Jane Hesslein, BA--Elementary Education; MA--Educational Administration (Thesis: The Institutionalization of Creativity), is a retired lifetime educator with over 30 years of experience in gifted education in both public (New Jersey, Houston, Minneapolis) and private schools (Toronto, Seattle). A former SENG Board member and group facilitator, she has trained SENG facilitators, presented at numerous conferences, and written articles, most often about parenting gifted children and selecting literature for gifted children.

Taking an inquiry approach to Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Social Studies, she stressed the importance of critical and creative thinking as well as the need for well-chosen words. The curriculum intertwined the cognitive and emotional sides of giftedness. Her students understood that their job was to grow a brain.

In addition to teaching, she has been an editor, an advisor to children’s authors, a toy tester, and a creativity judge. She’s parented two gifted children and is now a grandparent to three gifted teens. Her husband is her longitudinal study of a gifted child. She enjoys travel, arts and literature, cooking, engaging conversations, spending time with family and friends—and collecting people.