Natasha was admitted to Mars Area’s Gifted Program
at Mars Elementary School in 4th grade. As part of the
Gifted Program—in the subject of Language Arts—she
and her classmates develop PowerPoint presentations
and critiques of challenging books and explore different
themes in these books as a group. “We take the things
taught to us in regular class and build and elaborate on
them,” she explains.
In Gifted math class at Mars Area, students solve
challenging and fun puzzles and explore advanced,
higher grade algebra concepts, while being exposed to
various STEM concepts. “We are currently working
on a STEM design challenge, where we design an
autonomous vehicle for transporting objects,” says
Natasha.
She learned about the PAGE Competition from her
mom, who mentored her throughout the project. The
competition was for gifted K to 12 students interested
in creatively showcasing their ideas and perspectives
about giftedness and gifted education. Students had to
pick from three topic categories—Awareness, Advocacy
and Education, and submit either an e-newsletter
article, online blog entry, picture meme or video on
the topic of their choice. “I opted to do an e-newsletter
article on Awareness,” says Natasha.
“My mom helped me submit my e-newsletter to
PAGE after I was done writing it,” she continues. “I was
one of the top six students in the Awareness category,
among gifted Kindergarten through 12th grade
students, throughout the state of Pennsylvania.”
Natasha, along with her parents, attended a special
award luncheon during the November 2018 PAGE
Conference at the Marriott in Cranberry, and was given
a certificate for her article. “It was a great experience—I
really enjoyed it,” she says. Her article will also be
published in a future PAGE print or online medium.
Natasha believes the availability of Gifted Programs
for students is really important. “The Gifted Program
exposes kids to lots of new concepts and ideas that
are valuable—teaching different creative thinking
techniques and new ways to solve problems,” she
says. “The program challenges us beyond the regular
classroom and helps us reach our full potential.”
Natasha credits her success to her parents and
teachers, and is thankful that they encourage her to do
her best and work hard: “Without them, I wouldn’t be
where I am today.” ■
“
The Gifted Program
exposes kids to lots of
new concepts and ideas
that are valuable—
teaching different
creative thinking
techniques and new
ways to solve problems.
The program challenges
us beyond the regular
classroom and helps us
reach our full potential.”
MARS AREA
❘
SPRING 2019
13