First person stories are almost always more powerful than reported stories. People in Gifted Education have to bite their tongues every time we hear normally well-meaning folks say "gifted kids don't need any help because they are already smart". What we don't seem to be able to get across to them is that the problem is a gifted child's intellectual abilities are way ahead of their social and emotional abilities and age.
This imbalance can cause serious problems with many gifted children. That is why there are special needs required. This is why gifted and talent programs are needed in public and private schools. The greater the imbalance of intellectual, emotional and social abilities of a student, the greater are their needs.
Until the politicians and school administrator and especially the general public understands that we are dealing with an affliction if left untreated in some cases can lead to death, we are going to still be banging this same drum fifty years from now. Giftedness is not some serendipitous happenstance.
This is the first person story of a high school senior at The Rainard School for Gifted Students in Houston, Texas given a few weeks ago at a gala fundraiser.
Gala Speech
Good evening everyone. My name is Ellen Vaughan, and I am proud to say that I am a senior at Rainard High School. I've been going to Rainard since sophomore year, which was the year everything changed for the better for me.
Some of you may know me as a bubbly and outgoing person, but there was a time when I had lost that ability, the ability to be me.
I have always been a little different. Things that others found easy, were not necessarily easy to me. Things that have come easily to me, have not come easily to others. The thing is, at times, I felt I didn't fit in. I felt different, and that made me feel bad.
I have lived in the United States, Norway, and Qatar. My story didn't begin in Qatar, but that is where my life began to go downhill. In eighth grade, while I lived there, I began to suffer a
serious depression.
My depression consumed me. It determined everything I did. My life seemed so insignificant and I felt I had no value to people other than my parents and little brother. I was regularly sick and spent a lot of time in bed, all day. I had such a hard time getting myself to go to school that I missed 40 days of eighth grade. Despite that, I managed to pass, and my parents got us back to the States where I could receive the kind of support I needed.
Once in Houston I began to feel better. In 9th grade I attended Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, an excellent all-girls Catholic school. I did fine the first month. But then it got harder, and I stressed about the academics. I played field hockey and went to all my classes, but I felt I didn't belong. The depression came back, and I was again feeling worthless. I missed another 30 days of school. In three semesters I missed 70 days of school. Those were days I spent in bed, debilitated by my depression.
I wanted to get better, and in time I chose to seek more help at a specialized boarding school in Utah. The controlled structure and daily group and individual therapy forced me to view the world differently and eventually reshaped me. I made a serious effort, worked very hard, and graduated the program about nine months later, December 18, 2009. Then I moved back to Houston.
I was afraid to re-enter normal society. But my parents read about Rainard in the Houston
Chronicle. They thought it might suit me. On January 4, 2010, I went on a visit at Rainard to see what it was like. I stayed for the whole day shadowing a student in the same grade I was in. I fell in love with Rainard on the spot.
Everyone at the school made me feel very welcome. I was not judged for my past. In fact, I was accepted, valued, and I enrolled at Rainard the very next day.
Rainard is not a school for troubled kids; it is a school where any student eager to learn will feel at home. Because of the individualized attention and structure of the school, students at Rainard can learn more than they could ever imagine. I was immediately at home at Rainard. It felt like a place where I belonged, like a family.
For the first time in a very long time, I was comfortable at school. That secure feeling made it easier for me to feel confident in myself, and it brought back my love for learning. Today I am happy, enjoying my classes, and getting very good grades. I am really proud to be a senior at Rainard High School.
Here's what else I can tell you about Rainard: It's a place where students can feel comfortable being different. There's flexibility in the structure so that students can learn at their own pace. I don't think students ever feel bad if they are way ahead in some subjects. I also doubt they feel bad if they are behind in some.
Rainard is a place where you can be yourself, even if that self is considered a nerd in other schools. In fact, I suspect at Rainard being a nerd is considered kind of cool. I know I never felt stupid enjoining Dungeons and Dragons or trying out my French accent in front of anyone. I feel good about the work I do in physics, language arts, and math. I've been to a number of schools, but I haven't been to one where all the classes, even PE, are as fun.
Since I've been in the high school, we beat out university students, professional engineers, and architects, and brought home first prize in the Rice Design Alliance's If It Floats competition.
Very recently, we won the top prize for our trebuchet at the Renaissance Festival.
We've got a big trophy from the University of Houston's math competition. One of us is an internationally- ranked fencer. Another is a nationally-ranked tennis player. One of us loves trains and has worked on an historic rail line a few years in a row. One of us loves mycology. Another has a passion for weird animals. Some of us haven't found our passion yet.
The thing is, in one way or another, the dozen of us who comprise the Rainard High School
are pretty exceptional. We march to our own drummers, but we do it well. We are comfortable with who we are, and we excel where we are.
We might not all fit in so perfectly at more conventional schools, but we thrive at Rainard. It's a family for us. One that we look forward to being with, and that makes us rise to our potentials. I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't found my school. I am just so grateful that I found Rainard!
Thank you!
View a 30 second TV commercial that is based on this speech and will begin running today, Monday, February 27 on Fox26 in Houston by clicking on the picture to the left of the speech. Then click the arrow on the Youtube video.
The Rainard School for Gifted Students is a K-12 school located on a four acre campus on the west side of Houston, Texas at 11059 Timberline. It is one block north of the Katy Freeway between Wilcrest and Kirkwood. For more information, or to visit the school, call Dr. Todd Deveau, Head of School, at 713-647-7246 or click on http://www.rainard.org
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Dick Kantenberger
National Gifted Education Writer at Examiner.com
Board of Directors and Head of Business Development at Rainard School for Gifted Students
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