Will it ever be possible for us to think of gifted students as “cool”? Is it possible for us to celebrate the fact that intellectual talent is a good and vital attribute? Can we teach our young people to be tolerant of others - even the “nerds”? We are going to have to if we want to survive as a nation.

We live in an increasingly competitive world. Other countries will continue to challenge the United States as their populations become better educated, more creative and increasingly entrepreneurial. Students around the world are being more challenged in and out of the classroom. The brightest of these young people are advancing in all content areas as they master concepts. The admissions standards of many foreign institutions of higher education now exceed those of MIT, Harvard, and other top American colleges and universities.

The 2007 National Center on Education and the Economy report, Tough Choices or Tough Times, indicated that 30 years ago the United States serviced 30% of the world’s population of college students. Today that percentage has dropped to 14%. This would be exciting if it were a reflection of our international counterparts increasingly educating more children. However, the tale becomes much darker when we realize they are educating more children better. Our students, even some of our most able, are performing anywhere from the middle to the bottom in math, science and general literacy compared to other advancing nations.

The US population is comparatively small, and it cannot afford to underutilize any of its citizens, whether their talents are in the arts, sciences, social sciences or humanities. Is it really a tough choice to continually challenge our children to strive for the best? To learn all they can from the most talented teachers, not just coaches?

Schools should meet the needs of all students. Bright kids should not be embarrassed by their talents. All children deserve to be seen for who they are regardless of their intellectual talent or economic status. We bore our bright kids right out of school - those with financial means may find other intellectual stimulation. Others ...

We see the possibilities.

A young man, from an impoverished background, emailed me after he had completed his first week at an Ivy League School. “In a nation that really doesn’t seem to care about gifted kids, it is amazing how lEA gets things done. The older I get the more I realize just how important your interventions were to my success. I don’t even really remember how you found me. I know I was young... I just remember feeling that for the first time someone got me.... My school, family or friends could not have provided me with the opportunities to learn, grow and continue to challenge myself. I loved working fast, knowing that I could, and something else more invigorating would be next. lEA is simply a blast!”

Fun is not our goal it just happens when our students come together. It is remarkable when you open up a child’s mind to possibilities, passion, exploration and real accomplishment - smiles just appear.

Is it a tough choice to raise a generation of bright happy kids? Not for us. It is a blast!