Gifted and talented. Or not

Last week I got a letter from school inviting Abby to be a part of the gifted/talented program for 3rd grade literature. While I'm very proud of her, I am also quite realistic in the fact that she's lucky that she excels in something that is rewarded in school. Other kids may excel in something more technical, or sports, or any number of other areas, all of which are important but not necessarily rewarded or even recognized in a school setting.

But I do have to admit, for a minute I was a little big headed on her accomplishment, until I read this (quoted directly from her letter):

October, 2010 [which is funny from a gifted/talented program in literature, because the comma is not used correctly]

To the parents/guardians of Abigail Gawrych

Your child has shown potential in the area of reading and language arts through his/her test scores and classroom performance. Although s/he has not completely met the criteria for gifted and talented programming and is not currently identified as gifted/talented, s/he is invited to participate in the Grade 3 Literature Group.

Ok, so let me get this straight. She's not gifted? No? How about talented? Not that either? Ok then, thank you for letting us know. I mean, I would hate to go through life thinking she was either gifted OR talented. Now we shall proceed accordingly.