On April 20, Howard County Public School System’s G/T Education Program and High School G/T Resource Teachers sponsored the 23rd Annual Student Learning Conference (SLC) at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

The event began with keynote speaker, Terry Eberhardt, the Instructional Facilitator for Music with the Howard County Public School System. Students then attended four 25-minute sessions to hear about the research Howard County high schoolers did on various topics. Following lunch, a fine arts performance showcased many talents of several individuals. Among those from Centennial were Amanda Krew, Stephanie Crispell and Lekha Tantry. 

Junior Hali Kim, a member of the Student Executive Committee, helped in decorating the event. In addition, she also was a MC for the fine arts performance along with Centennial junior Barry Plunkett. Kim has been a part of the GT Intern/Mentor Program for two years and will be interning at the Howard County General Hospital during her senior year. Kim says that the program can be one of the best experiences of high school. “The GT program allows students to pursue or discover what they are truly passionate about.”

Michelle Bagley, the Gifted and Talented Resource Teacher at Centennial, has been a part of the SLC for the past 18 years. Bagley is in charge of the performing arts session and has to help organize the student presenters. Though hectic, she reflects positively upon it. Bagley said, “I enjoy the student comments on their experiences that day.”

Kim says that she is proud that the event was run smoothly, “I did enjoy my day at the conference- mainly because I was proud to see the results of the hours of effort that the SEC and I put in to plan the conference.”