Stephanie Kinnison sits at her desk up in the tower next to the physics classrooms. She is the newest member of the faculty as well as the gifted specialist at Clayton High School.

She is a person with an easy-going personality who enjoys painting, reading, and taking on challenges and new projects. Before to coming to CHS, she worked with gifted students and taught art at Immaculate Conception School. She also taught American history and art at John F. Kennedy High School in Chesterfield.

She has many goals that she has set for herself this school year.

“I want to work with both students and teachers to ensure the gifted students are reaching their highest potential both academically and socially,” Kinnison said. “I want to provide opportunities for the students to stretch beyond their comfort zones in order to find a philosophical link between the academic world and real world issues.”

As a majority of gifted students at CHS take higher level courses such as honors classes or AP classes, Kinnison commented that she thinks that for some gifted students, those higher level courses may not be enough.

“I definitely think the honors and AP classes are challenging, especially at Clayton, but they are not always enough for the high level gifted students,” she said. “There are some students who still may find themselves unable to relate to the academic abilities of the other students in a class because they think in a different manner.”

.

Because of this, she hopes she can help these students.

“I would like to find ways to challenge gifted students through the work they are already doing in their classes,” Kinnison said. “I am not looking to challenge the rigor of their studies. I know many are already maxed out, but to challenge the way they connect the importance of what they are learning to the world around them.”

As for connecting with Wydown students, she would like to work with the gifted teachers at Wydown so that students from the middle school already know who she is and are comfortable working with her when they transition to the high school.

As she currently doesn’t exactly know what kind of help gifted students are looking for, she hopes that both students and teachers alike will ask for her assistance.

“I want the students to know that they can come see me if they need anything,” she said. “I also want the teachers to know that I am here to work with them to help with the needs of the gifted students in their classes.”

As for her hopes on her impact at CHS, Kinnison said, “I hope that my impact will be one of comfort and encouragement to both students and teachers.”