In Hall County, Georgia, the gifted program inspires innovations in teaching all students.
Over a decade ago, director of innovative and advanced programs for Hall County Schools Dr. Sally Krisel was then the director of gifted education for the Georgia Department of Education. She agreed to meet Hall County superintendent Will Schofield for lunch. He offered her a job, bringing her experience in gifted education to benefit all students and challenge them to achieve greater things.
“He said, ‘Sally, I’ve just become convinced that we will never have the schools that we want for our children if we cannot get over our obsession with adequacy,’” she remembered.
“He was channeling something I had come to believe so very strongly and that is that there is an awful lot that we do in the name of gifted education that, with appropriate modifications, really are right for a lot of children,” she said. “Most school systems do only a traditional approach to gifted education. We have said we can do better than that, and maybe it is the key to improving school experiences and improving schools for all children.”
During the pas 22 years, Hall County has focused on the addition of programs and schools which fulfilled the goals of creating what Krisel calls “learning environments where creativity, curiosity, critical thinking and self-awareness flourished.”
Recent Comments