DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The windward campus of Hawaii Pacific University is hosting 184 gifted students from around the country this summer who are part of a national program sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. Fourteen-year-old Eugene So of Honolulu, left, and 14-year-old Michael Sylvan of San Diego participate in a chemistry lab.
Some of the nation's brightest kids gather
in Hawaii for a summer academic camp
It would have been an exercise in frustration for most of his peers, but 12-year-old John David Nako of Kaimuki Middle School had a different reaction to the college-entrance SAT.
"I want to take it again next year," the seventh-grader cheerily told his father after taking the exam in a room full of college-bound 11th and 12th graders. "I think I could do better."
Nako did so well that he qualified for a national program for gifted children aged 12 to 16 being held for the first time in Hawaii this summer.
He and 30 other students from Hawaii are joining some of the brightest kids in the country on the windward campus of Hawaii Pacific University, the newest site for Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, which offers summer academic camps around the country.
If it wasn't for a nudge from Nako's school counselor, his family would never have thought of having him take such a test.
"I don't necessarily look at John as being gifted," said his father, David Nako. "He's definitely strong academically, but he has to study." Now the Nakos are glad that John gave it a try.
Recruiters for the Center for Talented Youth comb the country for kids like him, seventh and eighth graders who have scored in the 97th percentile -- the top -- on national standardized tests for their grade level.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Twelve-year-old John David Nako of Honolulu, left, and 13-year-old Bonnie Cao of Los Angeles take a break during their "Crafting the Essay" class. The Center for Talented Youth program lets gifted youngsters stretch their intellectual horizons.
In Hawaii's public schools, it's a little harder to track them down because such tests aren't given in sixth and seventh grades, the years leading into the program. Instead students are tested in fifth and eighth grades.
"It takes an extra step and a mindful guidance counselor to review the students' record and find that (fifth grade) test," said Charles Beckman, spokesman for the Center for Talented Youth, based in Baltimore. "We rely on schools to get the word out to families of highly gifted kids."
Major private schools, such as Punahou and Iolani, test their students annually in those years and can refer their best candidates to the Center for Talented Youth. Top-scoring students may also apply directly to the center.
It isn't enough to ace a grade-level exam, however. Applicants must also take the college aptitude SAT I, which can better gauge the abilities of students who hit the ceiling on regular tests. To qualify, students must post scores roughly equal to those of college-bound high school seniors, Beckman said.
The program lets gifted youngsters stretch their intellectual horizons, taking one high school or college-level course compressed into three weeks, in a small-group setting. The academics are balanced with extracurricular fun, from ultimate Frisbee and kung fu to jewelry making.
"Our program offers a chance for students to be with others of like intellect," said Connie Kenyon, site director for the Hawaii program. "Many times, they're at the top of the top in the schools they come from. They're not challenged."
"It is also balanced in that they are required to do activities every day outside the classroom," she added. "Some of these students may not have had an opportunity to be as social, because they're so driven intellectually."
For Nako, a slim boy with a shy grin, balance isn't a problem. He plays soccer, golf and the trumpet, serves on the math team and won his school's chess championship. Still, he wasn't sure how he'd measure up against the other kids in the CTY program. He came away enthused.
"The instructors are excited and try to cover a lot of things," said Nako, who took a writing workshop, although he considers math his strength. "You can learn at your own pace and meet other people from around the world."
Iolani School student Lori Arakaki, 14, also enjoyed the experience. With sunglasses perched in her hair and silver hoops dangling from her ears, she bubbled about the students she'd met and the course she chose, "Probability and Game Theory."
"I feel like I've known these people all my life," said Arakaki, who runs track, plays soccer and dances when she isn't pondering questions like, "What is the probability that two out of 14 people have the same birthday -- the day and the month?"
"The class is really small, and we have a lot of individual attention, especially if you don't understand a problem," she said. "I'm not having a hard time, even though it's really complicated work."
Altogether, 184 students, from Hong Kong to Brooklyn, N.Y., are taking part in the program at HPU this summer, including the 31 Hawaii students. Another 45 local kids are attending sister programs on the mainland.
A three-week session costs $2,500, including room and board. Some financial aid is available for needy candidates, Beckman said. The number of students at the Hawaii campus fell short of capacity in this inaugural year, partly because of concerns by mainland students over travel and the respiratory disease SARS, but the center is committed to continuing the program here, Beckman said.
Alumni of the program are eligible to return annually until they turn 17.
"I keep coming back," said Ryan O'Hern, 16, of Albany, N.Y., who is in his fifth and last summer with CTY and chose to come to Hawaii for a change of pace. "The teachers here are so much better than you get in high school. Our teachers are really hands on and lab-oriented. In school you do a lot of busy work."
