Were You Part Of The "Mentally Gifted Minds" Program In California Scools back in the 70's?

I was in GATE for a couple years in elementary. What's strange is I don't remember what happened all the times I was taken from my classes.

So maybe GATE trains for remote viewing intel and ACT seemed to train for spotting the differences and reading between the lines. I can streamline processes at first glance, this helps in my career and comes naturally to me.

This is what I've been made to understand, yes. Much love to you, too, friend.

Someone else mentioned taking trips to estates and such, I did that too. Got to roam a museum and sleep there overnight, having run of the place. Many times. Do you remember any of that?

Did that as well, was in TAG at a “special” open concept school. Parent got me on the waiting list, took 1.5 years to get in. Tried to find info on the school recently and there is nothing, it’s like it’s been scrubbed from the internets. The school doesn’t exist anymore, not sure when it closed. I finished all the work they had in 5th grade, then in 6th grade I was in “independent study” for half the day I remember working on an Apple 2e? First computer in the school district.. soooo weird and creepy to read all these posts.

Then in high school I had a bunch of weird classes. Lou Tice stuff and a speed reading class for a semester. Did “Odyssey of the Mind” projects. They also taught us sign language.

One other thing, I still remember the grade school theme song. (the mascot was dragons ) I participated in the Young Author’s Conference, wrote a book in 4th grade, it’s in a University in the city where the school was at.. anyways just thinking about all the weird things. Just blabbing thanks.

I also have a photographic memory and am ambidextrous.

I lived in the Midwest in the mid-1980s. In my elementary school we took the CAT (California Achievement Tests) every year. My tests supposedly came back showing that I had a high IQ and was selected to take part in an after school program, called OMNIBUS, for “gifted” children.

I don’t remember how often we met or what we did. This was when I was in 4th & 5th grade. I would have been 9-10 years old and should have memories…but I don’t. I have two flashes when I think about it. Koala bears and Madrid. Nothing else.

I know I wasn’t allowed to participate in 6th grade because my grades were bad (I hated school and was bored).

The above quote came out weird, my response is in the middle of the quote. Its bedtime.

I was part of a similar program (TAG) in Iowa.... I recall them testing for psychic abilities....

also completed 7th grade math in 3 weeks and moved to 8th grade math class. I just remember being bored with the whole thing, it was too easy and not interesting..

Florida early 60's elementary school, was identified in 3rd grade because of the SRA reading program.

From then on I was pulled out of class practically weekly to guidance office took lots of tests...throughout elementary school.

They focused on speed reading and comprehension, using a machine that would highlight text/words on a page, that you were supposed to try and keep up with then took a test to see how much u retained...plus lots of flashed images then asked how many items in the pic i saw.

I remember in 7-8-9 grades the english teachers started using the speedreading machines in regular classrooms and kids were freaking they couldn't keep up even at a slow speed of 100 words a minute, meanwhile i was at like 900, basically seeing and comprehending a page of material all at once with 95% accuracy...

In highschool I transferred to a catholic school and the testing and flashing lights ended.

Almost none of us do. I get glimpses of things sometimes, not always pleasant. And even after all of the years posting on this thread, seeing the words "A Wrinkle In Time" still really bothers me. Nothing at all to do with the book you'd find in a bookstore. I think that title was used for something else we read/did so that we would compartmentalize those memories.

Also, to newcomers...do a google search for "Gate Program Conspiracy". There's a lot of good information out there, but I'm not sure if I can link them here.

I only got three google results lol.

My high school janitor was working on his PhD and taught several of us speed reading after school.

It requires a high degree of concentration most people are not capable of.

I used to believe anyone could speed read, but maybe not...

I don't remember what happened when I was taken from my fights.

They always stuck me in the reeltard class, when I wasn't being held in detention.

But every time they pulled me out of a fight on the playground I fought and argued with teachers as they brought me to the principal's office.

I went in hot and ready to chew out the principal.

But I don't remember getting past the waiting room.

And I would wake up in class with everyone laughing at me.

It wasn't on the West Coast.

It was Hawthorn School on Elmhurst.

Funny thing about the G: 396

My street address there on Mitchel.

The funny part is many gifted kids, never amount to squat. They can learn faster is all. If you don't have a vision for yourself and the drive to achieve it, you pretty much turn out the same as any other regular person who just wants to be left alone.

This is completely true, and I've been posting on this thread for years. I don't take it personally. GATE burnout is a well-known side effect - they pump you up and then spit you out into a world that makes zero sense. You learn to give up quickly if you want to stay sane.

The only reason I've been as successful as I have (which is to say, not all that much really) is that I am easy to get along with and I am a workaholic with a strong work ethic. I learn quickly but besides that, my time in GATE hasn't exactly left me with great life skills.

that is so wild SAME, i was in the program late 90s-early 2000s, in central mo as well! where are u from??

Our program was called Delve. I remember meeting in the library learning about ancient Egypt.

Employers dont admire quickness, intelligence, ideas.
Good grades, attendance, they dont care.
Their lazy buddies or people in their percieved group
get hired and promoted. Criminal minds gather.

Best to use your skills to help family friends and community.

Its sad when you get older and realize what you could
have done if allowed in.

cest la vie.

Eidetic memory and true ambidextrous as well. I can write different words with both hands at the same time though I find I get tired rapidly doing it.

Indeed. So much for utopia, right? I am pretty sure that, at some point, I totally lost the ability to be shocked, which coincided with when my left eyebrow assumed a permanently arched position and most of my speech now comes out with heavy amounts of snark. Other than that, I'm doing very well. Brain issues have been corrected and my vision is repairing so I should be able to transcribe some of the gifted program homework I found in family storage a few years ago. I'd provide the links to scans directly but this site doesn't appreciate those kind of links last I checked. This would be gifted program homework that myself and my sibling went through.

Homework #1 to start this off, TAG circa 1980.

Title: "THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE"

Between the quick and the dead live the paranoids who nervously adhere to the boy scout motto: Be Prepared. This test probes your grasp of the vocabulary of violence. A high score may not indicate that you are a menace but watch out for the dude who can order ham and eggs with a Molotov cocktail to go.

1. How many coils in a hangman's noose?
2. What is O.J. Simpson's number?
3. Where is the bull's eye on an N.R.A. regulation human silhouette target?
4. What is the rank one step above brigadier general?
5. Whose men were killed in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre?
A. Legs Diamond B. Bugs Moran C. Lask LaRue D. Robert Stack
6. Which of the following sporting gestures is not illegal?
A. Jamming B. Slashing C. Clotheslining
7. Match the author with his creations
Mickey Spillane Mack Bolan
Dashiell Hammell Mike Hammer
John D. MacDonald Sam Spade
Don Pendleton Travis McGee
8. Which of the following is not a martial art?
A. Aikido B. Nin Jitsu C. I Ching D. Savate
9. In bullfighting, what is the man who sticks the bull while sitting on a blindfolded horse?
A. Matador B. Bulldagger C. picador D. cuspidor
10. Who was the director of Straw Dogs?
A. Rex Reed B. Sam Peckinpah C. Andy Warhol D. Robert Aldrich
11. What is the principal ingredient of a Molotov cocktail?
12. Match the mass murderers pictured on the attached sheet with their names: Charles Manson, Juan Corona, Richard Speck, Charles Starkweather (for extra credit points list number of victims).

End of page 1(1 out of 3 for this one).

Hmmm... I was about to say the same thing.
Its kind of a memory hole but with a couple of specific memories.

"THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE", page 2 out of 3.

13. In warfare slang, ham and eggs designates which of the following?
A. Uniform decoration B. Rations C. type of bombardment
14. What name appears on the most widely used boxing trunks?
A. Cosell B. Everlast C Everready D. Louisville Slugger
15. What type of motorcycle is known as the hog?
A. Honda 7(illegible) B. Harley-Davidson Sportster C. Harley-Davidson 74 D. Vespa
16. Which of the following is not a derogatory term?
A. dago B. ginch C. spic D. suds E. mick
17. How many engines are there on a B-52?
18. In boxing, what class is just heavier than lightweight?
A. welterweight B. Bantamweight C. Middleweight D. paperweight
19. Who used the names John L. Raines, Eric Starvo Galt, and Ramon George Sneyd?
20. Which hand wins?
A. straight B. flush C. full house
21. Match the wrestling hold with the pictures on the attached sheet.
A. hammerlock B. half nelson C. full nelson D ozzie nelson
22. Who is the later ego of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk?
A. Ben Grimm B. Bruce Banner C. Alex Karras D. Peter Parker
23. What is the form of execution in which the condemned is strange with a piece of wire? (Hint:it is not a long-distance phone bill.)
24. What was the caliber of the handgun used by Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force?
25. What is the slang term (originating in Vietnam) for the elimination of a superior officer by his own men?

Page 3.

26. What do Ann Calvello and Joan Weston do for a living?
27. Who was Albert DeSalvo?
28. Pictured on the attached page are:
A. an M-1 (used in World War Two) and B. An M-16 (used in Vietnam). Which weapon is larger in caliber?

End.

This was from TAG in around 1980 and would've been done in the 8th or 9th grade.

TAG homework, circa 1980, 9th grade curriculum

Title: EVERYTHING YOU SAY WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU

Body:

The first test was fairly objective. As Sargeant Friday used to say, "Just the facts, ma'am." Either you had the information on the tip of your trigger finger or you didn't. Now it's time for true confessions. The following questions are an inventory of personal behavior. There are no right or wrong answers. Honesty is the best policy but only because it is more interesting to find out about yourself than about someone else. Read each item carefully and check those that apply to yourself. If you cannot think of a specific incident in your own experience, leave the answer space blank.

1. Do you own a gun?
2. If so, is the gun loaded at this moment?
3. Have you been in a fistfight since the ninth grade?
4. Within the past year, have you ended a telephone conversation by hanging up on someone?
5. Have you told someone off within the past two months?
6. Have you ever written an opinionated letter to the editor complaining about something?
7. Have you ever had a controversial bumper sticker on your car?
8. Have you written graffiti in a public place within the past year?
9. Within the past year, have you struck any child or adult with whom you were angry?
10. Within the past year, have you struck any animal that made you angry?
11. Within the past month, have you struck a machine because it wasn't working right (e.g., kicking a vending machine, lawn mower, pay phone, etc.,)
12. In your life have you ever struck a child or adult because you angry over some unrelated event?
13. In your life, have you ever struck an animal because you were angry over some unrelated event?
14. Within the past six months, hav eyou struck any inanimate object because you were angry over something unrelated to that object (e.g. kicking a chair because someone insulted you)?
15. Would you say that you are more successful or more powerful today than your schoolmates are?
16. Would you say that you are physically stronger and tougher than average for your age, size and sex?

End.