By: Emily Regner

At Wheat Ridge High School there are quite a number of students who attend the Gifted and Talented program, but what really is this program?

A few words cannot explain what they fully establish in their working environment. Some of the students in GT suffer from some form of a mental illness and those who are in GT have more support in academics and/or mental stability. The working environment is mostly calm, and the students work on projects or things they enjoy doing and share them with the class.

According to the article Definitions of Giftedness, children in GT have a desire to learn and rank top ten percent in levels of achievement. They also categorize what kind of “giftedness” a young person has, whether it is comparing the kids to the other students within age or needs that are beyond available in a regular classroom, but not all states or schools base their definitions on just this criterion.

Some mistake GT with just extremely intelligent children, but in fact, they have a unique learning style that is a bit different that helps them develop concepts better.

Lisa Lee, one of the GT teachers said, “Nothing is unique about GT kids from others; there are unique learning needs that need to be addressed.”

Lee also states, “I wanted to teach GT because I always felt like I was already teaching it in elementary school.”

Being one of the few high schools in the district to have the Gifted and Talented program the students and some teachers think of GT as a great experience that a group of students can get together and challenge each other limitlessly. In the article Why are Gifted Programs Needed it argues that those who are too smart for their own mind tend to lose interest in some things and regular classes are not enough for them.

In order to get into GT, a person must have an ALP  (Advanced Learning Plan). Then if a person wants to join they will be tested for their abilities. Usually they can join if they are in advanced English, music, math or art if they are willing to be tested and pass the test.

As students grow, some might not know their potentials and the GT helps with figuring that out.