45 area seventh-graders reach top of talent program

Jesse Eichhorn scored an overall 26 out of a possible 36 on the ACT college admission exam he took earlier this year.

It's a score most college-bound high school seniors would be ecstatic over, but Eichhorn is only 13 years old, a student at Jackson Middle School.

He's one of more than 3,300 Missouri seventh-graders who participated in Duke University's Talent Identification Program this year -- a nonprofit educational organization that identifies academically talented students and provides innovative programs to support their development.

Missouri students who scored 510 or higher on the SAT or 21 or higher in any one of the four subjects tested in the ACT were invited to a recognition ceremony in May at Drury University in Springfield, Mo.

Forty-five of Southeast Missouri's brightest 12- and 13-year-olds qualified for the state recognition ceremony. Seven of those students also qualified for national recognition at the university's grand ceremony, which recognizes scores higher than 650 on the SAT and higher than 28 in math or English, 30 in reading or 27 in science reasoning on the ACT.

Only 1,295 of the 80,919 seventh-graders in the United States who participated in TIP this year achieved scores high enough to qualify for the grand ceremony.

While his overall score was 26, Eichhorn's score of 28 in math and 29 in science qualified him for the elite national recognition.

"We were just excited that he was eligible to take the test, much less that he did that well," said his mother, Reva Eichhorn of Altenburg, Mo. "Jesse has a drive to find out why. He's never been afraid to look for an answer."

Duke University, in Durham, N.C., founded TIP in 1980 through a grant from the Duke Endowment. The first talent search attracted 8,700 participants, a number that has increased to more than 89,000 this year.

"The gifted youngster is arguably America's most precious natural resource," said Dr. Steven Pfeiffer, TIP's executive director. "All too often, gifted students go unrecognized or overlooked by their teachers."

Students receive a certificate for qualifying for state or national recognition. They also have the opportunity to attend TIP's summer studies program, which Duke University first implemented in 1981 for verbally and mathematically talented youths.

Diana Harper, one of seven Central Junior High School students who qualified for state recognition, plans to attend the summer studies program. With a score of 33 in reading,Harper was also eligible for recognition at the grand ceremony.

"Kids our age think it's not cool to be smart," Harper said. "A lot of them actually think they're going to drop out of school at 16 and play professional basketball. We're different; this test has been a reality check."

'Satisfaction of knowing'

Most students said they took the test because they wanted to know what to expect in high school.

"It was difficult, because we haven't learned most of that stuff," said Ashley Todaro, a seventh-grader at Central Junior High who qualified for state recognition.

"As far as prizes go, I guess I didn't get much. Just a certificate," Todaro said. "But there's the satisfaction of knowing I could get into college now if I wanted to and my parents being proud of me."

To participate in TIP, students have to score in the 95th percentile on the annual Missouri Assessment Program tests. Most of the students who qualify, like Jesse Eichhorn, are at the top of their class and are often enrolled in the school gifted program.

A math whiz, Eichhorn completed both the sixth- and seventh-grade math books in an independent study class in sixth grade. This past year, he was placed in an eighth-grade algebra class at R.O. Hawkins Junior High School. Even though he was a year younger than the other students, he still scored at the top of the class.

"Sometimes I have to try several times before I get a math problem," Eichhorn said. "But that's what makes the difference, you have to keep trying."

cclark@semissourian.com

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