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You don't have to be the smartest kid in the school to be part of Polk Avenue Elementary School's "Genius Club."

Of course, there are plenty of smart youngsters already there – as PAE's improvement to a "B" grade for the 2018-19 school year showed. And they all get a chance to be part of Polk's "genius club" program which completed its first full-year last year, and will be very much part of the 2019-20 school year plan as well.

The idea was actually born near the end of the school calendar two years ago, explained Gail Quam, principal at the Lake Wales Charter school that uses leadership...