CBC talks to gifted kids

KYLE BERGER REPORTER

Declared through testing to be a "gifted student," Mendel Skulski and his mother, Lynne Werker, had a lot of tough decisions to make in terms of education. And that was when he was in Grade 3. Last year, as a Grade 7 student, Mendel was faced with an even tougher decision: Whether or not to start university four years earlier than just about everyone else his age.

Mendel is one of many students in search of the best way to challenge their advanced craniums. But he and two others – Brian Wong and Michael Lin – are the main focus of the documentary Super Kids, airing March 11, as part of the CBC Newsworld series Rough Cuts.

Super Kids follows the gifted students in their preteen and early teen years as they consider their educational options and the grueling admission process to an accelerated high school/university transition program. Students, who apply successfully by passing a psychological education test and going through an intense interview process, can enter the program following either their Grade 7, 8 or 9 year. The two-year program will see them enter university up to four years ahead of most kids.

"When I was in Grade 6, the transition [program] seemed like the best option for me," Mendel told the Bulletin. "But by Grade 7, I had learned more about the program.

"I think that at some point it's a little too accelerated," he continued. "And there are several different reasons not to go to university at age 14."

The family decided not to pursue Mendel's entrance into the program, instead enrolling him for the full high school experience at Saint George's, an all boys private secondary school in Vancouver. For Mendel, now in Grade 8, this is the most "normal" learning environment in which he has been.

His first school, Tyee elementary, was a Montessori program that he was in until after Grade 3. He then moved on to a program called a Multi-Aged Cluster Classroom, or MACC class, until completing Grade 7. The MACC program, operated by the Vancouver School Board, allows gifted students to study and learn at their own pace.

Werker said she felt that her son needed more than just an educational environment in his life, which is why she was happy to go with Saint George's rather than the transition program.

"Given his personality, I didn't think it was the right program for him," she said. "I think there's that whole high school experience, which Mendel is really just beginning to experience and he's really enjoying it. I know that the choice we made was a very useful and positive one."

Werker, who has moved around the Lower Mainland in order to be closer to the best educational opportunities for her son, said that it is difficult to find a program that fits for a child like Mendel.

"One of the challenges is that once you are outside the bell [curve] by more than 10 per cent, the system starts breaking down for you," she said of the public school system. "On either side, you're basically not served well by a system that caters to a median level.

"At different stages of his education, we would be told that there was no school that would be able to accommodate and challenge him," she said, "that the fit wouldn't be good between his personality and his ability and his learning style because he's not the kind of kid who just sits down and studies. And that's really disheartening for a parent to hear."

Though Mendel has been labelled gifted in terms of his educational capabilities, the rest of him is still a normal teenager working his way through life. He likes to snowboard and has several other hobbies like playing the guitar, drums, violin, playing video games or drawing comic books. When asked how he is enjoying his time at Saint George's, he answered the question like any normal teenager would.

"It's a challenging school but the only thing I really think I'm missing out on is that it's an all boys school," he laughed.

Mendel also wanted to be clear that he has changed quite a bit in the year since the filming for Super Kids began.

"The way I did things and the way I talk about things has changed. I was much nerdier then."

Super Kids, created by Vancouver filmmaker Ric Beairsto, airs on CBC, March 11, at 10 p.m., and will be replayed, March 13, at the same time.

Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer living in Richmond.

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