Page 100 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
immune functions, which usually has a lack thereof. While I was doing that, I began to realize that the roles I had enjoyed the most during all these differ- ent positions were in teaching. I investigated some opportunities, and shortly after that, I began a teaching role at a school for academically gifted children. Meanwhile, I worked on a Master’s degree in Education of gifted children.
I worked in the first grade and then the third grade. Eventually, I became a lan- guage arts teacher for the upper grades, fourth through eighth. I did this for a few years and bravely decided I would have a child. I gave birth to her pre- maturely, and I had to stop teaching and take care of her. Eventually, I ended up teaching for eighteen years at that particular school and becoming its as- sistant director.
One of the things I learned from the students and all the children I’ve been exposed to is that every child is gifted. I truly believe this in my heart. Not all children are academically talented, but there are many ways that a child can be gifted. They all have the potential to express whatever their gifts are. I grew to believe that if we could only do enrichment-type things with all children, we would see outcomes that are far greater than what we’re seeing with cur- rent educational trends.
Unfortunately, this is not the case because enrichment is only offered to some. I believe in enrichment programs. I was an academically gifted child and grew up in a small rural town with no programs in that category. I would have bene- fited from enrichment classes. I did okay without them, but it took me until I was in college to learn how to learn and perform academically. Before that, unfortunately, I just coasted, which is easy to do. Coasting is not the way to go. People need challenges for their gifts to be truly expressed.
One of the things I learned from my work in education is that children need to have a role in choosing what they’re learning. My master’s thesis was that school programs can be designed so that children can decide what they want to focus on, at least in some significant part of their daily lives. When they have this choice, their gifts shine, and they learn how to be what I call “creative producers”. They know how to take their particular interests and channel
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