Chapter 15 Barbara Clark
“Integrity of word and action...
... the soul of inspiration.”
--Bruce Mau
Not more than a few days into my first year in the classroom there landed with a thump a question in my dreams... Why were so many brilliant kids being expelled from high school. They populated my biology and physiology classes but they were too smart to be in a school for at-risk-students.
I needed the data so I went to the records office and found triple the rate of giftedness compared to the national average. But 1. why were they failing so many classes, and 2. why so many expulsions?
First I showed the data to Lillian Hagan, my principal.
She sent me to the gifted coordinator at the district office, who sent me to the superintendent knowN for his interest in gifted children.
None of them knew that there were so many gifted kids at Foothill Continuation High School. None could answer those two questions.
I found that the university closest to my home had a Masters Degree program in Gifted Education. That's were I met Dr. Barbara Clark at the center of a constellation of educators expert with and teaching gifted children. Barry, Chris, Jerry, Saundra, John, Linda, ... with many others drawn to her universe. We designed and created a demonstration school. CEEGHAL: Center for Educational Excellence of Gifted and Highly Able Learnes. Over the years more experts shared in building a vast body of experience with and for gifted children.
I asked Barbara to be my mentor and together we engineered my Special Interest Masters Degree in Gifted Education where I organized high school students to explore the universe beyond the classroom, beyond the boundaries of school. That exploration evolved over time to become EXPEDITION INSTITUTE.
Along the way, I found the answers I was looking for: 1. Why were there so many brilliant children being pushed out of traditional schools? and 2. What was the genesis of the character they had most in common: a highly developed sense of justice.
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