20 kids passing the test at the end of the year. What?? We can prepare our kids for the test? If so, where is the material and why didn't I know about it? This just tells me that my son could certainly be admitted into the program if I prepped him at all. He was so close and it seems a shame to me to have him left out of an opportunity just because his mom didn't know any better or he had the wrong teacher. Again, thanks for all you're doing! -Kimberly Smith
ReplyDeleteTo whom it may concern,
ReplyDeleteI am a homeschooling mom; not because I was homeschooled or because I have always wanted to homeschool, but because it is necessary for my child. My oldest son, who is now 7, is what they call a gifted learner. Although we have never had him tested, it is obvious to us as parents and everyone who interacts with him that he is gifted. Although many people would hold this as a great platform for learning and success, I have come to realize that only if that platform is built properly and sturdily can this be true. To me, as his mother and teacher, this great advantage comes with equal and sometimes greater disadvantages. To me being a gifted learner goes hand in hand with being a learner who has a learning disability. My son masters concepts quickly and therefore in the classroom setting he is bored with repetition and finds it difficult to participate.). He simultaneously avoids things that are not interesting to him or are difficult for him (like handwriting and other fine motor activities). Unless he is engaged, HE WON’T LEARN, as though his brain turns off or turns inward to look for mental stimulation.
Right after he turned 5 we placed him in a private preschool, within a week they told us to reconsider our placement because he was too advanced. Already missing the start of school we tried putting him in Connections Academy, which he hated, and then came the decision to try Eagleridge with the Mesa Online Public School. The teachers were great at Eagleridge but he often ‘shut down’ when he was required to spend a week on subjects he had mastered years before (like Brown Bear, Brown Bear). I would often find him placing his little brother on his online courses because they were “so boring” and “things I’ve known forever.” After speaking with the staff for Mesa Online they gave him placements tests that he passed through first grade. The only option was to move him up well above where we wanted him (I do believe there are important aspects of grades that shouldn’t be skipped just because one is academically advanced) or keep him home. By this point, my little boy who had been reading by 2 and basking in encyclopedias and documentaries began saying things like, “I don’t want to read anymore. We read at school and I hate school so now I hate reading.” It was shocking to me that such a lover of learning could completely lose his passion for learning because he wasn’t engaged in what he was learning.
Although I acknowledge that as a parent I am not perfect and that we have been working on the important idea of doing things we don’t necessarily want to do, I know that there is a more fulfilling way to educate young minds like my sons. He loves homeschooling because it helps him continue in his passion of learning. Do I want to homeschool him always—no! I hope that the programs for gifted learners increase in their ability to build a strong and sturdy platform for him and others like him. Instead of looking at them as kids with an advantage in life, we need to look at them and see an individual with much potential who will not succeed without the right tools. I believe the classroom can be a powerful tool in allowing our kids to be well rounded and educated, if the needs of the gifted learners are incorporated.
Thanks,
Jessica Heileman
Laurie Milliron
ReplyDeleteJoanne Thomas
ReplyDeleteParent of MPS gifted kids