My Gifted & Talented Adventure

My Gifted & Talented Adventure

By Kerry Ann Scrivanich

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Kerry Ann Scrivanich
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-8502-5

Chapter One

My name is Little Mo. Well actually my real name is Morgan, but my family calls me Little Mo. They gave me that nickname because they think I'm cute, just like the nickname. I kind of like the name because it makes me feel special. When I hear someone call, "Little Mo," I know it's a family member in my house calling me, because it's our secret name. My older sister, Stacey, has a nickname too, we call her Big Red because her red hair is big and red, just like the gum. My other big sister Kerry has a nickname too, we call her Moody Doo. We call her that because she's always very moody in the morning. Even though she's not a morning person, she's as kind as a Care Bear to me in the afternoon.

My family is very special to me. We use the word special a lot in my house. My parents are always hugging us, saying we are special in their eyes. I stare straight into their eyes and try to see where the special is. My sisters say, "all parents think their children are special" and I should stop looking so hard. I've heard the word special many times before but, I never really thought about the word gifted until my parents got an exciting letter they'd been waiting for. My parents told me the letter would let me know whether or not I was allowed to go to a "gifted school." I had no idea why they were so excited. But when Dad finished opening the letter, both of my parents started dancing around the dining room table singing, "Great job, Little Mo!"

At first, I got caught up in all the excitement, jumping up and down with my parents, though I wasn't so sure what all the excitement was about. Soon, however, I began to feel a butterfly trapped in my stomach! I started to think about my new school while watching my silly parents dance. I began wondering what a gifted school would be like. Later on, at bedtime, when my mom and dad were tucking me in and saying, "Snug as a bug in a rug," I began to blurt out tons of questions. Mom and Dad interrupted me and said, "you don't have to worry, Little Mo! All your questions will be answered when you visit the gifted and talented school tomorrow."

I was so nervous and excited about my new adventure that I could barely keep my eyes closed. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt about my new gifted school. It was the coolest school I had ever been to. It was in the ocean, and I couldn't believe how fun it was! The students and teachers were a variety of beautiful tropical fish. The students' books were made of coral from under the sea, and the erasers were small starfish. I could see a sea turtle and a dolphin in the teachers' lounge drinking tea out of shell mugs. In my dream, I met the principal who was a friendly pink octopus trying to do eight things at once with her tentacles in her office. Just when I started to swim closer to the pink principal to ask her a very important question, I woke up!

My mom was rubbing my head, telling me it was time to get up. We were running late as usual, thanks to Moody Doo not being a morning person. She took forever in the bathroom. It felt like I had to wait a whole year for my turn! Finally, Idressed in my best clothes and worked really hard on my hair. Although my sisters thought it was silly, my parents felt it was my style. To beat the clock, my parents and I rushed into the car to make it to the school on time for my very first tour.

When we pulled up to the front of the school, I was so excited to read the sign: The Gifted & Talented School. I began to break the words into parts, just as Mom always said I should when I didn't understand something. Let's see, the word gifted means special, and talented means you're good at something. I decided it was a school for special kids who are really good at things. I said to myself, at four years old, what am I special at? As we got out of the car and began walking up the school steps, I could not stop my brain from thinking about all the questions I had.

As soon as I turned to my parents, ready to ask them some of these very important questions, my thoughts were interrupted. I had bumped into the school principal, Mrs. Gates, at the top of the steps. She looked like the sweetest silliest person I had ever met, and she smelled like tropical flowers. She shook my hand backward, with her left hand instead of her right hand, and she was covered in stickers. I asked her how she got those stickers, and she said that the students had given them to her for being a kind citizen in school.

As we walked inside, it seemed like the principal was carrying that secret garden of sweet smelling tropical flowers with her. Mrs. Gates must have heard me making my strange sniffing sounds, because she told me she was wearing her favorite oils that came from a special flower in her hometown in Africa. I knew where Africa was on the map because I studied maps for fun at home. I also knew it was a continent, but I kept that to myself. I wanted to ask a few questions about Africa, but then Mrs. Gates said she would love to take us on a tour of their home. I thought she made a mistake, because she said "home" instead of "school." I could not help but giggle; she must have made a mistake!

The first room she showed us was the most important room of all-the kindergarten room. I was going to be in this very room next year. When she opened the door, I felt that same butterfly growing out of its chrysalis in my belly. As soon as I touched my belly to control the butterfly, a bubble landed on my nose and then popped! It made me forget all about the silly pain in my stomach. I walked into the room to investigate where the bubble had come from. A sweet woman with a large fairytale hat approached me very gracefully as I entered. She introduced herself with a funny accent, saying, "It is an honor to meet you, young lady. Welcome to our humble castle, my name is Ms. McDougal." I figured she must have made a mistake because she did not say "classroom."

My parents asked Ms. McDougal what the students were working on in class. Gracefully, like a ballet dancer, she showed us around their classroom. She explained that the students were acting out their favorite fairytales for character study. Ms. McDougal said, "Today, the students get to read their favorite book, dress like their favorite character, and then pretend to be the character they picked for their literacy center time." I saw my favorite characters: Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood. Soft nature music was playing in the background, and there were plants, trees, and pillows everywhere. The room smelled like fresh air, and Ms. McDougal had a bubble machine spitting out bubbles for fun. Next to shelves of books was a relaxing, decorative water fountain where the students could read under a really cool pretend tree.

For a second, it felt like I was at home playing dress up in my room. I closed my eyes and could see myself playing with the children and dressing up like my favorite character, but as soon as I began to enjoy the idea in my head, my parents called me from the hallway. They were like patrol cops as they pulled me out of my new favorite classroom and assured me there was much more to see and little time to do it. I was just about to feel upset when I heard Mrs. Gates say that the next stop would be the music room. I skipped to catch up with Mrs. Gates so that when she opened the door I would not miss a thing!

Right away, I recognized some of the sounds coming out of the room. Mrs. Gates asked if I played an instrument, and I nodded in excitement. I nodded so hard I thought my head was going to fall off. As soon as she opened the door to the room, screaming in excitement, I said, "I remember what I am talented at, Mrs. Gates!"

Embarrassed from screaming, I whispered to Mrs. Gates that I was really good at the piano. I could play anything anybody wanted, and I did not need the music sheets because I could remember the music in my head. Just then, she introduced me to the music teacher, Mr. Cello. He bent down and said, "Even though my last name is Cello, I'm better at playing the violin and the piano." I figured that was a joke because all of the adults began to laugh really hard.

Mr. Cello was a very nice man. He invited me into his magical music room. I asked him why it was magical, and Mr. Cello said, "The room creates magic when my students play from their heart." He was holding a black magic bag filled with tricks. "When my wonderful musicians play from their heart, I reward them with one of my famous magic shows at the end of our music class."

"Wow!" I said. "After playing our favorite instruments, you give us a magic show like at a birthday party!" My parents must be the smartest parents in the world, I thought to myself, because this is definitely the school for me.

Mr. Cello was super nice, he let me play his grand piano. I stretched my hands and played my heart out with my eyes closed. Mr. Cello had said, "Play anything that makes you feel the music in your fingers." So I played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, the third movement. My sisters had told me that there are some children my age that can't play that piece, so I guessed that must be my talent part they talk about. When I finished playing, Mom had a huge smile on her face. She said my piano playing made the birds outside sing. I think she is wrong, though, because I look outside the window every time I play and I've never seen the birds sing.

Mr. Cello told me that there were other students my age that could play that piece; he said it would be fun next year to put us all together as musical friends. I could not wait to meet my new friends! I had never had any friends my age that could play that piece with me for fun. How exciting that would be! As we left the room, I looked back and saw a boy playing the violin. I knew he was in first grade because his instrument said, first graders. He played the violin like he was in the orchestra at Radio City Music Hall, where my parents take me every Christmas to see The Nutcracker. "Wow," I said. "He is super at the violin!"

Yes, Morgan, Mr. Cello said while I was leaving the room, he is a very gifted musician at the violin. He is getting ready to play for the New York City Orchestra over the summer break.

I was starting to understand why it was a gifted and talented school. The children were really good at something special, and that's why they went there-to practice to become super at their talents! I thought I said that in my head, but I realized I had said it out loud when Principal Gates smiled at me and said, "What a beautiful way to describe our school, Ms. Morgan." Although all children around the world are gifted and talented, our school finds those students in our local area and asks them to join us and share those talents with each other. Our students at our gifted and talented school have all different types of talents. This is how we grow as a school, by learning from each other. Mrs. Gates reminded me of the pink octopus in my dream last night. She was just as nice as the pink octopus, and she was wearing a pink dress. I was really starting to love the gifted and talented school.

Our next stop was the science room, and I was so excited. After seeing the other two awesome rooms, I knew the science room was going to be amazing. As I walked up to the door, I read the sign carefully: Only positive attitudes past this point. Mom and Dad were really proud of me when I learned to read last year. I love reading; I read wherever I go. When Mrs. Gates opened the door, I saw my new science teacher behind a lab table, measuring some potions that were bubbling and turning colors. She had a white coat on like my doctor, but I could not see her face at first because her goggles were so big.

Mrs. Gates called Dr. Edison, and she quickly popped up from her long table. Dr. Edison said, "Hello, friend, and welcome to our science lab! I am just finishing up an experiment we have been working on in the third grade. Please have a look around." As we slowly walked around, I saw all kinds of reptiles and plants I recognized. However, I did not know what the small, red circular dishes on the table that had fuzzy things on them were for. Dr. Edison snuck up behind me and said, "those are petri plates. We grow bacteria and look at it under the microscope. Want to take a look?" I was so excited because I had never used the machine they call a microscope before. Mom and Dad had always said I was too little, but now I was allowed to! When I looked through the hole I saw the little circles moving.

Dr. Edison explained that we were looking at a petri plate that contained agar at room temperature. The experiment will show bacteria that can grow on a student's hands from their daily activities. When the students properly wash their hands and repeat this activity, they will see how important hand washing can be for their health.

"Uhhh, that's what gets on our hands when we don't wash them?" I said. I ran to the sink and asked permission to wash my hands immediately. Everyone in the room laughed and joined me to wash their hands too at the large science sink.

Dr. Edison was the smartest science teacher I had ever met. Well, actually, she was the only science teacher I had ever met. I could tell she was a crazy, fun science teacher because she had a special box for hard science questions and funny hair that went all over the place. Mrs. Gates bent down and explained to me that the students were allowed to write down one hard science question a week for Dr. Edison, and she always gave them an answer in twenty-four hours. She had been doing that for twenty-five years and had never gotten an answer wrong yet.

"That's amazing," my dad said out loud without realizing it. I looked at him and smiled because everyone says we are so much alike. Mrs. Gates looked at her watch and reminded us we had just a few minutes left to check out the gym class.

As we rushed out of the science lab, I smiled at Dr. Edison and waved goodbye. Dr. Edison saluted me, put her goggles back on, and said, "See you next year, Ms. Morgan! The lab is waiting for you!" As we stood in the hallway, I heard a small explosion. Boom! I could hear Dr. Edison back in the classroom saying, "Now that's a science experiment!" As we went down the hallway, I could not stop thinking about all of the fun rooms we had just visited.

Mrs. Gates brought us to the last stop for the day, gym class. I never really liked gym in the pre-k program, so I was not that excited to see it. But then I heard silly screams and could not help but pop my head into the side gym door. The students were shouting out fun things they had learned and running under a huge parachute on the gym floor. Mrs. Gates explained that the students were playing "Spark"; they got to move around and play challenging games in all subjects. I had never seen kids playing math games in gym class. When I peeked in a little more, I heard Maria and Maurace's names being called to play next. Maria said, "Four plus twelve equals ..." Maurace answered, "Sixteen!" and then ran under the huge parachute for fun. Then, the little girl, Maria, started saying something in another language, and then the little boy, Maurace, answered. At first, I was so confused, but Mom whispered in my ear and explained that they were doing math problems in Spanish! I wanted to speak Spanish, it looked like they were having so much fun!

The two gym teachers came up to us and introduced themselves. One gym teacher was named Mr. Armstrong, and the other was Ms. Jones. Mr. Armstrong showed me his cool bike that he rode to school every day. Ms. Jones went back to her students and began running races with the children to see who could get the best time. I loved gym and could not wait to play. Just when I was about to run under the parachute my father stopped me in my tracks, he reminded me I was not wearing the proper shoes for the gym floor. Disappointed that I could not play, we began to go back to the front office to fill out some papers.

The office had muffins and fresh orange juice for the people that visited. While I was waiting in the office, I leaned over in my chair and stuck my head out into the hall to see if there was anything going on that I was missing. I could hear the sound of kids having a great time! Students were laughing, and teachers were singing funny multiplication songs down the hallway and smiling at me. This place was my fun zone! It was just like those places you pretend in your head when you're playing with your best friends. I started to sing the multiplication song I had just learned from down the hallway and then almost fell out of my chair trying to listen to the fun rap version. Dad caught me just in time, and Mrs. Gates began saying good-bye to my mom. I darted out of my chair and gave Mrs. Gates a huge bear hug.

When she walked us out of the school, I saw a colorful sign with a picture of an old man with crazy white hair. Since it was near the exit door, I decided to run up to it. The sign read: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. (Albert Einstein)" I thought, now there's a man that gets me. As we drove away from the school, I wondered if I would ever get the chance to meet that Albert Einstein guy. And that's when I shouted out loud in the car, "Hey! Maybe next year!"

(Continues...)

Excerpted from My Gifted & Talented Adventureby Kerry Ann Scrivanich Copyright © 2010 by Kerry Ann Scrivanich. Excerpted by permission.
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