First and second graders in the Socorro Independent School District’s Gifted and Talented (GT) Program participated in fun, winter-themed challenges during the program’s annual STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) camps in November.
These hands-on activities, such as launching Santa hats for distance and creating efficient sled and slope designs, sparked creativity and critical thinking, making learning enjoyable for the students.
Isa Luna Hernandez, a second grader at Cactus Trails Elementary School, rolled a snowball or ping pong ball down a ramp she built, all while learning how kinetic energy works.
“For my ramp, I was doing a top for the beginning, and then for the last part, I did the bottom. So, when I started rolling the ball, it kept falling off. So, I fixed it. Now it's perfect!” Hernandez explained.
With over 300 GT students throughout the district participating over eight days, these camps demonstrated the mission of the GT Program, which is to provide educational services that identify, nurture, and challenge the abilities of gifted students to reach their fullest potential.
Nancy Franklin, SISD Advanced Academics coordinator, said activities such as the STEM camps supplement students’ learning by presenting them with challenges, encouraging them to find solutions, and then improve upon those solutions.
“GT services happen in the classroom with the regular teacher. What we offer outside of that is the enrichment - that opportunity to take the TEKS or the standard and go beyond what's happening in the classroom, so those students can experience an accelerated form of learning where it's independent, it's project-based. They're in charge of that learning, and that's where the enrichment part of Gifted and Talented comes in,” Franklin said.
Ronin Mayoral, a second grader at Bill Sybert School, built a catapult out of sticks, rubber bands and a small piece of pool noodle. He used it to successfully launch a tiny Santa hat into a box. The future nurse or engineer said the camp was “great fun.”
“It kind of makes me never want to leave this place,” Mayoral said.