Super Saturdays Set for Gifted Children

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SHREVEPORT JOURNAL.I
'Super Saturdays' Set
For Gifted Children
By PENNY PERKINS
Journal Staff Writer
A computer simulation of the hu-man
respiratory system sounds like
; .advanced technology.
' I t is. But it's also part of a series of
"Super Saturday" events planned by
the local Association for Gifted and
Talented Students.
The group consists primarily of
the parents of gifted and talented
children, although some educators
are involved.
According to Kathy Hohmann, the
association's president, the main ob-jective
in Shreveport is to teach
things outside of school — things
such as computer training and basic
electronics.
The first enrichment program was
a computer course offered Dec. 2 at
the LSILM_edical School.
Lee BairnsfatherT IT teaching as-sociate
at the medical school, pre-sented
a one-hour talk on the me-chanics
of the computer.
Dr. Ted Knox, associate professor
of physiology and biophysics, demon-strated
applications of the computer
processes. The demonstration con-sisted
of number games the children
could play with the computer.
In more serious computer applica-tions,
the students saw a simulation
of the human respiratory system and
the effects of varying intakes of
oxygen and carbon dioxide on the
respiratory system.
Knox said the two-hour program
was designed as an introduction to
the range of things a computer can
do.
I Mrs. Hohmann said four such "Su-per
Saturday" programs are
', jlanned — the next one, scheduled
; -for January, will involve photogra-phy.
. j . The association was begun in Feb-
; -ruary and now has a membership of
about 45, which Mrs. Hohmann said
is almost equally divided among pa-rents
of children in public and
private schools.
The program is the first to provide
I enrichment courses for students in
; private schools. Mrs. Hohmann said
the Caddo Parish School System cur-
', rently has a program for gifted stu-
; dents in public schools, although
• classes are confined to regular
I school hours.
The public school system requires
that students have an IQ of 130 or
i better to participate in the en-
; richment program, but the AGTS
requirements are an IQ of 120 or'
better or a score of at least 92
| percentile on the California Achieve-ment
Test. Students participating
' the the public program are auto-matically
accepted in the AGTS
group.
The AGTS requirements for the
program are a little lower than the
public school requirements, Mrs.
Hohmann said, because it is the
group's feeling that some students
simply don't do well on IQ tests
although they may be high
achievers.
Mrs. Hohmann said the public pro-gram
is geared primarily toward the
teaching of language arts, and the
AGTS classes will involve more sci-ence
and math studies.
"We want these things to be learn-ing
experiences, but it's going to be
fun," she said and added the courses
are informational in nature and will
require no studying or homework on
the part of the students.
Mrs. Hohmann became interested
in forming an association for gifted
students because all other groups,
such as the mentally and physically
handicapped, had been taken care
of.
"People think gifted children can
get it on their own," she said. "But
often they're not challenged enough.
We want to provide something for
these children that they couldn't get
in school — to keep them interested
and challenged."
The idea of forming the group
occurred to Mrs. Hohmann when she
obtained some books about gifted
children from the library and read of
similar parents' groups elsewhere.
She talked with parents who had
children in the public school sys-tem's
gifted program and wrote let-ters
to private schools in the area
about the feasibility of establishing
such an organization. She decided
from the response there was no rea-son
Shreveport could not have a
group catering to the needs and
interests of gifted students.
The response to the association
has been excellent. Although the Sat-urday
morning classes are limited as
to the number of students who may
participate, the first class was filled
before the group's newsletter an-nouncing
Super Saturday went out.
The association lists as its objec-tives:
— To enrich the lives of gifted
children by providing them with
learning opportunities not available
in their schools.
— To assist parents of gifted chil-dren
to better understand their chil-dren's
special needs.
— To be aware of and to encourage
the public school system's gifted pro-gram.
— To educate the general public
concerning the special needs of
gifted children.
Fees are charged for participation
Dr. Ted Knox shows "Super Saturday" participants (left to right)
Jeff Bercaw, Jim Bercaw, Jeff Toney and Shannon O'Neal how the
computer print-out terminal works.
In a demonstration of the computer's applications, Dr. Knox pilots
the "lunar module" to a safe landing on the computer screen.
(Journal Photos by John Graber)
in the Super Saturday classes, but
Mrs. Hohmann said the fees will be
kept small and the group hopes to be
able to provide scholarships for chil-dren
whose parents can't pay the
fees.
Although four courses are planned
for this school year, that number
may possibly be increased to six, and
the AGTS hopes in the near future to
be able to offer classes in ground
school flying, basic electronics,
germ-free laboratory experiences
and model rocketry.
Gifted children in the first grade
through the junior high school level
are currently served by the pro-gram,
but Mrs. Hohmann said the
AGTS plans to enlarge the scope of
the program to include kindergarten
children, and classes geared around
an intern program may be offered
for high school students if the need
arises.
The association currently sub-scribes
to three periodicals dealing
with gifted children and hopes to
establish a library that will be useful
to the parents as well as the students.
Mrs. Hohmann said she would also
like to establish an information cen-ter
to provide parents with data on
all programs available to gifted chil-dren.
The group meets at 7:30 p.m. on
the second Wednesday of each month
in the St. Mark's Episcopal Church
parlor.