A little more than 250 gifted and talented students from the Santa Maria-Bonita School District participated in the annual GATE Winter Enrichment Workshop on Jan. 15.
Now in its seventh year, the workshop has grown from the 50 students who attended the first event. GATE Director Gina Danley said it’s an enrichment opportunity for students to see things they don’t normally have a chance to.
“And maybe develop a hobby or an interest that didn’t know they had,” Danley said.
It also gave them a little break from their vacation before they get back to school again. Danley said a lot of students who attend it tell her they’re bored and ready to get back into school. The Santa Maria-Bonita school year picks back up again on Jan. 20.
Students started the day at 8:30 a.m. with a bit of Zumba to get them revved up, and then they wound down with some comedic theater performed by a group of students from Allan Hancock College. In between, the third- through eighth-grade students attended three one-hour workshops.
Sessions the students participated in included crime-scene investigation, making catapults, public speaking, creating electricity, baking, magic, weaving, and martial arts.
The workshop is an extension program for GATE students, designed to introduce them to topics, hobbies, and careers they might not be familiar with. District teachers and volunteers from the community taught the sessions.
This article appears in Jan 16-23, 2014.