We wanted a teacher-training focus, so classroom teachers could recognize giftedness, and we wanted the kids to feel awe full—as in having experiences full of awe—and give them the notion of owning the campus and feeling comfortable here. |  | Robert “Bob” Clasen (’65 PhD EDU) was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Extension in the late 1970s when he learned of a program in California for gifted and talented children. Bob worked with deans in Extension and the UW-Madison School of Education to craft a uniquely Wisconsin version of that program.
“We wanted a teacher-training focus, so classroom teachers could recognize giftedness, and we wanted the kids to feel awe full—as in having experiences full of awe—and give them the notion of owning the campus and feeling comfortable here,” Bob said. “The UW campus is an absolute paradise for kids with abilities.”
The program became known as College for Kids (CFK), and it was recognized by the National Association of College and University Summer Sessions as a model of innovation after it debuted in 1981. CFK has endured for 27 years and been replicated as far away as China. |
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 | | | Fifth-grade participants in Arts and Humanities workshops, on of four disciplines of interest. |
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| The program offers four workshop tracks for more than 300 fifth graders from the greater Dane County area. The children are identified and invited to the program by teachers in their public or private schools. The workshops are designed to provide a broad range of exposure in a study area and offer prepared demonstrations, tours and workshops given by UW faculty and staff. Within the biological sciences track, for example, students are exposed to botany, ecology, entomology, limnology, microbiology, organic farming, vet medicine, wildlife and DNA exploration. Children in the arts and humanities program learn creative writing, dance, drama, journalism, philosophy and other disciplines.
Children are grouped into teams of 12 and guided by a teacher-facilitator who is enrolled in the Practicum for Teachers of the Gifted and Talented. The teachers may be from any district, and they spend one week prior to the arrival of the students studying best practices and strategies for working with the gifted. The teacher-facilitators accompany their teams of children to workshops and help them process all they are experiencing. While the teachers earn three graduate credits in the practicum, they also gain valuable experience they can bring back to their classrooms in the fall. |
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| Donna Rae Clasen (’64 MA L&S, ’82 PhD EDU) taught the first practicum and recalls that the UW faculty generated a great deal of excitement with the children and the teacher-facilitators. “These are people who are like these kids,” said Donna Rae. “They can relate.”
Gunnard Swanson was a teacher-facilitator, and he is now the gifted and talented coordinator at Rome Corners School for fifth- and sixth-graders in the Oregon (Wisconsin) School District. “The teacher training week prior to the start of CFK provided significant education on how to meet the needs of the gifted in the classroom,” said Gunnard. “The teacher training has a potential for great impact.”
Ellen Elms Notar (’78 MS EDU, ’80 PhD EDU) handled the logistics involved in CFK’s early years, from bus parking to scheduling faculty workshops. Although she left Wisconsin in 1986 and now resides in Delaware, she continues to support CFK with gifts to the program. “Fewer than one-third of innovations in education survive more than 10 years,” Ellen said. “We had deans and faculty who were willing to take a risk and take a leadership role. The teachers and children caught the spirit of the UW.”
The definition of giftedness has been modified during the past 27 years, but CFK success endures. Nancy Blake, CFK director, told of a parent whose daughter had participated in CFK several years ago and benefited immensely. “The daughter is now a freshman at UW-Madison, and the family would like their son to participate this year,” she said. “Many CFK participants have gone on to become students and graduates of the UW System. Many Wisconsin teachers have received professional development training that is being implemented in classrooms throughout Wisconsin.”
Private support of the recently established CFK Fund will offer scholarships to families with financial need and offset the expense of professional development for Wisconsin educators. |
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