Threshold Summer Enrichment Camp to Start 36th Year

July 11, 2016 Meredith Foster (Student Writer)

A dozen graduates of HSU’s Masters in Gifted Education program are on campus for the next two weeks to teach the Threshold Camp for gifted and advanced students.

Some, like Diane Cope in her 18th year at Threshold, say the camp can be a lifeline for students and also serves to bring gifted teachers together in a powerful and affirming way. “It’s like coming back to see family,” she said.

About 380 students are expected to attend Threshold summer camp for gifted and advanced learners from July 11-15 and July 18-22 at Hardin-Simmons University.  

Classes at the camp give students enriching and challenging experiences they may not have in normal classroom settings. All participating students are either enrolled in a school gifted and talented program or scored in the 90th percentile. 

 “Gifted students need opportunities to work with their intellectual peers,” said Dr. Mary Christopher, director of HSU’s Masters in Gifted Education program. “Activities that involve higher level thinking and problem solving as well as topics they don’t have time to cover in school add challenge and passion to their learning.” 

Threshold teachers come from the DFW metroplex, Abilene, and Austin areas to help with the camp. The teachers all have either a masters degree in gifted education from HSU or are graduate students who are completing their degrees.  

Cope, who served as the gifted program director at Austin Elementary, said she has taught at the camp for nearly two decades because of the enthusiasm of the students. 

“I love these kids,” she said. “I love seeing their excitement.”    

Sylvia Tellez, who earned her masters degree in 2012, said it was her second year as a teacher at Threshold. She serves as a gifted teacher for third graders in the Irving ISD and said she doesn’t mind giving up two weeks of her summer break for Threshold to see the campers’ joy. 

“This is a creative place where they can be themselves,” she said. “It’s wonderful. Seeing them grow and go through it, it’s lovely.” 

Kindergarten through fifth grade participate in a morning or afternoon half-day program. 

Sixth through tenth graders can participate in a full day program from 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. This age group will participate in Network Groups from 9:30 -10:15, one of three Morning Choices 10:15-12:15, one of three
Afternoon Choices 1:00 – 3:00, and recreation 3:00 – 4:00. 

Kindergarteners and first-graders will participate in the Secret Chemistry Detectives program where they will explore chemistry and the processes of mixing, dissolving, evaporating and crystallizing. They will also have a chance to create their own secret formula.

Exploring the World of Insects awaits second and third graders. Students will become entomologists for the course as they explore the characteristics, life cycles, and habitats from over 10 quintillion species of insects that inhabit the planet.

Fourth and fifth graders will be bubbling with excitement in their Bubble-ology program. Students will be studying bubble–making qualities, the Bernoulli principle, and color patterns.

Morning Choices for the sixth to tenth graders include Transformers, The Will to Win, and Up For Debate. Transformers will experiment with optical illusions and make their own Kaleidocycles and tetraflexagons. The Will the Win course will expose students to different games from around the world, but only one can emerge as the Threshold Champion. Up for Debate will give students the opportunity to practice debating, refuting and cross examining a variety of issues while avoiding insults, emotional appeals and personal bias.

Students can choose from On the Big Screen, Ideas Worth Spreading, and Thinkers & Tinkers: Makerspace for the Afternoon Choices. On the Big Screen will explore movie making, and Idea Worth Spreading will explore and create their own TED Talk. Thinkers & Tinkers: Makerspace will use students’ problem solving skills as they explore new trends in schools and cities nationwide.

Not only does the camp offer students unique opportunities to learn but also provides parents a chance to participate in their child’s learning. Interactive Parent Seminars are on July 12 & 14 and July 19 & 21. These seminars will take place from 9:45 – 10:45 and cost $5 per family for all sessions. These seminars will provide parents with current research in the field of gifted education.

Family celebrations will take place Friday, July 15 and Friday, July 22. Parents and family are invited into the classroom to view their child’s work at the end of each week. 

Around 18 scholarships are made possible by the Mabel Winton Scholarship Fund through the Community Foundation of Abilene. For more information about Threshold, visit https://www.hsutx.edu/academics/irvin/educationalstudies/threshold/.

 

 

 

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