Weekly GATE program incorporates variety of disciplines atypical
of the everyday classroom
Gilroy – Card-playing, guitar-strumming and paper-ripping – doesn’t exactly sound like your typical classroom. But on Thursday, that’s exactly what was going on at Rucker Elementary School.
Actually, every Friday, that’s what goes on at Rucker, at least for the students enrolled in the school’s Gifted and Talented Education program. Tagged “Fantastic Fridays,” one day a week, for between five and six weeks, the children spend almost two hours engrossed in an activity of their choice.
This week the event was held on Thursday because students began their spring break Friday. At the beginning of each session, the four GATE teachers decide on a roster of activities to offer and then students make their selection.
In Janice Krahenbuhl’s class, one group of third through fifth-graders played Yu-Gi-Oh, a Japanese card game, another hovered over a deck of cards, in the back one student was immersed in the computer game Oregon Trails and an abandoned game of Chinese Checkers littered the floor.
Across campus, Curt Hentschke’s group followed along on their guitars as he lead them in a reworked rendition of Merle Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee.”
“I’m proud to be a cougar out at Rucker,” the children sang. The class was packed with students, mostly fifth-graders, since the oldest class gets first choice and the guitar class is the most popular.
In Gloria Hennessey’s classroom, students shouted out the Spanish words for different body parts and some received Kudos candy bars for nailing a couple of the foreign language vocabulary words.
Susan Gamm captures her students’ attention by highlighting a variety of artists from Monet and Matisse to Cezanne, in her “Paint like Picasso” class. Every week, Gamm chooses a different artist and the kids create a piece of work in a style similar to that of the painter.
On Thursday, the students were studying Pablo Picasso and on the board in front of the classroom was a quote from the famous man: “I am always learning that which I cannot do in order to learn how to do it.”
The students spent the hour-plus creating cut-out reproductions of “Mains Aux Fleurs” or hands on flowers. They pasted a cutoff hand onto another piece of paper and tore up colored pieces of construction paper to replicate the rough edges of flowers.
“Remember I’m giving you a few directions and the rest is up to you to be creative,” Gamm said, as she explained how to affix the paper hands to the page by folding the fingers and thumb at the joint.
When Gamm’s “Fantastic Friday” group studied Monet, they carried their palette outside and painted the blanket of bright yellow mustard flowers covering the meadow behind Rucker.
Fun-filled Fridays is one of the long-standing hallmarks of Rucker’s GATE program. For more than 20 years, the northern Gilroy school has offered the event, giving accelerated students a chance to try something different and challenging.
“And we don’t give grades because we want the kids to take risks,” Krahenbuhl said.
Because Rucker’s GATE program compresses five days of curriculum into four, teachers are able to offer the specialty electives once a week. The Friday program is based on William Glasser’s “strength-teaching” concept. The psychiatrist and author of numerous books on mental health and education, claims that when teachers share their knowledge and expertise in an area of interest to them, children will learn.
“When you (teach) something that you really like it brings a sort of excitement to it,” Krahenbuhl said.
For Krahenbuhl, who has a background in math, it’s games of logic and activities that incorporate arithmetic, that make her giddy. That’s why she emphasizes the use of cards, which teach a variety of skills, including addition, subtraction and mathematical patterns.
Hentschke brings math to the classroom through the unusual means of musical instruments, such as the guitar and harmonica, and through woodworking. And Hennessey, who has a background in music, often incorporates songs into her curriculum.
“I think when they sing a different language it sticks,” said Hennessey, who is already searching for Latin songs to use for next school year when the teachers add Latin to GATE’s curriculum.
For most students the weekly activities give them a chance to spend time absorbed in an activity they don’t have the chance to indulge in on a normal school day.
“I really wanted to be in this class because I always wanted to study art,” said 8-year-old Katrina Carter.
And the third-grader has quickly found her favorite artist.
“I like Cezanne,” she said. “He has a cool way of making his fruits.”
Meanwhile, letters indicating whether children qualify for the GATE program are beginning to circulate throughout the community. Every second-grader in the district is tested to determine if they meet the qualifications for the program. Eligible students are allowed to enroll regardless of where they live in Gilroy.
Rucker is the only local school that offers a full-fledged GATE program. Other sites have a pull-out program for maybe 30 minutes a day or an afterschool activity but at Rucker students spend all day in GATE.
“Everyday is accelerated and looking at what gifted children need,” Krahenbuhl said.
Currently there are about 100 students enrolled in GATE. Although the district does not provide transportation, many parents form carpools.
For more information on the Gilroy Unified School District and the GATE program, go to www.gusd.k12.ca.us
