School District earns $14,000 grant for gifted

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School District earns $14,000 grant for gifted

Around Osceola

Wednesday, 03 November 2010 00:00

The Florida Department of Education has selected the Osceola County School District as a funding recipient through the Collaborative Curriculum Challenge Grants for Gifted. Only four Florida school district programs garnered awards through this highly-competitive program.
The projects are intended to enhance the academic achievement of gifted students through the innovative redesign of instruction and collaboration. This year’s emphasis is on collaboration with a university and meaningful professional development for teachers who work with gifted students. The School District has embarked on a joint intellectual endeavor with the University of Central Florida (UCF.) The collaborative project, FORGE (Fostering Opportunity and Renewal in Gifted Education), involves teachers’ transformation of instruction and students’ development of higher-level skills through Renaissance-themed challenging activities.
The gifted/arts integration focus influenced the selection of the main targeted schools. These sites are The Osceola County School for the Arts (6-12) and Poinciana Academy of Fine Arts (K-5.) The two schools are thematically related by their choice arts programs. Activities will also serve four expansion sites: Central Avenue Elementary School, Highlands Elementary School, Thacker Avenue Elementary School for International Studies, and Ventura Elementary School. UCF professors will provide professional development to facilitate gifted education and arts activities integration. The training also presents teachers with both the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for lesson content and the Florida Gifted Frameworks for preparation and planning of student instruction. Students will conduct research to create co-curricular, “theme-within-a-theme” projects.
FORGE will deliver rigor as students examine the complexity of knowledge, conduct multi-faceted exploration of various resources, apply creative and critical thinking to reach real-world solutions, act as leaders
and participants, drive their own learning to meet individual goals, and ultimately demonstrate comprehension through original products/ performances. In the spring of 2011, the project will culminate in an exciting Renaissance Festival. Students will individually/collaboratively create an entertaining and educational festival booth/ activity to showcase their research results.
Bryan Allen, gifted education program specialist, will coordinate project activities for the Osceola County School District.