Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Hill.
Lori, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
This is the beginning of my 17th year in education. In August of 2002, I began my journey in public education at Woodstock High School in Woodstock, Georgia. In June of 2004, I married my first husband and his career path caused us to move around the state more than the average couple. As a result, I taught for five years at Woodstock High School, four years at Hart County Middle School, one year at Chapel Hill High School, and three years at South Paulding High School. I am now starting my fourth year at Cherokee High School, where I hope to stay! Throughout my career, I have worked to continue my education, earning a Master’s Degree and a Specialist Degree from Piedmont College. I also completed both my reading and gifted endorsements. I have taught 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English, ESOL immersion, and SAT Prep. I am now working as a Teacher on Special Assignment as the coordinator for RTI and Section 504 plans at Cherokee High School.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
If you were to lay my adult life out on a timeline (say the last 20 years or so), zoom way out and take a wide glancing sweep, you would say that my adulthood has been full and blessed. I have two beautiful children, a second husband who loves me with grace and sincerity, a job that I love with a handful of accolades along the way, and a family that supports me without fail. However, there are seasons on my timeline where if you were to zoom in, my life was very very dark. My biggest obstacles and challenges were in my personal life during my marriage to my first husband. I lived for way too long in an abusive marriage and no one knew. That’s the horrible truth about abuse: there are many who suffer in silence. We suffer in silence because we just wait for it to get better or we are just too afraid to do anything about it. We fear the consequences of walking away.
We fear the consequences of what a divorce will do to our children. We fear the consequences of what people will say, think, do or believe. The day I finally left was the scariest day of my life, but it was also the most freeing day of my life. That was the day that I began to take my power back from the fear that had ruled my life for too long. Now, that I am out of that season and at a completely different place on my timeline, it makes no sense to me that I would just allow that to happen and stay in such an unhealthy place, but fear is paralyzing and that leads me to my advice for women. In my opinion and experience, fear is a liar and it does nothing but keep you stuck or cause you to settle. We fear that we might not ever get what we know we truly deserve, so we settle. We ignore that internal voice that cautions us to take a step back. We fear that we are not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, quick enough, sexy enough. Feeling like you are not enough is a lie.
To the women, I would say, don’t let fear dictate the choices you make. Don’t let the fear of the unknown keep you from making the right choice for you. Don’t believe the lies that fear tells you. If you keep doing the next right thing, even when it is scary or hard, your life too can be called blessed.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Cherokee High School story. Tell us more about the business.
Currently, I work in the Cherokee County School District as the RTI and Section 504 Coordinator for Cherokee High School. Prior to this role, I spent 15 years as an English teacher in both middle and high schools. Cherokee High School is a very diverse school with many of our students receiving some form of special support. With a population of 2800 students, we have many needs to accommodate, and my job is only a small piece of what happens at our school to give our students the support they need to be successful.
When I transitioned into this job, I was not looking to leave the classroom, but I decided to interview for this job because I thought the interview itself would be a good experience. Much to my surprise, I was offered the job! I work as a coordinator of two special programs along with the administration, teachers, parents, and other support personnel in the system. The two groups I work with are those who are served through RTI (our pyramid of intervention) and those who are served through Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These students are served with the General Education population but with special interventions, accommodations and strategies personalized for each student.
RTI is an acronym for Response to Intervention and its purpose is to identify students who are struggling in the classroom, no matter the reason, and provide interventions and strategies to help those students become more successful. RTI works through a process of identifying a weakness, applying a measurable intervention, tracking the data, and assessing if the student is making any gains. Whatever the student’s gap (academic, behavioral, personal) might be, we strive to use a team approach to help the student close the gap. The other group I serve is those students who are found eligible for protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This is a very involved process with a team of teachers meeting on behalf of each student individually; the 504 accommodation plan must be reviewed and renewed annually with the parents and a team of school personnel to make sure the student is getting the support and accommodations he or she needs based on his or her medical diagnosis. The challenge and benefit are that each student served through these two programs get individualized attention and support.
What I am most proud of is the work that our teachers and staff at Cherokee High School do on a daily basis to help our student body succeed. Our school is unlike any of the other high schools in the county, and I think we do a dynamite job of providing ALL of our students with a quality education. With so much negative press about public education, I think it is important to highlight the thousands upon thousands of educators who selflessly serve their students every single day.
Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
My parents were, and still are, a constant source of love and encouragement to me. Their unconditional support set me up to continue to do the next right thing to get me to where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Email: lori.hill@cherokeek12.net
- Instagram: lori__hill
- Facebook: Lori Hill
Image Credit:
Apryl Dukes-McDaniel, silent h photography
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