The Universal High School Program (UHS) is a pilot secondary program in the St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado. It is designed to address the needs of a small niche educational group: highly able students who do not fit well into the mainstream of the educational system. These students are at risk educationally, but not for the reasons familiar to most educators working with at-risk students. The program is in its third year, and the lessons learned since its creation are many and varied. In a number of ways, the teachers are like Joan Wilder in "Romancing the Stone," chopping through the brush with a machete to clear a path for the students, and keeping only steps ahead as problems nip at their heels. Like Joan, the teachers have sometimes grabbed a swinging rope in desperation and found that it carried them successfully to the other side of a yawning gorge. In this article, the author shares the tools that are most helpful in working with highly able students who do not fit the mold and how the teachers are attempting to help these students uncover their own hidden treasure, their personal "El Corazon."