In the Winter 2006 Talent newsletter from the Center for Talent Development, the Northwestern University Midwest Talent Search and the Duke University Talent Identification Program identified the following ways to enhance the education of gifted and talented students:

• Engaging natural curiosity
• Providing leadership opportunities
• Promoting intellectual risk-taking
• Developing critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills
• Developing positive character traits
• Exposing students to gifted adult role models

At Wichita Collegiate School the recommendations for enhancing the education of gifted students are the things we do for ALL of our students, every day. Our curriculum and level of teaching combine to produce students who, as a group, achieve at the highest levels, higher than many could have predicted.

Our teachers meet our students where they are, and begin from there. At every age level, Collegiate promises to set a high bar for every student, no matter where they are starting from or where they are hoping to go. Our students do spectacular things every day at Collegiate.

At Collegiate, we pledge to strengthen your child’s gifts and talents every day in the following ways:
• We seek to engage a child’s natural curiosity to explore, to try, to test, to reach.
• Our students are afforded leadership opportunities and team activities to develop their skills in interpersonal relationships.
• By challenging students to move beyond their comfort zones, we are promoting intellectual risk taking.
• Through reading, writing and classroom discussion, we help students develop critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills.
• We weave into our students’ day those things which help develop positive character traits and qualities.
• As a college preparatory school, we encourage students to investigate career options in their fields of interest and aptitudes.
• We expose our students to gifted adult role models who live their lives with meaning and purpose.

We believe that children love to learn. We believe in the invigorating combination of rich classroom experiences and hard work. We see every day the seemingly limitless capacity of young people for deep thought, probing questions, remarkable growth, and tender empathy.

We showcase student talent through music concerts, Broadway musicals, video production, publications, art, and athletics. (More than 90 percent of Collegiate Middle and Upper School students participate in an interscholastic sport each year.)

We showcase student achievement. Research consistently shows students respond to public recognition of achievements they have made. We share the achievements of students and applaud success.

We encourage and sponsor academic competitions. Students go head to head with peers in a healthy battle of wits or skill. Graduates credit academic competitions in providing a winning edge in business and overall confidence in life. Competitions include Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, Mathcounts, Science Olympiad, national exams such as National Mythology Exam, and National Foreign Language Exams, debate, robotics, and many, many more.

We provide a challenging curriculum in an encouraging environment. Research shows the formula that creates the most successful students is love + self-esteem + productive excellence = self-actualization. We see this every day with our students. They come to us from loving, supportive homes. They face learning with an open excitement that shows they trust and love their teachers, they believe in themselves, and they are willing to work hard to produce real work each day. This approach to learning is called “productive excellence.” It describes the Collegiate Way of education beautifully.

Duke TIP Program
In January of 2007, the Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) announced two new academic enrichment programs for gifted and talented youth in south central Kansas. The programs, offered in conjunction with and on the campus of Wichita Collegiate School, are modeled after popular Duke TIP programs held in other parts of the organization’s 16-state region.

This Duke TIP summer program, which will be sponsored annually at Collegiate, includes outstanding professional teachers as instructors, parent sessions, and financial aid for participants demonstrating need. Students enjoy a full-camp experience including academic challenge, free-time activities and competitions, daily snacks and lunch, cultural events, a family picnic, and a recognition ceremony.

To read more, download this PDF:  Duke TIP Program

Duke TIP at WCS Summer Adventures This program provides your Duke TIP student with the opportunity to participate in a two week summer program where they will learn highly challenging material at a rate suited to their advanced abilities. Each day is built around a course, chosen by the student, and includes a special lunchtime program. Classes are designed for action, with students engaged in learning, thinking, creating, and dreaming. This enrichment program will offer challenge and excitement for the gifted student. New friends, new experience and new knowledge will be the expected result. Come and join us in the greatest adventure, a journey into the mind.

Program Basics 
• Open to participants in the Duke TIP program. 
• Current 5th, 6th, & 7th grade TIP students are invited to attend 
• Held on the beautiful campus of Wichita Collegiate School/Beren Middle School 
• Students enroll in one course for the two week period
• The $800 course fee includes materials, lunch, and academic activities for the two weeks.  A $100 tuition deposit and a non-refundable application fee of $25 are due with the application.

Program Dates:
June 9-June 20

Course Offerings: 
Calling all Muggles!  Have you ever wanted to spend a week at Hogwarts? Have you ever wanted to create your own potions, test your knowledge of the Harry Potter books, or design a board game? If your answer is yes, then come join us in this fun-filled, interactive course.  Meet us at King’s Cross Station – enter at Platform 9 & ¾. 

The Renaissance Experience ~ Great Minds of the Past Meet Great Minds of Today  Come explore the world of the Renaissance! In this course, we will explore different periods in time when humanity was at its best. From the Italian Renaissance that spread throughout Europe to the Harlem Renaissance of the early 20th Century, we'll look at the amazing people who helped elevate the rest of the world and the ways in which they accomplished their advancement. Students will explore literature, drama, music, visual art, and dance, along with castles, knights, fair ladies, the printing press, and jazz music, as each student searches for his or her own renaissance in this creative and exciting adventure into their potential.

Code Warriors ~ Computer Game Programming and 3D Animation  You will be a double threat programmer after these two weeks! In the first week, you will use Game Maker to learn how to create simple and maybe not-so-simple games for the computer. In week two, we will use a programming environment called Alice to develop some short 3D animated clips. And you will easily be able to continue the fun with these programs at home after the summer session is done -- because they are free to download! Please make sure you have a flash drive so you can have a way to take your files home!

Create an Original Opera  Yes, even kids can write an opera! From a thesis conceived by this class, the libretto for our opera will be written by the students. From there we will compose original music, create an orchestral accompaniment from talent within the group, design and build sets, learn to work the lights, learn to apply make-up, and build a costume plot. The culmination of our work will be the performance by our company of our very own Opera, created, produced and directed by students on Friday, June 20 at 2:00. Students will be exposed to all aspects of theater performance, from acting to technical support. 

Mini-Med School  Enjoy a high-intensity, fast-paced look at the life of a med student, while learning human anatomy, practicing basic first aid, and watching doctors at work. Students will learn how to take vital signs, identify blood types, dissect organs, diagnose a "patient's" illness, suture "skin", and use real medical tools. The students will also study human anatomy and become CPR certified. Area doctors, from many fields, will share their expertise and experiences. Finally, the students will have the opportunity to ask an actual medical student any questions that they might have. This class isn't for the weak of heart, but those who may think they are "cut out" to be future doctors!

Lego Mindstorms NXT Zoo  Who says robots can't be cute? We'll be building and programming Lego NXT robots to look and act like animals -- bunnies, alligators, elephants and more! Each student will receive a copy of The Lego Mindstorms NXT Zoo by Fay Rhodes. During the first week, your group of 2-3 students will complete basic robotic "puppy training" with software developed by Carnegie Mellon University. Then you'll choose from several other animal designs -- complete and show off as many as you like. A trip to the Sedgwick County Zoo will provide plenty of inspiration for your group as you decide on a new animal to design, build, program and play with during the second week. You'll also learn how to document your creativity using tools like Jing and PhotoStory. The end result will be a zoo like you've never seen before!


 Landscapes Within and Without  Young artists will explore the question, Who Am I?, by garnering inspiration for their own self-portraits through the study of paintings by artists Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Andy Warhol and others. The landscape artist in each student will be unleashed through a study of landscape paintings by 19th century French painters Rousseau, Corot, Manet, Renoir, and Degas coupled with eye-opening excursions to the beautiful Belle Plaine Arboretum and the Sedgwick County Zoo where students will sketch and photograph their favorite scenes. Back at school they will paint! But that's not all. To understand the landscape within, students will take personality tests, think about their traits and interests, and express that self understanding in poetry, journal entries, and presentations. The students' favorite music will be part of the backdrop of this truly interdisciplinary search for self.

Forensics ~ Solving Crimes with Science  If you love science and have a knack for solving problems, this is the class for you. We will use advanced concepts in biology and chemistry to solve crimes using physical evidence. Students will identify a suspect based on evidence collected that includes:  blood spatters, fibers, hair, entomology, polymers, fingerprints, and DNA chromatography. A series of chemical tests on known powders will be conducted using iodine reagent, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and Benedit's solution. Students will learn about flame tests, conductivity tests, solubility rules, pH tests and a variety of physical and chemical characteristics of these powders and their aqueous solutions. Use of a microscope will help to ascertain certain types of hair differences. Students will run their own gel electrophoresis experiment to test suspects' DNA. There will also be an emphasis on written communication about why certain suspects have been elminiated and others remain in the pool as possible criminals.

Creative Careers ~ Confidence Through Creative Dramatics  Do you want to be an inspiring speaker like Martin Luther King, Jr., a versatile actor like Johnny Depp, a talk show host like Oprah, perhaps a famous broadcast journalist? Or do you choose to use your creativity as the speech writer, the movie critic, the set designer, the marketing director, the society editor? Whatever your ideas, wherever you want to go in life, creative dramatics will provide you with the confidence you need to follow your dream. In this class, students will learn skills to develop poise and self regard through entertaining theater games; teamwork, behaviors and attitudes, listening and responding, as well as imagination and intuition. Our 'added attractions' will include the experience of a local tv/radio broadcast, attending a live theatrical performance and guest appearances/ interviews with some our area's finest creative talent. Two weeks of enhancement will build your student's confidence and self esteem in every aspect of learning and life. This fast paced, constantly changing course, will teach basic skills that lead students in an understanding of how to pursue many careers in entertainment.

The World of Flight and Rockets  Right here in the Air Capitol you can study Newton's Laws of Motion. A history of flight from the man's early days to today will occupy our study. Field trips will provide much of the learning experience from Wichita State University's wind tunnel to Hawker Beachcraft to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. Students will build rockets, launch rockets, and learn about the genesis of our space program. Launch yourself into a new learning experience in this hands-on, thrilling walk through time as man learned to leave Earth.

For an application and additional required forms, download this PDF:  Student Application

For information about Summer Adventures and Duke TIP Summer Programs contact Bunny Hill at Wichita Collegiate School, 316-771-2214 or bhill@wcsks.com.