Instead of spending mindless hours playing video games and watching pointless videos on You-Tube, I decided to challenge myself to achieve something more meaningful. After winning the silver award in Cognetics- a program offered by the National Talent Network that sparks creativity and learning- I felt as though I needed to push myself even farther and go for the individual Gold Satori award.
To succeed in achieving this award, I must be willing to extend my intellect which involves thinking creatively, problem solving, and communicating well with large groups. These requirements do not seem overwhelming to achieve considering that my two prior years and this current one as a Cognetics participant caused me to expand my thinking.
In my school, Community Middle School in the West-Windsor Plainsboro district- Cognetics is a program offered through PRISM, our voluntary gifted and talented program. Cognition basically means to learn, and in Cognetics, I learn how to apply myself. It’s an extracurricular program that uses different problems to build teamwork, research skills, and problem solving skills. In addition to building these skills, the participant becomes an innovator and elaborator.
In Cognetics, the participants are presented with six different problems. Groups of four to six students work collaboratively to solve one problem of their choice. The solution to the chosen problem is presented creatively, not by essays or research papers, but through visual presentations such as short skits or documentaries. The final judgment of the group’s solution is in May, at the Cognetics Exposition.
Last year the problem my group solved was “Tried and Trued.” The problem was to turn a fairy tale into a court case with a final verdict. In order to do so, we first selected a fairy tale that had some relevance to a crime. We chose The Ugly Duckling and proceeded to do background research on the different types of crimes that a person can be charged for. With our main idea in mind, we began to use the story and Mama’s charges of child negligence and endangerment to create the script for the court trial that had to be presented through a skit.
Elaboration is key to winning bronze or silver- when presenting the solution, the audience must be able to understand it and connect to it. Therefore, the groups have to incorporate the five senses into the skit, include a way to get the audience thinking about the solution, and give the skit a personal feel; such as how my group made the audience feel Mama’s pleas of innocence. There are other requirements for the solution, along with creating a script or presentation. For example, in “Tried and True” my group had to write a newspaper article that provided information on the upcoming trial. All groups design an ‘ice-breaker’ poster, which is needed when the group presents the basics of their solution to the other groups at the exposition. Finally, all groups have to write a validation speech, which is read at the end of all the presentations. This validation speech describes the process and challenges the group went through to come to a final solution.
Speaking of challenges, Cognetics is indeed a challenge. It was somewhat difficult to go from a fairy tale into a court case and it required the brainpower of myself and five other peers. Meeting for Cognetics in school posed a problem as well because there was no designated period for it- that meant meeting during lunch and after school. Together, my team and I had a spirited exchange of ideas, but through it all we compromised and overcame our differences which led to achieving the silver award at the Cognetics Exposition.
Looking back on the success of last year’s problem, I would say I discovered that I am much more capable of achieving things if I apply myself. Cognetics forced me to think outside of the box and create solutions of my own. I learned to work well with a team, create an informative skit, and most importantly, learned how to elaborate. Through Cognetics, I have become more interested in learning and applying what I have learned to my daily life.
Therefore, to students out there who feel a need to be challenged and want to spark their imagination in a more useful way than daydreaming, ask someone in your school about starting a Cognetics program. Even though it requires commitment, a desire to challenge oneself, thinking outside the box, and fostering teamwork skills, it is a program that will pay off in the end by providing you with new abilities as well as some terrific memories with your group along the way.
Shayla Reid
8th Grader
Community Middle School
