Top Students Recognized By Johns Hopkins For Academic Excellence

BALTIMORE — Newtown students Allison Hsu, Jesse Cabral, Austin Bodetti and Nicholas Burns were recently honored at a statewide awards ceremony for gifted children held by The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY).

The students were invited to this awards ceremony sponsored by CTY (cty.jhu.edu) based on an exceptional performance on a rigorous, above-grade-level test given to second through eighth grade Talent Search participants. Seventh and eighth graders took the SAT or ACT, the same tests used for college admissions. Second through sixth graders took the SCAT, an above-level test scaled for younger students.

Since 1979, CTY has sought the most academically able elementary- and middle-school students and encouraged their enrollment in the annual fall CTY Talent Search, open September through November. Students then test in December or January.

The results of these tests give families a better idea of a child’s academic talents, particularly in comparison to the thousands of other academically talented students in the Talent Search. Students can also earn recognition at CTY’s awards ceremonies, and their test scores may qualify them for CTY’s summer programs and distance education courses.

In 2005, more than 83,000 students from 19 states and the District of Columbia participated in the Talent Searches offered through CTY. About 30 percent of the 16,500 second and sixth graders who tested this winter earned an invitation to CTY’s Awards Ceremony, and about 25 percent of the 30,000-plus seventh and eighth grade testers earned an invitation to an Awards Ceremony.

The students joined other award recipients at the recent state ceremony, and were individually honored by Johns Hopkins for academic performance and promise.

Connecticut’s 2007 Awards Ceremonies were scheduled at Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, May 19, and at Trinity College on Saturday, June 16.

Allison attends Head O’ Meadow School, Jesse attends St Rose, and Austin and Nicholas attend The Fraser-Woods School.

CTY conducts the nation’s oldest and most extensive academic talent search and offers educational programming for students with exceptionally high academic ability. CTY parallels, and complements, a gifted child’s regular school experience. CTY’s programs and students have been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other premier American publications.