WINTON – Academically/Intellectually Gifted (AIG) students perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others their age, experience, and environment.

The Hertford County Public Schools AIG Program is under the new direction of Pamela Baker. She comes to Hertford County with 23 years of educational experience. Her vision for the AIG program is to identify, nurture and develop the potential of a diverse population of identified students. Baker says she is committed to providing a broad array of service options designed to maximize the unique characteristics of each gifted student and to provide an environment that develops responsible, productive, contributing, well-educated, highly skilled students who will be globally competitive citizens.

Students in Kindergarten – 5th grade are provided 45 minutes of direct enrichment twice a month. During this time, students are actively engaged in hands on activities and project based learning units of study. These activities promote higher order thinking skills, which will enhance their current curriculum. In addition, classroom teachers provide differentiated instruction based on the student’s individual identification needs. This collaboration is to ensure the student is receiving challenging content and growing academically.

Middle and High School students receive monthly electronic updates that provide projects/activities, events, fun facts and much more. Seniors must complete at least five of the projects to receive an honor cord at graduation.

Hertford County Schools provides an array of AIG services to students in kindergarten through grade 12. Although a school may provide additional enrichment activities, students in all schools receive comparable services to extend their academic and intellectual capabilities.

AIG students are actively involved in district, regional, and state competitions as well as field trips that are an extension of the regular classroom. Twenty six AIG students from Hertford County Middle School attended the play “Books Are My Children” at the CS Brown Cultural Arts Center on Sept. 28. The performance included AIG students from several of the other schools in the district. The play portrayed the life of Mrs. Hart and her involvement in opening the first public library in Winton. Each student received a book of choice to take home and were allowed time to visit the African Art Museum and the antique classroom while at the CS Brown Cultural Arts Center.

The Governor’s School of NC is a publicly funded five and one – half week summer residential program for academically/intellectually gifted high school students. This opportunity focuses on integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses. The curriculum focuses on the exploration of the most recent ideas and concepts in each discipline. Juniors in each of the high schools that scored 93% or higher on their EOC were eligible to compete in the Governor’s School program. The following students represented their respective schools in the competition:

Hertford County High School: Destiny Harrell

Hertford County Early College: David Greenwall

CS Brown High School-STEM: Torryan Lassiter

The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. Duke TIP works with students, their families, and educators to identify, recognize, challenge, engage, and help students reach their highest potential. To be eligible for this honor a student must score 95% or higher on his/her EOG. The following students represented Hertford County in this highly competitive AIG competition:

Riverview Elementary School: Karae’ Alfted and Travius Beale

Ahoskie Elementary School: Ayden Wilson, Jessica Pagola, Canasia Smallwood, Michael Williams, Noah Horton, Nacir Lewis, Ashtin Odom, Landon Thompson, and Caden Woods

Hertford County Middle School: Alexandria Tripp, Jospeh Acosta, Nyrell Bowser, Jameson Brown, Jaelyn Sanders, and Spence Clayton

HCPS to announces that Hertford County Early College will sponsor a Maker Faire at Roanoke Chowan Community College Gymnasium for AIG elementary students in November. A maker faire is an event created by Make Magazine to “celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and Do-It-Yourself Mindset.” This event will allow Hertford County AIG K-5 students an opportunity to visit stations and discuss with older AIG students the process for creating and inventing new ideas for the future.

Experimentation and playing are characteristics of gifted learners. Baker said, “ultimately allowing our students to participate in a local maker faire will encourage our younger students to begin “thinking outside the box” and that no dream is ever impossible. Critical thinking is where it all begins but we must provide those opportunities for our students to explore.”

Other enrichment opportunities that exist for Hertford County AIG students are a Spelling Bee (K-3), Battle of the Books (3-12), Quiz Bowl, and Soil and Water District competitions.