Who are we?
My name is Michelle Lewis, and I am a tenth grade student at Cobb County Schools. When I received news about this meeting that would determine the need to continue state-funded gifted services, I knew that I needed to tell you my story about how I have benefited directly from these services. I am not part of an “elite” group of students; rather, I represent a specific, yet diverse, group of students, known as Twice Exceptional, commonly referred to as 2E.
I will begin by taking you on a journey through my early educational experiences and explain how I came to be identified as 2E . . . I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth; in fact, my mother was the single parent of me and my older brother, and we survived solely on her salary as a middle school teacher. Despite my mother’s financial constraints, having dedicated her own life to education, she wanted to instill in us the importance of education and nurture our own love of learning. Therefore, she was ecstatic when I was already using words by the time I was nine months old, and I could read books by the time she enrolled my in preschool. My mother also noticed that my vocabulary was much more advanced than my brother’s had been at a young age. What alarmed my mother was that, although my language and reading skills were so early developed, I had difficulty with activities involving numbers, including learning to count, making connections between numbers and objects, and playing games that required counting and using numbers. By the time I entered kindergarten, it became clear to my teachers that I had a learning disability in math, what would later by diagnosed as dyscalculia. My teachers and my mother met to develop an individualized education plan for me. My mother was concerned that I would be simply labeled as learning disabled and that my abilities in language and reading would be ignored. To ease these concerns, my IEP team was able to develop a plan that would address my dyscalculia specifically. During elementary school, my disability in math became more apparent. I struggled with basic addition and subtraction, while other children my age were mastering their multiplication tables. I also had difficult telling time, using a number line, imagining number values in my head, counting money, and giving back change. My dyscalculia affected my spatial awareness as well, including my difficulty with identifying patterns, drawing, and lining up numbers during calculations. As part of my IEP, I received small group math instruction. My mother also enrolled me in the after school program, in which I worked with tutors on my issues in math. But what about my advanced reading and use of language? On standardized tests that I took in elementary school, I scored in the 99th percentile in all areas of the reading and English/language arts portions of the CRCT. I was surpassing the other students in reading in my regular education classes, and I was reading classic novels by the time I was in the third grade. Due to my status as a student with a learning disability and low math scores on the CRCT throughout elementary school, I was initially overlooked for gifted education services, so my mother referred me for gifted eligibility determination. When I was in the fourth grade, I met Georgia eligibility requirements for gifted education through Option B, and I enrolled in the gifted resource class, in which I participated in a variety of enrichment activities that addressed my high reading abilities. By this time, I was also showing gifted ability in writing, and in the fifth grade, I scored in the 99th percentile on the Georgia Grade 5 Writing Assessment. Along with the gifted resource class, my teachers developed more advanced reading and writing assignments for me. I later learned that my teachers had received special training about how to differentiate to students like me. As a result, with the help of gifted education services, I was finally being challenged in the areas in which I excelled. When I started middle school, my IEP team determined that I should receive co-taught support in math, along with the assistance of a paraprofessional. My math scores on standardized tests were steadily improving, although still lower than the average student, and my gifts in reading aided me when it came to solving word problems. Due to additional educator training, my math teachers were able to identify my learning style and strengths, and they used strategies that helped me better understand mathematical concepts. Thanks to the support I had received in small group math and later in co-taught math, I was developing ways to compensate for my dyscalculia. Because of additional funding for gifted education, my middle school offered more honors classes, and I enrolled in honors language arts and honors social studies. I still had a gifted resource class as well, and I was able to continue my enrichment in reading and writing. My enrollment in gifted education gave me a self-confidence boost, and this helped me not to get too discouraged in my math classes. My dual special education support and gifted enrichment offered prepared me for the added rigor of the high school curriculum. Fast forward to the present, I am now in the tenth grade, and I am continuing to excel in reading and writing. I am enrolled in Honors English and Honors Social Studies, and I am a competitive member of my school’s debate team. I still require co-taught math, and I take the supplemental math support class, but due to the additional support that I receive in class and the after school program, I no longer require the assistance of a paraprofessional. I no longer see myself as someone who is disabled, but as someone who learns differently and who has exceptional gifts. I would not be where I am today without the state’s funding of gifted education. Finally, to anyone who thinks that all gifted students are members of an elite group who don’t require any additional funding, consider my story and how far I’ve come thanks to the services that these funds have provided. |