For many years, I've thought about the many miracles and acts of kindness that needed to happen throughout my life for me to be able to navigate from a childhood in poverty to the successful life I have today, where I'm able to give back. Most of those miracles have names: Mrs. Fischer, the first teacher who took any special interest in me and made me believe in myself; "grandpa", the neighbor across the street who tought me to play chess and kept me out of harm's way; Food Stamps; the National School Lunch Program; the National Science Foundation; and other government handouts.
I was on the fringe. Growing up in Independence, MO (yes, hometown of Harry Truman), I wasn't blessed with any physical skills or social charms. If anything, I had to overcompensate with one thing that today's public schools are poorly equipped to support: unusual intelligence. Independence had one program that was able to offer hundreds of children throughout the community with an outlet for their off-the-bell-curve traits: IMPACT (Independence, Missouri Program for Academically and Creatively Talented).
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