Students work on pendulum calculations in a Baylor TIP engineering class.
For the first time this summer, Baylor University hosted residential camps for high-ability gifted students in grades 8-12 on the Baylor campus. As part of the School of Education’s Baylor TIP (Talent Identification Program), 103 students stayed in a Baylor residence hall and took courses during one or more of three one-week sessions offered in June, with a total of 130 course enrollments. Commuter students could also enroll in courses, and staying on campus was not required. Students came from all across Texas and several other states.
Baylor TIP students do warm-up exercises in theater class.
Baylor TIP, a program of the Baylor Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, identifies exceptional talent in pre-collegiate students and provides world-class learning opportunities commensurate with the exceptional potential of the students. Students in the 8-12th-grade programs have been admitted to Baylor TIP through above-level testing administered to 7th grade students by Baylor TIP.
“As the only Christian university that hosts a Talent Identification Program for adolescent students, Baylor TIP challenges students to fully develop the academic gifts that God has given them and to use those gifts for the greater good,” said Dr. Cheryl Taliaferro, director of pre-collegiate programs for Baylor TIP.
Taliaferro emphasized the importance of being on a college campus to help students prepare for their freshman year of college and said the program focused on creating a truly immersive Baylor experience, with challenging courses, roommates, and cafeteria dining.
“College freshmen have to juggle a lot of demands at once — a new environment, getting along with a roommate, doing their own laundry, making friends — all while taking classes that are often significantly more challenging than any classes they have taken in the past,” she said. “Students in our residential program get to practice all of those skills in a safe and supportive environment over shorter periods of time.”
Taliaferro noted, “More than forty years of research on adolescents who participate in residential talent development programs clearly demonstrates that these students have stronger academic outcomes than similar peers who do not participate in this type of programming.”
Students in the creative writing class listen to the instructor as they explore different types of literature.
Baylor has offered enrichment courses for gifted students since 1983, when the School of Education’s University for Young People first began hosting students on campus in a variety of academic subjects. In 1999, these courses came under the umbrella of a center, now called Baylor Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, and the center began offering a scholarship program that same year. This summer is the first opportunity for students to live on the Baylor campus while taking enrichment courses and includes students in the scholarship program.
During a weeklong camp experience, students explore one topic in depth, attending interactive classes from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., with a bonus evening study session. They also have time for recreation, interaction with new friends and camp staff, and meals in Baylor student dining facilities. All courses are taught by subject matter experts, some of whom possess doctoral degrees in their area of expertise.
“We have filled all of our staff positions through competitive searches, and they came from highly ranked universities all over Texas (including Baylor) and from as far away as Boston and South Carolina,” Taliaferro said. “We hire content experts to teach our grades 8-12 students because, by this point in their education, our students are hungry for more advanced content knowledge. All of our instructors must have completed some graduate-level coursework in the field they are teaching or have equivalent professional experience. For example, our three engineering instructors included one with a PhD in electrical engineering, one who is working on her PhD at Rice, and a third with a master’s degree and engineering experience in both military and corporate settings.”
Ninth-grader Miller Epperson enjoyed an evening session combining the writing and theater classes.
Baylor TIP also benefitted from the expertise of Baylor alumni, faculty, and staff. “Dr. Chris Becker led our engineering classes on a tour of the BSB’s research labs, and several researchers stopped their work to talk to our students about their current projects,” Taliaferro said. “Baylor athletic trainer Joe Smith gave our sports medicine class a tour of the football training facilities, explaining what all of the hard work looks like behind the scenes at Baylor, and Baylor alum Ben Christie spent time with our marketing class sharing how he has been able to fund his nonprofit, Urban Rescue Ranch, through the support of millions of his YouTube and TikTok fans.”
Course topics included:
- Anatomy
- Astronautical Engineering
- College Admissions Boot Camp
- Creative Writing
- Engineering (extra session opened due to high demand)
- Human Research and Introductory Statistics
- Marketing
- Mock Trial
- Social Psychology
- Sports Medicine
- Theater Arts
Baylor TIP’s first residential camp got good reviews from the students. Ninth-grader Miller Epperson from Belton took creative writing the first week and said she enjoyed the different writing exercises they explored and getting to make new friends.
“It’s different from school because, in my English classes, we dabble in a bunch of different things, and here we can really zone in on a topic,” she said. “What I love about Baylor TIP is there are so many options. There are a lot of opportunities, and you can explore different things, or you can stick to one thing.”
Baylor TIP will also offer a non-residential day camp for students in intermediate grades (4-7), running the week of July 8.
Information on the Baylor TIP admissions process and programming is on the Baylor TIP web page. https://gifted.soe.baylor.edu/baylor-tip
For more news from Baylor School of Education, visit the Instant Impact home page.
For media inquiries, please contact Meg_Cullar@baylor.edu / (254) 710-6435.
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