As Thanksgiving approaches, it only seems proper that I take a moment to let you know a few of the things I’m thankful for this year. My list could never be all inclusive, so I should probably start by telling you I’m thankful for those who will understand if they aren’t mentioned specifically, because they know that I wouldn’t be here without them.
I’m thankful for the QUEST and PAGE programs, and for the teachers and administrators who worked so hard to not only save the program in the face of last year’s tremendous budget challenges, but who found a way to expand the program so that more students are being served this year than ever before. I’m thankful those same people are watching out for our program this year as those financial challenges remain. I’m thankful for the teachers who accepted the challenge of educating our gifted students, and who not only encourage our students to go beyond what is expected of them, but who live that lesson themselves. I’m thankful those teachers have invited me into their classrooms, and have partnered with my family to develop the best educational plan for my children.
I’m thankful for the ABC Board and our volunteers, whose hard work makes all the things that ABC does possible. I’m thankful for other gifted advocates across the state and across the country who have offered their experience and leadership freely and without condition. Many of these advocates have been actively working for the cause of highly capable education since I was the age my sons are now. Their persistence is one of the reasons that programs like QUEST and PAGE exist at all. I’m thankful for the legislators who last session agreed with those advocates at long last and passed a bill that included highly capable in the definition of basic education.
I’m thankful for my two QUEST students, and for their younger brother who sees his big brothers go off to school in the morning and thinks that he’s ready to go to the brothers’ school now, too. I’m thankful for all the questions they ask, sometimes one after another, as they work through ideas or concepts that are new to them. I’m thankful for all the times they emptied their bookshelves, asking me to read just one more story. I’m even thankful for those times when they stopped me to remind me that I’d skipped a page, or to tell me that wasn’t how the story goes. I’m thankful for the look of pride on their faces when they exceed their own expectations and complete a task they didn’t know they were capable of completing. I’m thankful for your QUEST students, and for the relationships they’ve built with my sons.
I’m thankful for my wife, who understands when I tell her that I have a stack of work to do for ABC, or a list of legislators to contact, or that I have to go to State Capitol the next day to talk to anyone who will listen about the cause of gifted education. I’m thankful for the encouragement she provides me, and for allowing me the freedom to be an active part of this community.
I’m thankful to be able to be an advocate for your children, and for the immeasurable rewards I receive when I see that the work that I’ve been some small part of has touched their lives and given them opportunities that they might otherwise not have had.
The Washington Coalition for Gifted Education will be encouraging highly capable students from all across the state to write about the impact that gifted programs have had on their lives. Take a few minutes to let our policy makers know that you value their support of our students. Encourage your highly capable student to write about what they are thankful for, and share their message with your legislators in Olympia, and with the members of the school board here in Puyallup. Our representatives hear from adults all the time. A hand written message from a student has a powerful effect.
