Carrie:  What is the premise of YOUR CHILD’S STRENGTHS?

Jenifer:  The premise of YOUR CHILD’S STRENGTHS is that when you focus on developing and utilizing children’s strengths rather than spending all your time trying to fix, or remediate weaknesses, they grow up to be happier, healthier and more productive citizens.  Additionally, the book is a call to action, claiming that the single biggest issue facing America’s future is the education of our young people. The time for change in our educational system is now, and every day more and people see that is the case. I believe the Strengths Movement will play a very important role in the new system that emerges. YOUR CHILD’S STRENGTHS provides parents, teachers and schools clear and practical direction to take in building upon children’s strengths.

Carrie:  How did you come about creating this program?

Jenifer:  I have spent twenty-five years as an educator and throughout that time, I have always been a champion for the underdog. This means that where others saw weaknesses in people, I sought out the strengths and was able to find them. When I arrived at Purnell School, the school was failing as a business and I was determined to make it successful, I built a program that turned away from trying to fix what was wrong and sought, instead, to build on the inherent strengths that were in place. This began to work, and because it worked so well, and the school began to thrive, I developed a program that would also work on the students. So, I started to develop it from the outside in. I began by creating a strengths program for the school culture and then wrote the actual four-year curriculum for all of the students to take.

Carrie:  What kind of student were you?