Gadsden students chosen for gifted program

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — This summer, more than 100 elementary and junior high students from here will be taking college-level classes in a program that Johns Hopkins University offers for academically gifted kids.

That level of participation in the Center for Talented Youth program is unmatched by any other city in the country, Johns Hopkins officials announced in a recent visit to Southwest Junior High School to honor students from the Gadsden Elementary School District who will attend the classes.

Community support for education is playing a large part in the student involvement, said Dinorah Olmos, recruiting coordinator for the center.

The Johns Hopkins program annually offers scholarships nationwide to 10,000 students at the elementary and junior high level to pay their expenses to travel to college or university campuses around the country to attend the courses or to take them on the Internet.

In December, representatives of the center came to San Luis to administer the ACT college entrance exam to about 300 Gadsden students, and 146 of them scored high enough to qualify for the scholarships.

“They took an extremely difficult test,” said Olmos, one of the officials from the Baltimore university who came to Southwest Junior High recently for the event honoring the students.

“The test is designed for admission to colleges or universities. Imagine 13- and 14-year-olds taking it. They took on a challenge and they excelled.”

Of the 146 students who passed the ACT, 22 scored in the top 5 percent among all students nationwide who took it for a chance to enroll in the classes, she said.

“You did very well,” Olmos told the students. “I have to say that you are the best of the best. You have the knowledge and the tools for success.”