Tonight is the banquet for the EAGLES (Enrichment Aimed at Gifted Learners Embracing Success) program at school. The gifted coordinator, who is a very good friend of mine, asked me if Todd and I would like to speak at the banquet. She asked me this a few weeks ago and I said “sure” without any hesitation. Now that it is tonight I’m thinking to myself “What have I gotten myself into?”.

I asked her how long she wanted us to talk. She said around 5 minutes. I’m thinking 5 whole minutes? Todd thought – wow – how am I going to only talk for 5 minutes? LOL! You see he is great at standing up in front of people and talking. He loves it and is very good at it. I, on the other hand, would prefer to be in the audience. So tonight will be interesting. I’m hoping he talks for 4 minutes and 45 seconds so I can just utter a few words and be done.

I actually sat down yesterday and typed up what I wanted to say. I know what I want to say but saying it is another matter. I could kind of read it but that probably wouldn’t look too good. So – hopefully once I get up there I will remember everything I wanted to say and not have to look down at my notes too much. I am very proud of the EAGLES program at school. It has only been in place for 2 years but it is growing and is a great program. Last year we just had Reading and this year we added Math. The kids that qualify for the program are taken out of the classroom for 45 minutes twice a week. I have helped with it since the beginning and have enjoyed spending time with the kids. I have worked with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders.

One of the things I wanted to mention tonight is the fact that it is so interesting to see how the kids process things. I have found that even in Math they come up with different ways to solve a problem. I always thought Math was pretty concrete in that there are rules and methods for solving problems. Well I have learned otherwise. Sometimes the way they come up with answers is so far out there but it works. It just amazes me how their minds work. Even though they are all gifted they are still very different from one another when it comes to personalities and the way they learn.

Evan goes to a fairly small Christian school so starting a program like this was a big deal for the school. The superintendent was so supportive of this program and the teachers have been great too. The gifted coordinator is a volunteer who has a son in Evan’s class. She has spent a great deal of time talking to other gifted coordinators from several schools that have an enrichment program in place. She has done a great job getting this program going and is really the one person that got it all started.

Anyway – tonight I hope to do my best with something I’m not gifted in. Todd, however, we expect great things from you. LOL!