January 2022
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Happy New Year Gifted and Talented (GT) Leaders! The new year brings with it renewed hope and strength to press on toward continued goals in our state. In my time as the Director of Gifted and Talented Programs, I worked toward several key goals: to build collaboration for gifted and talented programs, to provide training and instructional strategies for teachers and coordinators, and to provide clarity and consistency in policies and procedures. The purpose of these goals is to serve Oklahoma districts, teachers, and students in best practices in Gifted and Talented education.
In August, I assumed the role of Executive Director of Literacy, and the position of Gifted and Talented was moved under the literacy team within the Office of Curriculum and Instruction. In short, this means that Gifted and Talented education will have more people working hard to support our districts, teachers, and students in the area of Gifted and Talented. The foundation of goals I established last year are now being carried on through the new Director of Gifted and Talented Programs, Amy Wingard, and through my continued oversight as Executive Director.
While Covid has continued to create challenges for districts, teachers, administrators, students, and families, the Gifted and Talented Education team is excited to continue to build relationships at each level to support, encourage, and establish best practices in identification and programming for Oklahoma’s most creative, brightest, and talented students. Cheers to 2022 and the good work that lies ahead!
 Hello, Oklahoma Gifted and Talented enthusiast. My name is Amy Wingard, and I am your new Director of Gifted and Talented Programs. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Tony, for twenty-five years, and we have three daughters and one son. I also have two grandchildren and three adorable dogs. All of my own children have been in a gifted program while in school, and they were all identified differently. This has taught me the importance of looking at the whole child and having a multiple-criteria approach when looking at whether a child is gifted.
I began teaching early childhood students in the first and second grades in Adair, Oklahoma. After receiving my M.Ed in Educational Leadership from NWOSU, our family moved to central Oklahoma where I taught students in the third grade. Prior to joining the Oklahoma State Department of Education, I worked for Yukon Public Schools as the gifted facilitator for over six years. While in this role, I began to see a different side of gifted education. I really started to understand how important whole grade-level testing, monitoring and looking at data can be when coordinating all aspects of giftedness in an effort to provide an equitable program.
Being active in the central Oklahoma GT community has helped me learn and grow as an educator and as a leader. My goal in 2022 is to continue this momentum of building relationships but on a statewide scale. I want to learn about your district’s needs in an effort to provide resources and support. I would also like to learn about the successes in your district, so they can be celebrated. Please feel free to reach out to me through email at amy.wingard@sde.ok.gov for anything you may need.
Staying on this note of positivity, let us start the year off celebrating some of Oklahoma’s wonderful Gifted and Talented educators, leaders and advocates!
Stacy Smith is Gifted and Talented Instructor for 3rd - 12th grade at Duncan Public Schools. Her nominator states, "What a treat it is to work with someone who deeply loves her job and her students! Stacy has been leading our Gifted & Talented program for 10 years and under her leadership I have watched the program and our students flourish. Our district operates a pull out program in the elementary for gifted students. Several years ago, we purchased the National Inventors Hall of Fame Invention Project curriculum for her GT classes. Stacy has taken that curriculum and helped students work through the design thinking process, to become budding entrepreneurs. As students return each year, she takes them deeper into the components of creative thinking and exploring ways they can change the world. This year she started a pull out program for the middle school students and wrote and received a grant from our local DPS Foundation to purchase the next level National Inventors curriculum. As students transition into the secondary setting, she maintains contact and encourages her students to pursue courses that are academically challenging. In addition to working with students and local teachers, this year she has begun hosting a regional Gifted & Talented meeting, as well as continuing to be an active participant in the Oklahoma GT Consortium. Stacy has a huge heart for students and staff and is such an asset to our district."
Helen Sander is a District Curriculum Director, ACT Prep, Alternative Education and Math Remediation Educator for Taloga Public Schools for Kindergarten through twelfth grades. Taloga Public Schools has had a shift in culture and a turnaround in academics. A large part of this success has been a result of Mrs. Helen Sander. She is infectious in how she teaches and interacts with students and staff. Taloga has seventh through twelfth-grade students in alternative education that are scoring in the upper 20s on the ACT. Academic teams are qualifying for state and winning from elementary through high school. Our teachers are learning how to remediate and enrich within their classrooms. The entire schedule has been designed to allow students to rotate into academic practice, robotics, science, 4-H, music, art and E-sports. This provides an opportunity for all students to have additional enrichment or remediation. Attendance has improved, and we have little to no discipline issues. Mrs. Sander is vital to the administrative team at Taloga Schools and our growing success. She goes above and beyond for every individual student to be successful. Every student has the ability to be gifted and talented at something. She believes it is her job to open their hearts and minds to discovering that gift or talent.
Cynthia DePalma is a District Gifted Instructional mentor for PK -5th grades in Tulsa Public Schools. She has a master's degree in educational psychology with an emphasis in gifted education and is OGES certified. She has reached all but dissertation status for an Ed. D in Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. Cynthia is an outstanding gifted leader within the district, writing and curating gifted psycho-social curriculum aligned to NAGC gifted standards. She is an instrumental contributor to the exceptional professional learning experiences we provide for our 55 elementary and middle school and junior high sites. Cynthia has served on the OAGCT board for 8 years including several terms as president.
Please Nominate an Outstanding GT Educator, Leader or Advocate in your district. Complete the short questionnaire and different GT Superstars will be spotlighted in each newsletter.
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Each year, the Oklahoma Association for the Gifted, Creative, and Talented provides thousands of dollars in awards and scholarships for GT teachers and students across Oklahoma. The opportunities attached to these awards are meaningful and exciting, yet these awards and scholarships go un-awarded for many years. Here is a list of each award and scholarship available:
The Beverly Riggs Summer Camp Scholarship was created in honor of Beverly Riggs, a longtime GT teacher in Tulsa and Stillwater. It reimburses up to $500 toward summer camp attendance for Oklahoma students who are identified as gifted. The camp must be in the gifted areas of academic, artistic enrichment, leadership, and/or acceleration.
The Advocacy Award is presented in recognition of public support for Oklahoma’s gifted and talented students to the Legislature, colleges, universities, local school districts, or the Oklahoma State Board of Regents. Anyone who is actively involved in a personal effort to improve gifted and talented education is eligible to receive this award. Anyone may submit a nomination for this award.
The Oklahoma Association for the Gifted, Creative and Talented Cheryl Kennedy Award is a $500 grant awarded to educators for financing a research project or training in gifted and talented education, such as Confratute or National Association of Gifted Children.
The Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award, a $500 award, is designed to recognize excellence in young children and is awarded to one student in each state who is in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 and has distinguished themselves in academics, leadership, or the arts. Originally the award program was established through funds provided by Maggie and Reg Green in honor of their seven-year-old son Nicholas. The Greens feel it is important to recognize gifts and talents in children who are now at Nicholas's age when he died.
The Gifted Oklahomans (GO) Foundation Teacher Scholarship
What is better than going to fast paced conferences that give you tons of resources, but over a short amount of time? Taking classes in gifted and talented education. These classes are paced, so the learning will stick with you. New concepts can be applied in your teaching as you learn, and there is a support system for other students as well as the instructor. The challenges of a university class will activate your own intellect and will keep you sharp and engaged. You will find a community of other GT teachers to share ideas, swap lesson plans, and keep each other on the cutting edge.
The Gifted Oklahomans (GO) Foundation and Oklahoma Association of the Gifted, Creative & Talented (OAGCT ) application is a scholarship for teachers of gifted students to pursue college course work or a master’s or doctorate degree in the field of gifted education. The scholarship is awarded with several provisions. Teachers must complete the course work with a B or above. Additionally, the recipient is willing to submit a syllabus and transcript and turn in a copy of the grade or a letter from the professor with a grade. Finally, to be awarded a scholarship, the applicant must be working or planning to work in an Oklahoma school in gifted education and is willing to present at the OAGCT spring state convention with other scholarship recipients.
Applications are accepted through the second week of the semester for which you are applying for a scholarship. Email completed applications (linked here) to vanemli@tulsaschools.org.
More information on all of these awards can be found on the OAGCT website.
The National Association for Gifted Children is the leading organization on research for gifted children. This organization is responsible for the research and development of the updated (2019) Pre-K to Grade 12 Programming Standards.
NAGC's mission is to support those who enhance the growth and development of gifted and talented children through education, advocacy, community building, and research. They aim to help parents and families, K-12 education professionals including support service personnel, and members of the research and higher education community who work to help gifted and talented children as they strive to achieve their personal best and contribute to their communities.
This organization has information and support for professors, teachers, parents and administrators. From resources, publications, professional development, everything can be found on this website. Check out nagc.org for research-based information on gifted education.
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From the desk of the OAGCT President:
Working with gifted students is a rewarding job. Other teachers have grade-level teams or even just the teacher next door for support and collaboration. Gifted teachers are often lone gifted advocates in a school or district but are not alone in the state. In addition to the State Department of Education, there are regional consortiums and a state organization, OAGCT, to stand with gifted educators to help serve and advocate for all gifted students.
The annual OAGCT conference is an excellent opportunity to engage, expand knowledge, and enhance pedagogically. This year’s conference will be held on Friday, February 25th, 2022. Our main speakers for this year’s conference are Justin Vawter and Ben Koch from NuMinds Education. The theme for their presentations will be Teaching GT: From the Inside Out. Their sessions will help all Gifted Instructors gain resources and models that can be used with a new sense of purpose in teaching.
The conference will be virtual this year but with a big twist! Think of this as a traditional professional development day. Districts are asked to consider organizing the day so that your district or regional gifted teachers can gather and enjoy the main sessions together and connect over lunch. You’ll have a selection of live/interactive and pre-recorded sessions to enjoy. The recordings of all sessions will continue to be available for three months, so instead of only getting to experience three breakout sessions, all can be utilized through the Whova platform. Check OAGCT.org for membership and conference sign up. Those links will be active in soon.
Karen Dotson OGES | OAGCT President
President@OAGCT.org
Dotsoka@tulsaschools.org
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