Support to Stay Ahead continued from page 1

The Kennewick program serves kids in grades two through five. In Pasco and Richland, kids in third through fifth grades can enroll. Pasco's Project Spectrum comes in two varieties - English and Spanish-English. The bilingual gifted program is the only one in Washington, said Principal Susan Sparks.

The bilingual gifted program tries to answer one of the biggest criticisms of gifted education - a lack of diversity. National studies show that white and Asian students are overrepresented in gifted programs, while Hispanic and black students are under-represented.

"If these kids were in a general ed classroom, their needs would not be met," said Nereida Castillo, who teaches the fourth-grade bilingual gifted class in Pasco. Yet an English-only gifted program also would be inappropriate, since many of the kids still are developing their English reading and writing skills.

"We could keep them busy (in a regular class), but they would not get the quality they deserve," she added.

Some of Tebay's second-graders can solve fifth-grade math problems. Some can recite history facts from memory. Some, like Haley Warren, read at a eighth-grade level and pick up litter on the playground during recess.

Haley went to kindergarten and first grade at Sunset View Elementary in Kennewick. She is growing out her bangs and pulls her brown hair back with a stretchy red hairband. She starts each sentence with a stretched out "well," as in, "Weeell," big sigh, "(Sunset View) was too easy.

"Since this school is harder, it's awesome," she said.

For the science project, Haley and her classmates could choose from a list Tebay suggested or create their own. They went through the scientific method, wrote reports and made three-dimensional art to complement their projects. They also had to make a display board that explained the scientific process, typing or writing their points on rectangular paper mounted on cardstock of a complementary color so that each piece had a 1-centimeter border.

Haley explored how exercise affects body temperature. She checked her own temperature and her family's before, during and after exercise. She already has an idea for next year's project, she said, "but let's not get off track."

She's bright, but her exercise of choice showed she's still a kid.

"I exercised by running around and jumping off chairs until my mom and dad told me to stop," she said.