MOUNT VERNON – Dozens of teachers in the Centerburg, Danville, East Knox and Fredericktown school districts are enrolled in training to provide services to gifted students, fulfilling a goal of the Knox Educational Service Center (ESC).
“Getting to this point was our priority when we hired Taylor Gingery as our gifted and enrichment coordinator,” said ESC Superintendent Dr. Timm Mackley.
“For too long services to gifted students had been limited only to identification, without an accompanying program of instruction. With Taylor’s help, more and more of our brightest students are receiving the attention that they deserve from qualified teachers throughout Knox County.
“The most important aspect of Taylor’s work is training teachers how to work with gifted students.”
Now in her fourth year with the ESC, Gingery is a graduate of Capital University with a BA degree in art education. She earned a master’s in curriculum and instruction with a focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) from Concordia University of Portland.
She also holds an Ohio gifted intervention specialist endorsement, which is key to her work throughout the county.
“Across the four districts, I have 60 general education teachers – 3rd through 12th grades – enrolled in gifted training,” Gingery said. “They have access to collaborate with me when designing or modifying curriculum for gifted students in their classrooms.”
Her goal is to assist teachers in identifying gifted students through test scores as part of the criteria determined by the state. That leads to development of a Written Education Plan (WEP) for each student. A WEP is a profile of the student, academically and socially, that reflects his or her interests.
“Ideally, there’s a goal for each student in their area of interest, Gingery explained. “Goals might include enrollment in honors classes or college-credit classes at the secondary level, while the elementary level could include a combination of special projects, small groups, modified curriculum to access above-grade-level challenges.
“We want to meet kids where they are and then determine how we can push them to the next level.”
Gingery encourages more teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels to explore the 15 hours of online credit needed to earn a gifted intervention specialist endorsement, which includes training in curriculum development and guidance and counseling for gifted students.
She is quick to emphasize that she only supplements the hard work already being done by county educators. At the secondary level she collaborates with administrators and teachers on how to design gifted services for students to align with either College Credit Plus or Career and Technical Education pathways.
Whether elementary or secondary, individual and classroom activities are centered on either taking the general classroom topics to a deeper level or working on above-grade-level skills adapted to each student’s strength.
At East Knox Gingery is working with science teachers Abby Lester and Jerry Jacobs, junior/senior high Principal Cody Reese and Superintendent Richard Baird to develop a VEX robotics/engineering course. VEX is the vendor for robotics programs already in place at Centerburg, Danville and Mount Vernon.
In addition to drafting a local foundation grant proposal for robotics/engineering, Gingery has been in contact with retiring East Knox elementary gifted teacher Keri Campbell about ideas to continue student services in the 2025-2026 school year. She will review those ideas with Baird.
At Centerburg, fourth-grade teacher Becky Thompson has implemented creative gifted-focused projects, including a simulated anthropological dig.
“I have known Taylor Gingery for several years and she has helped me to become a better teacher for my students,” Thompson said. “She has helped me to not only think outside the box for creating differentiated work for my gifted learners, but also helped me figure out how to manage such learning and step outside of my own comfort zone with documenting progress.
“When so many students are at different levels of learning, assessment of their growth can be quite challenging. Taylor helped me to organize what that looks like and worked with me to create creative ways to document the growth of my gifted learners.”
At Fredericktown last school year secondary students prepared for the 2024 presidential election by studying John F. Kennedy’s successful 1960 campaign. The enrichment project involved an analysis of Kennedy’s campaign strategy, polls and other elements of his win over Richard Nixon. This year students have studied all that is involved in starting a business.
Ben McClay is Fredericktown’s talented and gifted coordinator.
“Taylor and I co-plan our middle school Academic Challenge seminar, run the school spelling bee together and we collaborate on accurate reporting of gifted services for our state report card,” McClay said. “She gives guidance to teachers and me on implementing challenging curriculum for gifted students in the school district.”
Gingery acknowledged that her work with Danville Local Schools classroom teachers is “just getting started.” She has coordinated the district’s spelling bees and is working to match gifted students with collegiate mentors from Kenyon and Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
“Resources are limited for small districts,” Gingery said. “My hope is that I can help teachers implement gifted goals and take the next step next year. We can collaborate on the teachers’ schedules. If I’m asking teachers to meet gifted students where they are at, it is only fair to meet teachers where they are at and what they feel they are ready for.
“One of the core values of gifted education is to focus on strengths-based goals. This is how I approach my collaboration with teachers. The last thing I want to do is be a source of burnout. I can offer ideas, resources, and tools but the ball is in their court.”
In addition to working directly with teachers and administrators, Gingery is the driving force behind two annual events facilitated by the ESC:
– The fall Youth Enrichment Series, which brings musicians, dancers and storytellers to Knox Memorial Theater, much to the delight of county elementary and middle school students.
– In-school spelling bees in each district which determine grades 5-8 qualifiers for the county bee in January.