Date: Fri 30-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

schools-Johns-Hopkins-gifted

Full Text:

Gifted Youth Honored In

Johns Hopkins Talent Search

Carolyn Brennan (left), Tyler Wood and Matthew Barackman from the Hawley

School were three of the 11 Newtown students recognized in the recent Johns

Hopkins Talent Search.

-Courtesy Doug Brennan

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

At only 10 or 11 years old, some students already show promise of academic

achievement.

In Newtown alone, there were 11 youngsters from grades five through nine who

scored well on a special test for the academically gifted that was sponsored

by the Johns Hopkins University Institute for the Academic Advancement of

Youth (IAAY).

They are among 7,000 other gifted students who have been honored nationwide

and, as such, are considered to be in the top one-half of one percent

academically of all students in their age group.

Approximately 500 Connecticut public and private school youngsters were cited

by the Johns Hopkins study and received their awards at a special recognition

ceremony held Saturday, May 24, at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

The 11 Newtown students were from the Hawley Elementary, St Rose and Newtown

Middle Schools and were cited for their outstanding verbal and/or mathematical

abilities as shown by tests that they took in December and January.

They were Maren Anderson from St Rose, Matthew Barackman from Hawley, Carolyn

Brennan from Hawley, Megan Heithaus from St Rose, Stephanie Kraushaar from St

Rose, Daniel Letson from Hawley, Lauren Parrish from Newtown Middle School,

Ryan Richardson from Newtown Middle School, Kristin Ryan from Newtown Middle

School, Lindsay Sprung from Newtown Middle School and Tyler Wood from Hawley.

The tests were administered by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton,

N.J., which also tests high school students through the S.A.T. examinations.

All the youth scored at least three school years above their present grade

level.

Carolyn Brennan, one of the recipients, said she was very proud to receive the

Johns Hopkins award - especially in the field of mathematics, the subject she

enjoyed most.

"There are many challenges for you," Carolyn Felton, president of the

Connecticut Association of the Gifted, told the students at the IAAY ceremony.

"You will be the inventors, the thinkers, the teachers, the political leaders

and business leaders," she said.

"Pursue your passion... Be yourself, accept the challenges around you. We have

a long way to go," Ms Felton said.

Also speaking at the event were Simeon Brodsky of the Summer Academic Programs

Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth at John Hopkins and Michael

Rembish, Director of Freshman Admissions at Sacred Heart University.

In addition to sponsoring Talent Searches, IAAY offers academic school-year

and summer programs designed to challenge Talent Search participants. The

Talent Search is continuing to expand worldwide.