ABOUT GAIL

WHO AM I?

Upon graduation, I taught high school English for four years and was then offered an instructor/writer’s position at IBM. At both places of work I became aware of two what I would call universalities, regarding ways people react to one another.

My first recognition related to “at risk” high school kids. They were usually bright kids who just did not care about schooling nor were they willing to participate until something piqued their interest. Those non-participants were the ones from whom I received the greatest satisfaction as I watched them get excited about Silas Marner, a difficult read at best. The commonality was challenging them one-on-one and getting them excited about a project they knew they could accomplish.

The second commonality was recognizing that bullies exist at all age levels, including the engineers I taught at Exxon while working for IBM. Every engineer who worked for Exxon from around the world had to go through my class, and many were resentful that I was changing their method of communication with the home office. Invariably one man would decide to question my right to tell him how to do something. It happened rarely, but I got to look forward to it only because the rest of the class would rally around me and put him in his place. The nasty ones were bullies.

The importance of acceptance and validation I found universal as is the existence of bullying, putting someone down without provocation. This is what prompted me to devote years developing and testing programs that ensured acceptance and validation for every participant.

The necessary isolation due to the Covid-10 virus and the emergence of zoom for meetings, trainings, partying, entertaining, and so much more made me aware that I could reach far more young people with my programs if I had trainers who could reach a far larger segment of the population.

I have a Bachelor and Masters degree in English and writing, but my real qualifications come from the variety of jobs I have held, including training trainers for an international corporation and writing over 20 books, mostly on education. I am also an inductee in our town’s Hall of Fame for the work I have done locally. 

Youth Success Academy was formed to address the skills needed for the changing job market. Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. Our intent is to prepare every teen to meet upcoming opportunities.