THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150186
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
IN A WORLD in which nations are constantly at war over philosophies, politics and power, several local teachers traveled halfway around the globe to share a common understanding with their international peers.
It took a 20-hour plane ride to China and a pair of conferences, but gifted education teachers Juanita Felton and Pat Bernick now know that educators and administrators worldwide agree that gifted students have special needs.
``Some things are universal,'' said Felton, who teaches at First Colonial High School. ``It was exciting to see people from all over the world being concerned about the same things.''
Felton and Bernick, who teaches at Kempsville High School, were two of five representatives from Virginia at ``The 11th World Conference on Gifted and Talented Children'' in Hong Kong and the post-conference meeting in Beijing.
Other state representatives included Felton's husband, Thomas Felton, who attended on behalf of Chesapeake Public Schools, and two presenters from the University of Virginia.
They started planning the trip in 1993, when Felton and Bernick presented at the last world conference in Toronto. Last summer, they wrote their proposal and were chosen by the international committee to attend the biennial event.
``It wasn't something that happened overnight,'' Bernick said.
The teachers, who have worked together in secondary gifted education since 1985, presented two programs to their colleagues during the conferences; the first conference, which was the more formal and larger of the two, was July 30 through Aug. 4, while the second was Aug. 5 to 8.
One of the programs they presented, Senior Perspectives Awareness Research Knowledge Seminars (or SPARKS), is a discussion group for students that encourages the discovery and debate of new and provocative ideas. Both First Colonial and Kempsville offer the class, which is open to juniors and seniors.
``It's a self-directed course,'' Bernick said of SPARKS, which meets once a week at both schools. ``They select topics they would like to discuss and research.'' The cultural aspects of religion, teen violence and medical technology are some areas the students have studied.
They work in small groups and present their findings in sessions where everyone is involved. ``It was very well received,'' Bernick said of the feedback at the conferences.
The second program, ``Let Us Entertain You,'' identifies and nurtures talented art students. Both credit and non-credit courses are offered after school and during the summer.
``They were extremely interested in our programs,'' Bernick added.
Besides sharing their experiences, Felton and Bernick learned from a variety of speakers who hailed from Australia to Europe.
``It was truly a worldwide conference,'' Felton said.
Many presentations were personal, noted Bernick, since some of the speakers were gifted students, or are parents of gifted children. ``Each expert had a different approach,'' Bernick added. ``It was fun to see what theories are coming about.''
But the conferences weren't the teachers' only means of education; they spent three weeks touring China.
``The cultural experience was a real eye-opener,'' Bernick said.
Since parents in China are allowed only one child, the relationships between adults and their children are closely-knit. ``I think I only saw one child crying, and that was for falling,'' Felton recalled.
They also remember seeing bicycles everywhere, few cars on the streets and lots of people. ``You always see people there,'' Bernick said. ``You're never alone in China.''
With tons of stories and nearly 20 rolls of film between them, Bernick and Felton plan to speak at several in-services this year, where they will share information about the trip with other teachers.
While the pair sopped up many ideas during their visit, one lesson sticks out in particular.
``The United States is unique in the belief that all secondary students should receive an academic education,'' Felton said. ``Virginia Beach, in particular, should be proud of its educational programs for the gifted and the arts.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by HOLLY WESTER
Pat Bernick, gifted education teacher at Kempsville High, and
Juanita Felton, who has the same job at First Colonial High, show
off their memories of China.
Felton, above left, and Bernick, had a picnic at The Summer Palace
in Beijing. The teachers were two of five representatives from
Virginia at ``The 11th World Conference on Gifted and Talented
Children'' in Hong Kong and the post-conference meeting in Beijing.
by CNB