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Charter unveils gifted program

Accelerated Curriculum and Enrichment Schoolwide can help all students, official says.

JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent

BEAR CREEK TWP. -- The year-long efforts of a task force charged with enhancing the education of gifted students at Bear Creek Community Charter School were unveiled Monday.

Gifted facilitator Kara Rogers told the school’s Board of Trustees that while the new program is designed to challenge the school’s gifted students as defined by government standards, it will also help all students by diversifying learning opportunities and supporting curiosity, creativity and independent investigation.

Operating under the theory that “what’s good for some is good for all,” Rogers said the new Accelerated Curriculum and Enrichment Schoolwide (ACES) program will include individualized plans for the school’s “high flyers” and provide opportunities for all students with special interests to pursue those interests through classroom and extracurricular activities.

Rogers said the program also recognizes that students learn in different ways and encourages teachers to have students pursue projects in ways that help them learn best, whether that involves written work, oral presentations or a more visual medium, such as a PowerPoint presentation.

“We want to focus on how they are learning, not just what they are learning,” Rogers said. “We want to create life-long learners and enrich everyone.”

In other business, the board approved the hiring of Paul Schneider as middle school social studies teacher at $30,000. Physical education teacher Jeff Wascavage was named athletic director with a $1,000 stipend.

Also approved were a revised job description for the position of custodian/maintenance technician and a new job description for substitute custodian.