The High Ability students from Beiriger Elementary went to Wadsworth Elementary on November 25 during the school day to show off their parade floats to the High Ability and Special Education kids.
The parade was held in the Wadsworth gym and featured many diverse types of floats: Some with balloons, others with characters, and even a few with moving parts. Multiple Lego® robots were used and many floats used remote control vehicles, whereas a couple were simply pulled along the road. The road represented 34th Street in New York, where the full Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held every year.
The audience was made up of the Special Education classes and part of the High Ability classes. Beiriger students passed out candy to those who watched the parade.
The lead High Ability teacher at Beiriger, Mrs. Jessica Lichtenfeld, helped set up this event. Lichtenfeld has put in a considerable amount of her time with the High Ability program, and she is thrilled to see progress so far. “I am proud to continue to grow the program and see hard work pay off. We are always looking for ways to make the program the best it can be and to best serve our students,” She said.
She is always pushing for students to be in the High Ability program. The teachers in Griffith say that High Ability helps students learn at a faster pace and helps them develop skills that they would not learn in regular classes. The High Ability program sets students up for honors courses and other specialty classes at the Jr/Sr High School. The program presents challenges such as several types of STEM projects, robotics trials, and collaboration activities.
The Beiriger High Ability program has many tests, both physically and mentally demanding, that the students face daily. Their next upcoming project is their Holidays Around the World Showcase, where students research different countries and discuss and share how they celebrate the holiday season.
“Because students are grouped together for so many years at the elementary level, they truly become a family and look out for one another. Our students are funny, inquisitive, and thoughtful. They learn and grow together and genuinely want to help each other succeed in whatever they may be struggling with,” Lichtenfeld said. She furthered her point by saying how the High Ability students work with each other, and how they come together and get things done.
Whether it be higher level classes, learning new languages, or making new friends, the High Ability students at Beiriger Elementary and Wadsworth Elementary are willing to put in the extra needed time for the challenging work. The growing High Ability program is something that will drive the future forward at Griffith for years to come.
