I guess that the reason I tend to disagree with the photo in the yearbook is b/c it is either celebrating something over which one has no control (innate differences in brain wiring) or it is an indication that the GT program isn't about such a difference at all. For instance, to be in a photo of the varsity baseball team indicates both that you have some innate talent and that you worked hard to develop it (i.e. talent). To be in GT, IMHO, should not be contingent on hard work to develop your intelligence much the way being in a class for kids with autism isn't likely contingent upon hard work to develop that difference in brain wiring. It is, or at least should be, a program set up solely for kids with different needs not just kids who are achieving or showing it through hard work.
I rankle because I've seen too many GT programs with too large of a focus on the "T" part of it. It isn't that I don't value hard work. I argue with my lazier child all the time about that very subject. It is just that GT programs will continue not to meet the learning needs of gifted kids as long as they are about pride over high achieving kids who very well may not be gifted.
