My hero is Krista Lynn Lee who was my teacher at the Hill Center. She was born onAugust 8, 1978 in Pittsburgh, PA. She grew up in a town known as the “Steel City,” becausethere are many factories that produce steel. Her grandfather was one of the founding engineersof US Steel and her father currently, and for the past 30 years has worked for ASK,AmericanSheer Knife, where they produce knives to cut steel in factories in Pittsburgh. He is the presidentof a national association for similar organizations. Her mother was a school bus driver for manyyears.

Growing up, Ms. Lee’s sister, Lauren, was her biggest inspiration. Her sister was alwaysat the “top” of her class and seemed to excel at anything she tried. She always said that one dayshe would be a professional ballerina. Well, she made it! Lauren trained at the School ofAmerican Ballet in New York City, then began her career at the Southwest Pacific Ballet inSeattle, Washington. After two years, she returned home and danced for the Pittsburgh BalletTheatre. Lauren danced there for several years and during this time she stopped from a injury.She decided to go to Georgetown University in Washington DC and became interested injournalism and communication. Her perseverance and determination continue to inspire Ms. Leeto this day.

In stark contrast to her sister, Ms. Lee’s life was not so easy. She was held back inKindergarten due to her lack of academic progress. By second grade, it was found that she haddyslexia. Reading and writing were very laborious for her and therefore school was a struggleand daily challenge. Ms. Lee’s special education teacher, Mrs. Devorak, was outstanding. Shewould not give up on her and gave her strategies to compensate for her dyslexia. Thesestrategies are even useful to this day. Ms. Lee learned to read and to use her “disability” as an“ability” to do many things other kids could not. She taught Ms. Lee that nothing would be easyfor her, but to persevere and she would always succeed.

By middle school, Ms. Lee began to excel at academics as well as sports. She joined theschool swimming team and began grueling practices which entailed two swimming practicesdaily from 4:30­6:30 am and 2:30­4:30pm) followed by “dryland” training from 4:30­5:30pm, thenweight training from 5:30­6:30 pm. She would go home, do her homework and eat, then go tobed, only to do it again the next day. This continued through her senior year in high school!

In Ms. Lee’s sophomore year, she became interested in Science. Ms. Lee worked with her scienceteacher and entered the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science for her physics project. Shecompeted at the district level and went on to the state level where she won best in state! Thiswas such an honor for her! During Ms. Lee’s junior year, she was chosen to attend thePennsylvania State University’s of Women in Science and Engineering programs. She loved it!They did many neat things, such as dissecting a lamb’s heart and making pacemakers inaccordance with their own heart’s rhythm. These experiences enriched her life. Senior year wasanother big year. She won homecoming queen that year and was voted best personality, andworst driver. Ms. Lee continued with her swimming and academic schedule. The training paid offas she competed in state championships for swimming; she won first in state! Ms. Lee receiveda scholarship to attend Duquesne University the following year. She attended DuquesneUniversity for five years. The first three years, she majored in science in hopes of becoming aphysical therapist. Ms. Lee changed her mind one day during physiology class when they wereto dissect human cadavers. Following many deep thoughts and self awareness, she changedher major to education. She spent the next two years taking 18­21 credits a semester to get adual degree in Special Education (K­12) and Elementary Education (K­6) with a special focus onbehaviors and autism. While in college, Ms. Lee worked in a group home for adults with specialneeds as well as with the Autism Society of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, she accepted ajob in Carteret County, North Carolina. She worked as a 2nd grade teacher, then moved intospecial education. After seeing the need, Ms. Lee began a school for students (K­8) with severedisabilities and mental health challenges. They used the Hill Center Methodology for theiracademics and combined it with cognitive behavioral therapy. After their first year of opening,they received their end of grade test scores. None of their students had passed the test in thepast. There was a big celebration as all of the students passed that year and for the first timeever. This was a defining moment in Ms. Lee’s life! She worked as principal / teacher of herschool (Stepping Stones) for three years. During that time, her son (Luke) was diagnosed withAutism. Unfortunately, there were no services for him in their county or surrounding counties.The Hill Center asked Ms. Lee to come teach in Durham. She jumped at the opportunity as shenot only loves and believes in The Hill Center’s methodology, but it was also an opportunity forher son to be successful in school as well as receive the services he needs. They are boththriving, Ms. Lee in her job as a teacher at The Hill Center, but also Luke in his school,community, and in life.

Ms. Lee optimistically says, “Always do the thing you think you cannot do,” a quote fromEleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Lee demonstrates encouragement everyday to her student and peers.When she first started teaching me in 5th grade, I knew that her helpful words for me went to themoon and back. Ms. Lee is constantly cheering me on when I am stuck. She has helped meovercome my learning difficulties and I am always encouraged by her to keep going. With herinspirational words I go a long way. Without Ms. Lee supporting me I would not be where I am inthe world today. Just her presence makes me happy.

Ms. Lee is a very brilliant gal. She demonstrates brilliance when she won second place inthe state for her physics project. Ms Lee has degrees in education with an emphasis on human behavior and psychology. She understands the way people think and can assist people to havea better quality of life. I see this when she can prove anything from science to math to history andback. This teacher of mine is brilliant, maybe even smarter than Albert Einstein in a different kindof way.

Ms. Lee perseveres every day. She helps her son persevere and overcome his austim.Ms. Lee helps her students overcome any hurdle that presents itself. She persevered whenovercoming her own learning difference growing up. Even when people doubted her, she wasdetermined she would exceed. Ms. Lee has perseverance like no other.

Ms. Lee has had a big impact on my life. She helped me in math when I was in publicschool. She taught me math in different ways than I’d ever learned before. She helped me likemath for the first time. She has been the only teacher in math I have worked well with. Ms. Lee isthe greatest hero anyone could ask for, and she is my hero.