GATE Network: Gifted & Talented in Indiana

The GATE Network:
Gifted And Talented Education Network
of St. Joseph County, IN

The GATE Network is an informal network organized by a parent, Wendy Settle. Our goal is to support high ability children and "gifted" education in St. Joseph County, IN. Many of our current parent members have children in the Penn Harris Madison School Corporation in north-central Indiana, but we have expanded to include other districts. We are listed as one of the support groups on the Indiana Association for the Gifted's web site. Membership is open to parents, grandparents, guardians, teachers, and "friends" of gifted and talented children, from kindergarten through high school. Our scope includes not only identified gifted and talented children, but also unidentified gifted, high ability, and high potential children.

The GATE Network's Mission Statement

To increase our knowledge about the characteristics of high ability and gifted children

To understand the emotional / social needs of high ability and gifted children.

To share and disseminate information on local resources for high ability and gifted children

To learn how we can promote healthy communication and self esteem

To learn, as parents of high ability and gifted children, how to communicate our children's needs to their teachers

To encourage the creation and use of resources and learning opportunities for high ability and gifted children

To gather information on gifted programs offered by other school districts in Indiana

School Districts in St. Joseph County, IN

John Glenn School Corporation, St. Joseph County Statistics
Penn - Harris - Madison School Corporation, St. Joseph County Statistics
School City of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County Statistics
South Bend Community School Corporation, St. Joseph County Statistics
Union - North United School Corporation, St. Joseph County Statistics
New Prairie United School Corporation, St. Joseph County

Great News!

New Indiana Legislation for High-Ability Students – Starting July 1, 2007, gifted education will be mandated for the first time ever in Indiana and gifted education funding will more than double thanks to SB 408. The state budget for gifted funding is currently $13 million per year. The bill will also require that all schools in the state identify high ability students and provide them an appropriately differentiated curriculum in grades K-12. Sources: The Post-Tribune, Indiana General Assembly

PHM's services for gifted and high ability education:

PHM is currently hiring a new Gifted and Talented Program coordinator. The GT office is located at Schmucker Middle School, 56045 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN 46545 . The coordinator's primary job is to provide resources and support for PHM teachers. The coordinator has a small library of parent resources that are available for parent check out. You may schedule an appointment to review materials by calling 259-7941 ext. 5215

Past GATE Network Meetings: Here's what you missed if you didn't come!

To join the Gate Network of St. Joseph County, IN contact:

Wendy Settle (email preferred) 574-631-4359
Please leave a message with your name, address, telephone number, and email address (if your message is left over the voice mail please spell all words very clearly). Also please indicate your children's names, grade levels, and schools.

Recommended Reading

Gifted and Talented in Indiana: Resources for Parents
The Big Picture: The State of Education in Indiana
What's Behind the Big Picture?
Organizations/Resources for Parents/Educators, including Indiana
Sources for Articles about Gifted Learners
Enrichment Opportunities for Children in North-Central Indiana

From "Taking the Lid Off" presented to the Indiana General Assembly, 2000:

High ability students do not receive an appropriate education when left without services.

One study found that "the instructional pace set by the teachers using the whole-class approach was equal to that of students in the 23rd percentile of the class ability distribution." In other words, in a classroom that represents a normal range of abilities, a high ability student whose level of understanding is at the 95th percentile will have his/her instruction presented at a level appropriate for those whose understanding is at the 23rd percentile.

Researchers found 61% of public school teachers at the elementary level have not had any training in teaching gifted students.

In another study, gifted students experienced no instructional or curricular differentiation in 84% of the instructional activities in which they participated.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
-- Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love: Reflections On The Principles of A Course In Miracles, p. 165, Harper Collins, 1992. (often attributed to Nelson Mandela, who quoted her in his 1994 inaugural speech)

The GATE Network of St. Joseph County, IN was formed to support parents and educators of gifted, high ability, and high potential children who attend school in St. Joseph County, IN. Organizer: Wendy Settle, parent. URL: http://www.nd.edu/~wsettle/GATE_Network/Gifted_And_Talented_Ed.html