They also attend an in-school seminar one class period each week which coordinates their work experience with classroom activities to help them develop skills for future careers. Extra-curricular activities of interest to the gifted student The curiosity, talent and intensity of gifted children often require more challenge than can be met even within the curriculum of a gifted program. Listed below are a few of the extra-curricular activities available through the Newport News Public Schools or other institutions that gifted students and their parents may wish to investigate. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students from elementary grades through high school. Students work in teams to solve a variety of problems, from building mechanical devices that must perform certain tasks to giving dramatic presentations based on specific criteria.
Students learn to apply their imaginations, work through challenges, and work with others as a team.
Teams are coached by teachers and all schools are eligible to form teams. These residential Governor s School programs are offered each summer at various college campuses in the Commonwealth. Applications are distributed through the schools in the fall for programs in the sciences, humanities, foreign languages and performing arts. The Virginia Governor's Foreign Language Academies provide in-depth study in a foreign language for four to six weeks during the summer for high school students. The purpose of these academies, which are available in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Latin and Japanese, is to provide a unique and exciting opportunity for outstanding foreign language students to gain greater knowledge of the language and to be involved in related cultural topics that are not available during the academic school year.