Category: Culture
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2e: Twice Exceptional Movie Review
2e: Twice Exceptional is a low-budget documentary with heart. There’s nothing fancy about this peek into the lives of twice-exceptional teens, their parents, and their teachers. But just the existence of this documentary is revolutionary enough. 2e? The average reader’s first question is obvious: 2e? What’s that? I wrote a long discourse on the topic…
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On choosing a career
When I was a child, I was really good at math, but I loved books and writing. I will never forget my disappointment when everyone at my elementary school took an assessment that was supposed to predict good career choices. The test said I was supposed to be a mathematician. My dad, I knew, thought…
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WWDFS: The college scandal hits close to home
My husband and I are both graduates of Stanford University, though the university we went to bears little resemblance to today’s Stanford. I was in one of the last classes admitted under “Dean Fred”—the amazing Fred Hargadon who knew that although test scores are nice, a truly great student body is made up of diverse,…
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What are your kids watching?
This one school year, I have had more students referencing violent memes, more students taking part in destructive and deceptive communities, more students writing about violent fantasies. Do you know what your child is watching?
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“I Am Jazz” Community Reading
This month Santa Cruz families will come together to read a book at the library. Yes, this happens all the time, but not with this book and this message. “I am Jazz” was published in 2014, co-written by 14-year-old Jazz Jennings, a transgender activist whose life had been profiled in a television documentary. Although the…