FIRST PERSON: What being a gifted kid didn’t teach me about leading schools

Meagan Booth explores the lasting impact of 1990s gifted education on today’s school leaders. As a former “gifted kid” born in 1984, she reflects on how Cold War-era urgency and reports like A Nation at Risk instilled in her generation a deep fear of wasted potential and a relentless drive for output. Now in leadership, that mindset manifests as anxiety and overwork. The arrival of Gen Z professionals — who prioritize sustainability over exhaustion — prompts a personal reckoning. She calls for a shift in educational benchmarks, urging schools to measure not just achievement, but also the sustainability and wholeness of their people and systems.