Gifted and Talented Programs in elementary schools started in the upheaval and experimentation of the 1970s, and were then known as G & T Clubs.  Teachers, weary of overseeing kids with scraggly hair, sunburns, lawn dart injuries, fractured skulls and jean-made pants would meet for gin and tonics in a special room (the teachers' lounge) after pulling the smart kids out of class and dropping them off at the library for independent reading. 

Then, during the 1980's a national commission cited G & T Clubs as an example of how the quality of American schools had eroded. A quick-thinking representative of the American Federation of Teachers stated that it was all a misunderstanding -- and that the G stood for Gifted and the T stood for Talented. "Shit happens," said the commission, as people were wont to say back then, and the matter was dropped. Legitimate Gifted and Talented Programs were then put into place.

But problems persist, especially with the name of the program, which as we now know, was hastily thrown together. Calling the kids gifted and talented is off-putting and harmful to the children who are more dumb. Also, the words Gifted and Talented are redundant, which is poor writing, and hence not at all representative of these kids who are supposed to be able to string a good sentence together.

Here are some thoughts on how schools could address this issue: 

1. Change the name to Gifted and Talented: Academics, and rename all the clubs and sports teams in the same way. For example, the softball team would become Gifted and Talented: Softball. This tactic has worked extremely well for the producers of NCIS. 

2. Drop the word Gifted, which makes one feel as though these anointed kids wake up and eat frankincense and myrrh for breakfast (for those of you who don't know about frankincense and myrrh, it's what the wise men brought for baby Jesus to eat in the manger).

3. Keep the word Talented but put it in perspective for school kids by calling the group Born Lucky and Talented (BLT). This aw-shucks approach is more palatable to outsiders and it gives a wink to the original program from the 70's, which was named after something that tastes real good.