Gifted Students Showcased at Windsor High

A group of Windsor's best and brightest were showcased at Windsor High School recently during an exhibition night serving as the culmination of students' work in one of the nation's premier gifted-youth programs.

Windsor High School is one of only a few schools in the country to use a unique program aimed at enriching students' educational experiences based on interest, learning styles and modes of expression.

The program, created by the University of Connecticut's Dr. Joe Renzulli, is called the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM).

Over the past few months, Windsor High students identified as academically gifted immersed themselves in projects of interest, and they were challenged to take something that was once just an idea in their heads and turn it into a tangible product that could be presented to and utilized by consumers in the real world.

Such a challenge elicited a broad range of creative approaches to real-world initiatives — work Windsor High seminar teacher Carla Brigandi turned out to be some of the best she has seen throughout Windsor's implementation of SEM.

Sabrina Rivera, for example, explored modern feminist concepts by getting to the bottom of the under-representation of women in the computer sciences field.

For answers, Rivera turned to the professionals. She interviewed a number of women in the field, gathered data and then turned it into an interactive video game that could be marketed, sold and used on a personal basis or in classrooms to educate about women's role in computer science.

Freshman Connor Bailey navigated the world of publishing as he worked a 1,000-word essay into a 20-page short story that was published on Teen Inc.

The following students received awards during the exhibit:

First Place Overall:
Roisin Coleman
Freshie Advice Website
Mentor: Ms. Hunter, WHS French Teacher and Yearbook Advisor

First Place:
Jeyna Doshi
Helping A Friend With Cancer
Mentor: Mrs. Elmkies, WHS English Teacher

Second Place: (tie)
Ryan Munasinghe
Dressing The Business
Mentor: Mr. Chiang, WHS Mathematics Teacher

Tristan Kijak
Free Speech Lesson
Mentor: Ms. Crilly-Kirk, WHS Social Studies Teacher

Third Place (tie):
Ryan Crisanti
Il Mio Pezzo
Mentor: Ryan Ford – Professional Bassist, Music Teacher

Ryan Levin
Original song
Mentor: Mr. Duffek, WHS Music Teacher

Creativity
First Place:
Julia Kelleher
An Abundance of Nerdfighters
Mentor: Mrs. Green, WHS Media Specialist

Second Place:
Sabrina Rivera
Women and Technology
Mentor: Mrs. Lizotte

Third Place:
Saedi McLaughlin
Into the Blue
Mentor: Mrs. DeRosie, WHS Child Development Teacher

Creativity Honorable mention:
Rebekah Gerlach
Recovery Through Music
Mentor: Josh Parker

Task commitment
First Place:
Iris Afantchao
A Rookie Feminist
Mentor: Ms. Hammerstrom, WHS Social Studies Teacher

Second Place:
Connor Bailey
Mimic of a Beat
Mentor: Mrs. Shirley Cowles, Sage Park Middle School Language
Arts Challenge Teacher

Third Place:
Philip Vinh
I have a computer, What now?
Mentor: Ralph Dietz, WHS Technology Education Teacher

Task Commitment
Honorable mention:
Jiana Baker
Warrior Wristbands
Mentor: Mr. Chiang, WHS Mathematics Teacher

Atiya Almagro
Musing Over Movies
Mentor: Ms. Wallace, Sage Park language Arts Teacher

Torrian Shannon
Music Fun
Mentor: Mrs. White, WHS Chorus Teacher