Red River Parish Schools (RRPS) held a 2-week Talented and Gifted (TAG) program. During the 2-week program, students had the opportunity to participate in enriching academic and art classes taught by Mrs. Tiffany Williams and Mr. Jeff Edwards. The theme was “Wetlands,” a curriculum provided by Ms. Terry Foster’s 4H Program. Students made art artifacts, developed PowerPoints, websites, and created their own T-shirts. The also visited Gators and Friends in Greenwood, LA. They shared their work during the TAG Culminating activity on Thursday, June 29 at Red River Elementary School Gymnasium.
The following students participated in the Summer 2017 TAG program are Tylan Beavers, Adrianna Bradford, Rodney Bradley, Kane Burleson, Hanna Cannon, Ty Cole, Micah Davis, Hayden Dowden, Moriah Eason, Caitlyn Jones, Cameron Jones, Kinya Gray, Laniyah Latson, Aiden Mangham, Jomello McDonald, Makilah Murphy, Kendric Patterson, Rafe Suggs, Madilynn Vangundy, Jayden Wells, Hannah Worsham, and Anyla Young.
Students were screened and invited to participate from a pool of teacher referrals, meeting specific academic, behavior, and artistic criteria. To qualify as gifted, Louisiana students must score very well on tests of math, reading and general intellectual abilities. Talented students must excel on an array of tests, auditions and interviews based on their artistic specialty according to the Louisiana Department of Education website: https://www.louisianabelieves.com/academics/gifted-and-talented-students .
Principal, Shenell Deville stated that RRPS has a vision to identify more students as either being “academically gifted” or “talented” (in music, art, and/or theatre). During the 2016-2017 school year, 11 students have been identified as academically gifted in the elementary grades. The screening process (for talented and gifted) will continue this upcoming year and will include all grade levels.
For more information regarding the referral process, please contact Michelle Deville, Director of Special Education for grades 6-12 and Shenell Deville, Principal at Red River Elementary School for grades K-5.
