Sun, December 3, 2000 Two special teachers The impact they can have on the life of a child is immense HOW many of us have ever had a teacher that we can say truly touched our lives, who gave us the tools to discover, who we are and what it is we want to achieve in life. Fortunately, there are teachers whose lives are testimonies of what they teach.    My daughter, Jessica has had several such teachers. Currently, Jessica is 19 and a junior at Midwestern State University, but she still bears the fruit that two very special elementary school teachers imputed to her. These two teachers loved the subjects that they taught, and this love and enthusiasm took root in the children who saw the genuineness of these teachers as people, not merely teachers doing a job.    Franziska Edwards came to Bright Ideas school as a German teacher, but soon became a full-time teacher at the school for many years. She shared her love of literature with the children. She presented challenging material, as the children read the great classics at a very young age. The works of William Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Faulkner, Irving Stone and Robert Frost replaced standard textbooks and research papers and oral reports replaced traditional workbooks.    Even though Edwards has relocated to Seattle, Jessica and many of her other students continue to correspond with her via email because of the love and respect they still carry in their hearts for her. The love of literature this teacher gave my daughter is unmistakable by the overfilled book shelves and the stacks of books that fill up the walls of her bedroom.    I clearly remember the day MSU theater student Chad Miller came to Bright Ideas School to teach drama classes. I was teaching preschool there, and he came walking into the studio with a huge multicolored parachute. This got the kids' attention fast, and Chad had a knack for making learning fun.    The class progressed from stage makeup to the children performing in a multitude of plays. I saw my daughter's talents blossom under Chad's direction. Specifically, when I saw her performance as Elizabeth Ross, I knew she had discovered a special talent. At this point, however, I was unaware that these experiences would cultivate a desire on my daughter's part to pursue her Ph.D. in theater.    My daughter, Jessica, attended Bright Ideas school most of her life, while it was still a private school. She and I began with the "mommy and me" class when she was two years old. She completed her high school courses by the age of 16 at Bright Ideas and began MSU at that time.    Bright Ideas in now one of Texas's 170 charter schools. It has come under recent criticism for its low scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. However, in all fairness, contributing factors need to be considered.    There was a dramatic shift in the student population when the school went from a small private school to a public school. The primary focus of the private school, which specialized in meeting the needs of the academically gifted student, has shifted. Now the student body is more diverse and some transitional period should be expected. But focusing on the TAAS test scores as a measure of a schools excellence is a one-sided approach.    Indeed, one criticism of the TAAS test is that it prepares students to memorize and spit out answers, but does nothing to cultivate self-directed learning. One of Bright Ideas most innovative approaches, was and still is, the departure from traditional views that intelligence can be divided into the verbal and non-verbal types. These are the abilities that the traditional IQ tests assess. But psychologists have been uncovering other intelligences for some time now.    Psychologist Howard Gardner has developed a multiple intelligence theory. He has formulated a list of seven intelligences: Musical Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Linguistic Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence and Intrapersonal Intelligence.    Teachers at Bright Ideas are required to develop a curriculum to encompass each of the seven intelligences as advocated by Howard Gardner. Thus, providing opportunities for all children to develop their special talents and skills and to foster in them the feeling that their unique intelligence and abilities are equal in importance to the traditional concept of intelligence.    Again, the impact that a special teacher can have on the life of a child is immense. Presently, Jessica is stage managing MSU Theatre's production of "The Rimers of Eldritch" by playwright Lanford Wilson.    The story line concerns the small town of Eldritch and its search for answers surrounding a murder. The residents of Eldritch, a Bible-belt town, impose a strict biblical moral code on all of its residents.    Director Laura Jefferson points out that the play is not anti-Christian, but it exposes the hypocrisy in the private lives of the characters in contrast to the religious facade portrayed in public.    The actors present the play in a format that uses bits of action and snippets of dialogue to dart back and forth in time. Jefferson points out that since the play is not chronological, even the seasons will differ from scene to scene.    Though the play was intended to be set in the 1960s, Jefferson chose to set the play in the present time, in an effort to help the audience experience the content as relevant and just as likely to occur today as it was in the 60s.    The play's author, Lanford Wilson, won the Drama Desk Award for "The Rimers of Eldritch." Additionally, he won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for "Talleys Folly," among many other awards.    The theater students at MSU have worked very hard and remarkably long hours to offer this unique and somewhat controversial play about the dark side of small-town life.    Performances begin Dec. 7-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Fain Fine Arts Center or by calling 397-4399.    Mary Kemp's column appears in this space every other Sunday. Kemp, a community member of the editorial board, can be reached by writing to: Mary Kemp, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 120, Wichita Falls, TX 76307.