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Academically gifted children need support
To the Editor:
Parents of children who have been identified as “academically/intellectually gifted” in Jackson County Public Schools need to be aware of the detrimental consequences the “No Child Left Behind” legislation may have on their children.
Most people would say, compared to other students, that advanced students are rarely left behind academically. Therefore, their special needs are often overlooked. While AIG students wait patiently, often bored, at the top of their classes, we as a state continue to funnel a disproportionate amount of money to educate struggling or below-average students while neglecting the needs of AIG students.
I often hear the statement, “Well, those kids are smart, they’ll get by.” Instead of just “getting by,” wouldn’t it be wonderful if top students were challenged and given ample opportunities to help them reach their full potential? Asking for the educational needs of top academic students to be met is no different than asking that physically- or mentally-challenged students be afforded every opportunity to ensure their success. Sometimes parents of AIG students are accused of being “elitist” when they advocate for their children, but the special needs of AIG children are real, and it’s in the best interest of our schools and community to work together to meet these needs.
The AIG program in Jackson County has been evolving for many years, meeting with both success and failure. Because there are less than 300 identified AIG students out of 3,000 in our county, it is vitally important that parents and concerned members of our communities come together to advocate on their behalf.
I do not want any child to be left behind, but unfortunately, the gifted students are the easiest to neglect. Partners for the Advancement of Gifted Education of Jackson County is encouraging parents, teachers and community leaders to join together to advocate for the special educational needs of academically gifted students in Jackson County.
A membership meeting for PAGE will be held Monday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Fairview Elementary School. For more information, call me at 586-8720, contact Richelle Sampl, Jackson County’s AIG Coordinator at 586-2177, or see the Web site at www.pageofjc.org.
Margie Allison
Sylva
Reasons for being part of Relay For Life
To the Editor:
As the luminaire chair of Jackson County’s Relay for Life on May 14, I want to share with you my reason for getting involved.
My sister Jan was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in May 2002. She lost her valiant battle 20 months later. Following are excerpts from the reflection I read at her memorial service in January 2004.
Jan came to Sylva each fall for Mountain Heritage Day. In 2002 we walked the 5k run (we were phantom runners). Jan was still in chemo and wore her little black hat signed by all the members of her exercise class. We were the only walkers and eventually were the only ones left on the course. At every distance marker, volunteers stood and applauded her as she labored to finish, needing to lean on her walking stick for support by the time we neared the end. At the finish line, we walked through lines of well-wishers who stood applauding and saluting her. It is a memory that will always make my heart swell with pride and admiration for her.
In May 2003, even though she was still in chemo and had her ups and downs, she still came to Sylva for my daughter Sarah’s first prom. She loaned Sarah the evening bag she had carried to her first prom so many years earlier. She made it back to the mountains in July to walk the survivor’s lap in the Jackson County Relay for Life event.
We celebrated her last birthday in September together in the hospital. Sarah and I decided to make it a girl’s trip and surprised her with balloons and an angel bear.
In October my sister Judy and I met in Charlotte to take care of her while Benny, Jan’s husband, was away.
I listened to Jan and Judy talk about their childhood before I was born. They had shared the same things and as they grew into young adults, they double-dated and were cheerleaders together. I watched them laugh and talk as they reminisced and I noticed the glimmer in their eyes that began as a tear and ended as a twinkle.
We spent Thanksgiving Day in Charlotte, and Jan was able to join us at the table to eat and give thanks. We spent a quiet Christmas Day together, and Santa made a surprise visit on his way back to the North Pole. He brought her an old fashioned sock stocking stuffed with an orange, nuts and a pepperment stick. Her face was a child’s, full of awe and wonder.
I called her on New Year’s Eve night. She revealed to me that she finally was beginning to think about how sick she really was. It was a simple statement said rather matter of factly. I think it showed that she was continuing to live each day as normally as possible given the circumstances until she could no longer.
I think it was no accident that she and I were together on her last holiday, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. He was a man who preached peace and civility and is remembered for his great speech in which he said “free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last.” Jan left us on this holiday to be free at last of her illness and suffering. And she left in a peaceful, gentle sleep.
She was always the perfectionist and didn’t like to get dirty as a small child. We always chuckled when we looked at pictures of Jan and Judy. Judy always looked like a ragamuffin while Jan was starched and spotless. During the Relay for Life event this past year, our niece sponsored several luminaires in honor of Jan. On one of the bags was written “for my aunt Jan who washes the soap.”
She never wanted to be sick and dependent. Even in her last days, she was thinking of others. Her final act of kindness and contribution was to donate her body to the Wake Forest School of Medicine for research and education.
Her thought was that if the medical community couldn’t save her, maybe research with her body and knowledge learned from her experience would result in helping someone else in the future. She was also a strong believer in organ donation and her corneas were transplanted to two recipients on the day of her death.
Please join us Friday night, May 14, and celebrate the lives of those who have died and those who still survive.
Kathy Wong
Jackson County Relay for Life Luminaire Chair
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