Teacher Facilitation Guide

Program Overview
Talent and Vision is a research-based curriculum that focuses on how talent and vision play an integral role in achievement. Students view video interview segments featuring two talented and successful people who have had to overcome adversity in order to follow through with their vision. These interviews serve as a springboard for students' own research. A list of online resources is provided to support student research.

Viewing/Facilitation Strategies

Introduce the Talent and Vision topic and video segments. Ask students to share examples of their current knowledge, experiences, and questions related to topics such as the background of some of today's successful and visionary businesses, risk-taking, non-profit organizations and how current events affect the market.
View the video segments as a class, in small groups, or individually.
Facilitate student selection of one of the research projects listed below which fits their interests and grade level.

Research Project Overview

Grades 7-9

Student Academic Standards

Students understand how vision is an important ingredient of success. .
Students understand how their own talents determine the career they would find most satisfying.
Students understand the sacrifice involved in pursuing one's vision.
Students gather and use information for research purposes.

Projects and Investigations:

Huck Finn's Resum´e;
In the video segments, filmmaker George Lucas says, "Everybody has a talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is." He goes on to define talent as "a combination of something you love a great deal...and something you have a natural ability to do very well." A good resume highlights a person's talents, whatever they may be. Use the Resource Links to explore different resume styles. Then chose a literary character, like Romeo or Juliet. Make a list of their talents, interests and experience. Think about what kinds of jobs your character would be good at doing. Write a resume for your character, formatting it so that it may be emailed to prospective employers.

Visionaries Past and Present
A visionary is somebody who gets an idea in his or her head and doesn't stop until that idea becomes a reality. All visionaries have had to overcome obstacles in order to attain their goals. Visionaries are found in every field, from science and politics to art and education. The Academy of Achievement is full of such people. Conduct a survey of visionaries in the Academy. Read the interviews of two or three that you are interested in, paying close attention to what motivated these people to follow their dreams and the various obstacles they encountered while doing so. Then, write a short book jacket blurb for each visionary's biography.

Grades 9-12

Student Academic Standards

Students understand how creative thinking can be applied to business.
Students understand how non-profit organizations work. .
Students interact with a non-profit organization in their community.
Students understand how current events affect the market.
Students gather and use information for research purposes.

Odysseus' Resume
In the video segments, filmmaker George Lucas says, "Everybody has a talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is." He goes on to define talent as "a combination of something you love a great deal...and something you have a natural ability to do very well." A good resume highlights a person's talents, whatever they may be. Use the Resource Links to explore different resume styles. Then chose a literary character, or a mythological character who has an interesting talent. Make a list of your character's talents, interests and experiences. What kinds of jobs would your character excel at? Would Hercules be any good at accounting? Or would he make a better gym teacher? Write a cover letter and a resume for your character, formatting them so that they can be emailed to prospective employers.

Career Research Project
"If you do work that you love, and work that fulfills you, the rest will come," says talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Read Oprah's interview in the gallery of business. What sacrifices did she make in order to do the kind of work she loved? Make a list of things you like to do and things you don't like to do. Use the Resource Links to investigate career paths that are compatible with your interests. Narrow your job options down to two or three and investigate what types of qualifications each job requires. Create a computer file for each career path, which includes lists of potential employers; on-line articles about successful people in that field and a paragraph about why you would be a good person for that job.

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