Cedar Hill ISD Longhorn Insider April 2018 | Page 13

DUKE
UNIVERSITY
HONORS
SEVENTH-
GRADERS
BECOME A LONGHORN
New STEAM academies engage students
T
hree CHISD middle schoolers made a college entrance exam look easy, and Duke
University has taken notice.
In February nearly 50 CHISD seventh-graders took the ACT, which includes sections on
English, math, reading and science. Ford Blunt, 12, scored in the top 1 percent in science. Most
of the test takers are high school juniors or seniors.
Duke invited Ford to an awards ceremony in Durham, N.C. Additionally, the university will
honor him and two other CHISD test takers, Kyle Givens and Erik Nuño, at a state-level
recognition for seventh-graders who scored in the 50th national percentile for college-bound
seniors. Texas Christian University will host the ceremony.
All seventh-graders honored at the events are enrolled in the Duke University Talent
Identification Program (TIP), a nonprofit that provides resources to gifted students, their
parents, educators and schools. Students qualify for the program by scoring at or above the
95th percentile on a grade-level standardized test.
This fall CHISD administrators who oversee GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness
for Undergraduate Programs), funded by a $6.3 million federal grant, identified students
eligible for Duke TIP. Students in the program are encouraged to take college entrance exams.
GEAR UP grant dollars covered the ACT testing fees.
13