Personal Stories from or about Alumni, Parents and Students
Latest Posts
Gifted Journey: Arthur
By: Melissa Johnston I have three children. When I was pregnant with my middle child I told people that I was praying hard for a child who was “normal-smart.” Most people would look at me funny, but every once in a while, someone would nod and say “I understand.”...
Gifted Children Who are Twice Exceptional
By: Melissa Johnston “I need to talk to you about something that happened on the playground today.” Oh boy. Here we go. No parent wants to arrive at preschool and hear this sentence from a teacher. Unfortunately, it was a common occurrence for us during the early...
“Molding Motivation in Gifted Students” reflections
By Leigh Bills On June 14th, I had the pleasure of once again hearing Dr. Brandi Klepper speak. She spoke at the Springfield Art Musuem about molding motivation in gifted adolescents, and even though my children are not yet adolescents, I found the information useful...
8th Grader’s Conversation with Maestro Kyle Wiley Pickett
by Sam Garvin “How loud is ‘mezzo piano’?” Maestro Kyle Wiley Pickett asked. I sat there, on the other side of his desk, wondering what the answer was. There was a brief pause, and then he said, “So--I’m asking you,” and I realized that the question was not...
Mom on a Mission: Pursuing Davidson Young Scholars
By Michelle Cramer I’m a researcher. So when our oldest son exceeded our expectations on his IQ test for admission into WINGS, I started googling everything there was to know about raising a gifted child. I read article after article, learning about the five...
Why Our Son Needed a 504 Plan
By Michelle Cramer When our son, now nine years old, was diagnosed with “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” in October 2015, I was set on silently getting him help. I didn’t want him to be labeled. I didn’t want people (teachers) to see that on a chart somewhere and have...
Interview with John Sellars Executive Director of The History Museum on the Square
By student Kelsey Coughenour Hi, I’m Kelsey Coughenour. I am a 10-year-old, 5th-grade student from WINGS (Phelps School for Gifted Children). This is an interview with my grandfather John Sellars, with questions asked by me and answered by John Sellars, Executive...
GAM conference 2017 reflections
By Leigh Bills I was excited to attend my first Gifted Association of Missouri conference in late October. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I was really hoping to pick up some parenting tactics that would bring fresh energy to raise my gifted child. What I...
5th grader travels to China (part 2)
My China Summer Experience Summary By Naomi Meng My summer in China went by so fast. It seemed to have just started when we were aware that it was about the time to return to Springfield. Different from other summers we spent in China, this time, our summer vacation...
Athens: “Wake Up!”
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes travelling abroad such an eye-opening experience. Undoubtedly, some of the world's cities are so magnificent in scope or detail as to make a lifelong impression on anyone who visits them. Some places stand tall as a symbol of...
Art as Method
I was six years old when I stared into the fire of Turner's painting The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons. I wandered in the atmosphere of it, in the mist that washed over the sky and water. The burning buildings of parliament were peaceful in painting; they...
5th grader travels to China (part 1)
Naomi Meng is going to be in 5th grade at Rountree Elementary. She attends WINGS and her many interests and activities include chess, piano, violin, math, ballet and swim. She agreed to journal her yearly summer trip to China. This is her first installment. Journal...
Follow