O'Neill Public Schools

Helpful Resources

Nebraska Association for the Gifted

http://www.nebraskagifted.org/

Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/

National Association for Gifted Children

http://www.nagc.org/

"Bright Ideas" Teacher Newsletters

Click on the following links for publications of the newsletter "Bright Ideas."

	January 2002
	April 2002
	October 2002

Presenters

DR. JOSEPH

Can you believe there was a famous person in our town? He was a professor at the University of Connecticut, and works at the National research center on the gifted and the talented. His name is Dr. Joseph Renzulli!!! He came to the schools to talk to teachers about developing talent in youth, and fun and engaging ways to teach kids. He believes that school is a place that talent develops for all students, and for teachers to believe that they can develop the talents in their classes. One example is when teachers facilitate Enrichment clusters. Students have a chance to do work in areas that interest them, and not just listening to lectures and doing worksheets. Dr. Renzulli was the founder of the enrichment cluster idea.

I bet you are wondering, why did he chose to come to O'Neill Elementary School? It all started when Mrs. Jennifer Bauer went to Connecticut for graduate classes. He was her teacher. She told him about the great things we are doing, so he agreed to come and visit.

During his one-day visit, Dr. Renzulli talked to Elementary and high school teachers about the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, differentiation, and Enrichment Clusters. He ate lunch with administrators and some 5th and 6th grade students, and he also visited Mrs. Katie Morrow’s classroom to see their "SMART BOARD.''

Mrs. Bauer spoke of Dr. Renzulli. “Dr. Renzulli has great enthusiasm for enrichment learning and teaching. His desire is to make youth become problem solvers and independent thinkers at school while tuning into their interests, and nurturing their talents. But most importantly, he hopes youth have fun and enjoy the learning process.”

By: Jenna Fernau and Ian Lueninghoener

Questions or comments, please contact Jennifer Selting Bauer at jbauer@esu8.org .

Pages last updated on: 12/16/2005