Recognizing successes: Teachers help point students in the right direction

Editor's note: The Sun Scholars program is in its third year and recognizes students in Yuma County who excel in one of seven academic categories. This section will give you insight into these outstanding students. They will be recognized at an invitation-only event on May 8. The Sun Scholars program was implemented by The Sun.

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Some children discover where their talents lie right away, creating art with fingerpaints or reading a favorite book with their parents.

For others it comes later, after studying a world-changing event in history class or discovering something about the world through science.

Teachers in the elementary grades watch for those sparks and try to find ways to ignite them.

Once teachers have seen that spark, the challenge becomes keeping it alive through high school and beyond, to build that bud of interest into a passion they can use to take on the real world.

Denise Davis, the head of the science department at San Luis High School, said that when she or her colleagues see a student with a talent in a certain area, they try to get them into advanced placement classes and after-school programs where the student can pursue it.

"We find if they’re good at it or like it, we push them to go into the accelerated classes. We also encourage them to start taking classes out at (Arizona Western College)."

Davis said it is not grades alone that make students stand out from the crowd. It is the way they tackle their education and actively think about their work that sets the outstanding kids apart.

"Great students have curiosity, analysis skills ... being able to not just look at the obvious, but apply the obvious beyond. They really need the analysis skills or the thinking skills to see what the results lead you to."

She added that as it gets easier to access information, those critical thinking skills are getting rarer and rarer. Davis said that makes her appreciate the students who are truly interested in learning even more.

"That's probably where we struggle the most - getting the kids to do the thinking. Anymore, with the Internet, they just plug in their research and, boom, there it is. When you find those kids who go beyond that, those are the kids you have a lot of fun with."

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Sarah Reynolds can be reached at
sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.

Recognizing successes: Teachers help point students in the right direction

Editor's note: The Sun Scholars program is in its third year and recognizes students in Yuma County who excel in one of seven academic categories. This section will give you insight into these outstanding students. They will be recognized at an invitation-only event on May 8. The Sun Scholars program was implemented by The Sun.

------

Some children discover where their talents lie right away, creating art with fingerpaints or reading a favorite book with their parents.

For others it comes later, after studying a world-changing event in history class or discovering something about the world through science.

Teachers in the elementary grades watch for those sparks and try to find ways to ignite them.

Once teachers have seen that spark, the challenge becomes keeping it alive through high school and beyond, to build that bud of interest into a passion they can use to take on the real world.

Denise Davis, the head of the science department at San Luis High School, said that when she or her colleagues see a student with a talent in a certain area, they try to get them into advanced placement classes and after-school programs where the student can pursue it.

"We find if they’re good at it or like it, we push them to go into the accelerated classes. We also encourage them to start taking classes out at (Arizona Western College)."

Davis said it is not grades alone that make students stand out from the crowd. It is the way they tackle their education and actively think about their work that sets the outstanding kids apart.

"Great students have curiosity, analysis skills ... being able to not just look at the obvious, but apply the obvious beyond. They really need the analysis skills or the thinking skills to see what the results lead you to."

She added that as it gets easier to access information, those critical thinking skills are getting rarer and rarer. Davis said that makes her appreciate the students who are truly interested in learning even more.

"That's probably where we struggle the most - getting the kids to do the thinking. Anymore, with the Internet, they just plug in their research and, boom, there it is. When you find those kids who go beyond that, those are the kids you have a lot of fun with."

-----
Sarah Reynolds can be reached at
sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.