Using data from teacher interviews, classroom observations, and a professional development workshop, this article explains how one component of the schoolwide enrichment model (SEM) has been implemented at a culturally diverse elementary school serving primarily Latina/o and African American students. Based on a broadened conception of giftedness, the SEM incorporates enrichment clusters, which are designed to expose students to a variety of topics that would not ordinarily be covered in the regular curriculum. The goal of enrichment clusters is for students to engage in active learning under the direction of the cluster facilitator, who encourages inductive and cooperative approaches to problem-solving and higher order thinking skills. At our investigation site, enrichment clusters are inclusive of all students, providing access to gifted methods and challenging curricula for Latina/o and African American students, who are typically underrepresented in gifted programming.

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Silencing appears in various avenues – classroom interactions amongst the teacher and student, hospital situations, gender/sexual identities, bullying, mental health struggles, and other forms, thus relegating individuals to the margins. This paper utilizes queer theory and critical race feminism to examine how dis(abilities) are positioned in relation to normative societal structures. Through the methodological approaches of autoethnography and narrative inquiry, we examine our stories of marginalization and silencing that have occurred in various facets of our lives. For the field of education, these stories can provide a means for other educators to invoke self-reflection on classroom practice as a way of disrupting dominant discourses that foster marginalization and silencing of students.