A Slice with 'Dice

What if one of the most powerful skills a teenager could develop didn’t come from textbooks or test prep, but from the ability to quietly read the room? In Korean culture, this skill is called nunchi —a subtle kind of social radar that helps people sense, adapt, and connect more deeply with others. Corey Alderdice, national voice on talent and transformation, explores how nunchi , often described...

Creativity isn’t enrichment. It’s infrastructure. And if we misunderstand that, we misunderstand the future of our economy. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why arts education must be reframed as workforce education — not as a defense of the arts, but as a recognition of their economic power. In light of receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Educat...

Why does belonging matter so much for student success? In this teaser, Corey Alderdice introduces a three-part series exploring the role of belonging in education, beginning with research from Gallup and Purdue showing its connection to college completion and long-term success. The series will examine how those insights translate to high school environments, how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanf...

The word abundance surged into the spotlight in 2025, not because schools suddenly had more time, energy, or flexibility—but because educators sensed that something in our systems was no longer keeping pace with human potential. Now, abundance becomes less of a buzzword and more of a leadership challenge worth examining. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores why...

Some books don’t just age well—they grow with us. What feels like a simple story in adolescence can become something far more layered when revisited with experience. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why Jonathan Livingston Seagull felt like an odd—perhaps overly ambitious—choice for an 8th grade honors entrance exam, and why he now appreciates that decision...

Leadership doesn’t end when the account runs dry—it continues through the returns others generate from your investment.  In this final installment of the trilogy, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores The Leadership Dividend , the enduring impact of choices, values, and relationships that keep paying out long after a leader steps away. He reflects on how wise lea...

When students walk out of class in protest, it can look simple from the outside: young people raising their voices in a democracy. Inside a school, however, those moments are layered with legal guardrails, legislative constraints, and the obligation to treat every viewpoint the same. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the recent student walkouts in Pulaski, Ga...

Achievement often overshadows everything else in the lives of gifted and talented students. But what if their deepest need isn’t to achieve more, but to know they truly matter? Drawing on the work of Jennifer Breheny Wallace and the psychology of “mattering,” this episode explores how educators can reframe success for advanced learners.  Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformati...

A single sharp moment can hijack an entire school day—but it doesn’t have to. What if educators got just as intentional about what lifts students up as we are about what sets them off? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the emerging concept of “glimmers”—small, everyday experiences that spark calm, joy, gratitude, and connection—and why they matter in classroo...

Leaders spend their days managing visible accounts—trust, goodwill, and influence—but the balance that truly determines their longevity is often hidden from view.  Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea of a Personal Capital Reserve , or what he calls the Second Balance Sheet —the reservoir of energy, identity, and relationships that sustains leaders beyo...

Some lessons never make it into the textbook—but they can make or break a student’s future. The most gifted learners often know the material, but not the system that surrounds it. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the “hidden curriculum” and how its unspoken rules—everything from navigating office hours to figuring out which opportunities actua...

Early adulthood was supposed to feel like launch—but for many seniors, it feels more like freefall. That unsettling mix of possibility and pressure has a name, and understanding it is the first step toward feeling less alone. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the quarterlife crisis as a powerful framework for high school and college seniors beg...

Winter break offers juniors something they rarely get during the school year: breathing room. Amid the quiet, students can take their first meaningful steps toward understanding who they are and what they want from the college journey ahead. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how reflection, early exploration, and intentional rest can help juniors align their...

Some conversations age well because the need behind them never really goes away. As students and schools end the fall semester gear up for a new semester in 2026, this encore episode arrives at exactly the right moment. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the deeper dynamics of student well-being, academic pressure, and school culture in this revisit from Season One. This timely rebr...

Gifted students don’t disengage because they don’t care—they disengage because they’re ready for more than their environment is offering. When we learn to interpret dissatisfaction as a signal instead of a problem, everything about how we see gifted learners begins to shift. In this bonus episode, Corey Alderdice explores the full arc of the Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development—from the sa...

The smell of bacon has a way of pulling people out of their rooms and into the same shared space, no invitation required. In this special, Christmas-themed episode, a glitter-covered strip of bacon hanging on a tree becomes a surprisingly fitting symbol for what the season is really about. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how a family joke about ribbon-candy ornaments evolved into...

Some stories don’t end; they simply turn the page. And sometimes the chapters that shape us most are the ones we never expected to write. For the last time this season, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the winding path that led him into gifted education, the challenges and triumphs of thirteen and a half years at the helm of one of the nation’s top STEM schools, and the lessons le...

Some days it only takes one email, one phone call, or one weird surprise to knock your whole mood off track—but what if the real power lies in how you respond, not what you face? What if the difference between burnout and balance is just a tiny shift in your default setting? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how school leaders—and really anyone—can redirect their automatic reaction...

Generative AI isn’t on the horizon anymore—it’s already reshaping the academic landscape. The challenge now isn’t avoiding it, but deciding how we respond with purpose and integrity. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the school’s recent survey findings, the community’s wide-ranging concerns, and how ASMSA’s partnership with Challenge Success positions the institution to lead in dev...

Some leadership debates feel theoretical—until someone throws your own words back at you months later. This episode unpacks what happens when a simple remark becomes a mirror for how we understand responsibility, vision, and the work leaders are actually called to do. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the tension between vision and accountability, how a casual comment resurfaced wi...

The end of the Farmer’s Almanac marks more than the close of a quirky American tradition—it symbolizes our timeless need to find patterns in the unpredictable. From zodiac signs to personality tests, we keep searching for order in life’s chaos. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how the human desire to forecast meaning connects everything from the Farmer’s Almanac to modern leadersh...

We’ve reached the point where comfort has become the new currency in education—and it’s bankrupting student resilience. What if the accommodations we’re offering aren’t helping students cope, but quietly teaching them to avoid life itself? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how well-intentioned supports can turn into permanent crutches, why scaffolding should be temporary, and how e...

Some people call gifted kids “weird,” but maybe that’s just what it looks like when someone’s brain refuses to color inside the lines. What if the thing that makes them different is exactly what the world needs more of? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores why gifted students are so often misunderstood, how divergent thinking shapes their perception of the world, and why curiosity and...

Equity in gifted education requires more than resources — it begins with listening carefully to dissatisfaction across all student groups. Policies and practices must ensure that every intentionality is met with the right opportunities. In episode six of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice draws the series to a close by connecting the Catalytic Agency Model to equity and po...

Some students demand more than piecemeal solutions — their dissatisfaction is comprehensive, spanning rigor, belonging, and context. These Catalytic students are rare, but when matched with the right environments, they can transform themselves and their schools. In episode five of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the concept of Catalytic Agency in depth, positio...