Gifted Resource Council
Gifted Resource Council
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GRC Alum Demonstrates Command Leadership, Commitment—and Credits GRC for His Optimism About the Future

George Johnson attended GRC’s Space Academy beginning in 1986 as a second grader. After attending each summer through his eighth grade year, George returned as a volunteer during high school, and later served as a Teacher’s Assistant with GRC’s Space Academy while attending Ripon College in Wisconsin.

Now a Captain in the 82nd Airborne, US Army, Johnson commands a combat outpost in Iraq on the Kuwait to Baghdad highway. He spends a lot of time in the community with an interpreter working with sheiks to set up what are called "Awakening Councils."

When not in Iraq, Johnson lives in Fayetteville NC, with his wife Patti who teaches chemistry in an urban high school. His met his daughter, Virginia Heinlein Gloria Johnson, for the first time in March 2008. She is named after the wife of Robert Heinlein, author of "Space Cadet," the book which inspired GRC’s first Space Academy in 1984.

Inspired by GRC

George was clearly inspired by Heinlein’s works, which he began to read in earnest while working as an assistant with GRC’s Space Academy. He credits Heinlein as "one of the most influential of science fiction writers because, amid the ray guns and rocket ships, he never forgot that stories are about people and their interactions with one another."

Optimism About the Future
"I’m glad GRC is doing well and continuing to shape young minds," Johnson said. "It was a great experience for me, and I think it has kept my optimism on the possibilities for the future. That may be its ultimate legacy. If it produced engineers, pilots and astronauts, so much the better, but just as important it produces people who see space as a possibility. So keep up the good work; keep the kids looking up."

"George is an outstanding example of how GRC programs meet the academic needs of gifted children while helping them develop the interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility to give back to the community, which makes them leaders who will make remarkable contributions to society," said GRC Executive Director Susan Flesch. "We are very proud of him, and wish George and his family all the best."
For more information regarding Gifted Resource Council, please call the GRC office at 314-962-5920 or e-mail us at: info@giftedresourcecouncil.org.
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