EXPAND Night showcases gifted and talented
Monroe. Projects done by district elementary school students were on display.
| 24 Jun 2025 | 06:53
Hard work, creative thinking and critical problem-solving skills were on display during Monroe-Woodbury’s EXPAND Night celebration held at the high school on June 12.
The event showcased the works of “gifted and talented” students in the district’s EXPAND (Exceptional Pupils Adding New Dimensions) program, which encompasses grades 3 through 8.
“The EXPAND Night Celebration is one of my favorite nights of the year,” said North Main Elementary School Gifted and Talented/STEAM teacher Katie Oppelt. “It is a chance for all the students in Monroe Woodbury’s Gifted and Talented program to showcase items from this year’s portfolio and see similar student projects in the other elementary buildings as well as projects to look forward to in middle school.”
North Main Elementary’s Hadley Haseman’s project featured her favorite American president.
“My project is about Dwight D. Eisenhower because he is my favorite president,” said the fifth grader. “He was a great president, a war hero and not many people didn’t like him. I learned that he made NASA and started the interstate highway system.”
One part of Pine Tree Elementary’s Ameer Abou El Ardat’s project consisted of a toy car.
“This car is called a zoom car,” the third grader said. “It has a headlight – consisting of an LED light, circle battery and some electric tape – and a figurine to make more action. It is durable, can drift and goes faster than most toy cars.”
North Main Elementary fourth grader Liyanna Naik was happy to talk about her work, which included a marble maze and sock shoe, and also an added feature.
“For my projects, I created QR codes using Canva,” she said. “It was easy....They have a QR code section on their website and you tap on it, add the link and it will generate your code. Our computer teacher had to make a few tweaks, but they are ready for you to scan!”
Support from the school community only made things better.
“The booster organization, PAGE (Parents Advocating for Gifted Education) was there to rally memberships which provide additional enrichments for program participants,” Oppelt said. “Additionally, they invited EXPAND student Ava Sethna to run her plant sales business for the fourth year in a row with proceeds benefiting the PAGE program. Odyssey of the Mind raised money selling pizza, with pizza sales supporting teams moving on to the World Finals.”
To learn more about EXPAND, log onto bit.ly/4crB259.