News

Dr. Cabrera Honored as a Hero of Education in New Book

May 27th, 2009

Manassas, Virginia — The Gifted Education Press has just released a spring 2009 title, Heroes of Giftedness: An Inspirational Guide for Gifted Students and Their Teachers, edited by Maurice D. Fisher, PhD, and Eugenia M. Fisher, EdD. In this book, twelve experts on gifted education present their personal heroes--those who have deeply inspired them in their mission to help gifted students thrive.

Dr. Derek Cabrera is named as the personal hero of Dr. Carol Horn, coordinator of K-12 Advanced Academic Programs, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. According to the press release, Carol "manages one of the most effective and comprehensive programs for gifted students in the nation." Carol writes about Derek as an example of a gifted student who found his way despite the educational system. She tells the story of his toils and travels as he pursued the understanding of how knowledge is universally structured then arrived at the Patterns of Thinking Method. She also describes how he created ThinkBlocks as a tactile manipulative to work with the patterns of thinking in physical form--originally with graduate students at Cornell University grappling with their dissertations and later with all grades, PreK to high school.

Derek is included in this book among the likes of Stephen Hawking, Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Oliver Sacks, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.