Kim Carroll Boham
Examiner - Omaha, NE
Kim Carroll Boham earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education in 1991 and taught for 7 years in Omaha, NE as a 4 th and 5 th grade classroom teacher. During this time she discovered her passion for teaching gifted children and completed her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an endorsement in Gifted Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1999). Since 2006, Kim has been a public school Gifted Coordinator in the Omaha Metro area and has helped design gifted programming, including professional development and curriculum in two districts. She was also involved in her districts’ revisions of their gifted program identification processes, and this involvement became the catalyst for her interest in all areas of gifted identification, particularly IQ testing.
Kim works directly with gifted children daily and supports their classroom teachers in meeting their needs through best practices in gifted education. Since 2010, Kim travels regularly to Colorado from Omaha to work as an examiner at Gifted Development Center and to enhance her experience and knowledge in the area of assessment and identification of gifted children. She continues to expand her depth of knowledge in the field by working toward an advanced Gifted Specialist endorsement at the University of Northern Colorado.
Kim’s multifaceted role as GDC tester, school educator and parent allows her to apply her expertise in an especially relevant way that makes her clients and their families feel supported and understood. In her spare time, Kim enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, and enjoying the performing arts. She also teaches piano lessons and plays the piano professionally. Kim is the mother of four adult children, all of whom are gifted or twice exceptional. As a mother and grandmother of two young grandsons and a granddaughter, Kim understands the importance and necessity of identification and advocacy for gifted children.
GDC Acceleration Consultant
My Journey
Next month marks the 13th anniversary of my very serendipitous first meeting with Dr. Linda Silverman. I’ve worked with Linda as a tester for GDC since 2010. This past fall marked the beginning of my 21st year as a proud public school educator, with 16 years as an elementary gifted coordinator in two elementary schools in suburban Omaha. As an educator, I have extensive experience with the development of integrated curricula, program design, and identification and acceleration procedures.
Although I have had the pleasure of accelerating several students in my career, my first experience was with my eldest daughter. In 1994, I was a 3rd-year teacher in the midst of my gifted education masters program. The more I learned in my graduate courses, the more I realized that my extremely social, independent-minded, and intellectually and verbally precocious 4-year-old either needed to go to first grade or she was going to make that sweet kindergarten teacher’s life miserable for the next year! (I did not need that kind of colleague complication in my career!) Although the district did not have an official acceleration policy back then, we muddled through it and my daughter was tested and allowed to skip kindergarten and enter 1st grade at age 5.
There was never a day that I regretted this decision. And neither did she, although for a short time when she was a 15-year-old junior, and all her friends were driving, she was more than a little annoyed at my horrible decisions that ruined her entire life! She survived this unfathomable hardship, graduated with honors from high school and university, and is now a successful professional, a wife, and a mother of 3 littles. Her three younger siblings are also gifted, but because of different factors, acceleration was not a necessary intervention.
As a gifted coordinator, I have worked with hundreds of gifted students and advocated the acceleration of quite a few. Some skipped an entire grade, while others skipped a year in a particular subject, usually math. Our high-performing district’s acceleration process is very thorough to ensure that the placement is successful in the long term. I have yet to have a student or family tell me they wished they hadn’t skipped. From time to time, I receive letters, emails, and texts from their parents and from the students themselves. I think the sentiments speak for themselves.
“My acceleration through 3rd grade took me from being in a group of people that I didn’t mesh well with socially and put me into a group of people that I was more suited to. This definitely helped to counter any social fallbacks that happened due to being in a social group in which I didn’t or couldn’t socialize. Beyond elementary school, the acceleration allowed me to take classes that were consistently challenging in some way, and therefore interesting. It provided me the opportunity to engage in every class that I have taken and eliminated the chance of me failing classes out of sheer
boredom. Being accelerated also kept me in an age group that was older than me. Due to the age of the social group that I was in, I learned quite a few life lessons and acclimated to a wiser environment, as small as the difference in wisdom between a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old may be. Although I am 16 now, I am already going into college due to the acceleration and have a peer group of 18-21-year-olds who have varied wisdom that they share. By virtue of being around them, I have become a lot more mature and well-rounded in my interests and hobbies than other 16-year-olds.”
Dylan, currently 16, skipped 2nd grade, letter to District Administration
“‘I think I’m ready,’ I said with a nod. Today was a big day for me. It was the start of fourth grade, but it was more than that. It was the start of who I am today. It changed my life. Socially, personally, and curricularly, those first steps into the building were my first steps to becoming me…
…Questions like ‘Is he socially capable to make this different type of new start?’ or ‘Is he physically able to perform with athletes a year older than him?’ were everywhere, with everyone asking them. ‘Can he do it?’ ‘Is this going to work in 5 years' time?’ All of the questions people had about me were answered with a single word. ‘Yes.’...
…All things considered, it turned out very well. I found the rhythm of my life in the classes and the melodies from the music and people. I was happy and thriving, and I was doing just fine. I found confidence. I found happiness. I found me.”
Max, currently 14, skipped 3rd grade, excerpt from a personal narrative English assignment
I am so thankful that I was able to go through the acceleration process. It is exciting to actually dive deeper into what I am good at and what I enjoy. Before the acceleration, I was frustrated because school was too easy and boring. Acceleration helped me learn more and become more engaged in school. I am excited to see where this acceleration will take me throughout the rest of my schooling, along with the rest of my life. I am grateful to my GT teacher for advocating for me.
Gavyn, currently 13, skipped 4th-grade math