HOUSTON – Dec. 3, 2018 – Volcanoes were erupting, a solar-powered car spun its wheels and the Titanic once again sailed above the waters of the icy Atlantic, all inside a noise-filled cafeteria at the Carl Wunsche Sr. High School. It’s just business as usual for the Spring ISD GT Expo.
Nearly 200 students from the district’s gifted and talented program brought presentation boards, working models and laptops to illustrate their research projects. The crowded evening event is a chance for the students from all grade levels to showcase their work.
Hundreds of community members and district volunteers moved among the exhibits, interacting with the students and asking questions about their research. The projects highlighted a range of subjects from science and technology, to studies of other cultures and historical biographies.
Tiffany Williams, manager of Advanced Academics, said the presentations give the students not only learning opportunities, but confidence as well.
“I like the opportunity to talk to scholars who are very shy so that I can get them to open up. It’s an opportunity to build on their social skills and how they interact, because they are going to need to be able to interact outside of just their own individual work,” said Williams.
Troy Caines Jr. didn’t need any help in the confidence department as he adjusted his solar system. “What facts do you want? I can give you any facts you need,” declared the fourth-grader from McNabb Elementary.
Troy’s father stood nearby, smiling as the watched his son at work. He said that his son has participated in the expo for the past couple of years. “Every year he gets better. He looks forward to the projects and he looks forward to coming in here and explaining to everybody what he did,” said Caines.
It was easy to look across the crowded cafeteria tables and see proud family members among the cardboard tri-fold displays. “We are just excited to see the scholars to really be excited about being here and just to see the look on their parents faces as they were able to articulate their research,” said Williams.
As a part of the district’s five-year strategic plan, EVERY CHILD 2020, the Spring ISD Gifted and Talented Program has been expanding its learning opportunities for students, including events like Odyssey of the Mind and Academic Decathlon. An additional GT Expo is scheduled to return to the Wunsche cafeteria in April of 2019.