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BE THE CHANGE

Bringing Out the While working as a teacher of deaf students,
Dr. Hill was presented with the results of student
Best in Others testing performed by school psychologists. They
informed her that although the students did well
in visual perception, they scored low in verbal
skills. Stunned, Dr. Hill used American Sign
Lifting others up is what she does. Language as she responded, “You didn’t even
sign to them!”
Dr. Patti Hill is an accomplished teacher,
administrator, psychologist and small-business She knew her students couldn’t achieve their
owner. But it isn’t her impressive resume that full potential if they couldn’t even use their
she’ll mention when you ask what’s important primary source of communication. She didn’t
to her. want the same thing to happen to them that
“The purpose of my life on this earth is to help had happened to her uncle Eddie, so she began
others achieve their potential. If I’m not doing taking psychology classes to create a better way
to assess students.
that, I should be!”
Dr. Hill makes it her mission to find the potential Classes eventually turned into a doctorate
degree, and now she’s a licensed psychologist.
in others and to create an environment that
helps them thrive. “I always see the good in Dr. Hill served for a time as principal at a
people,” she says. specialty school for children with severe speech
and language development challenges in
Every step in Dr. Hill’s career was made because
she believed in doing her part to ensure others Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She also started a
consultancy business using her knowledge and
could achieve their dreams. When she was
asked to teach special education in secondary experience to help government agencies design
and implement better programs for children,
school, she agreed and then promptly enrolled
in a master’s program focusing on teaching the youth and their families, which she’s been
running for more than 40 years.
deaf and hard of hearing.
While she was a young teacher, Dr. Hill’s uncle Dr. Patti Hill devoted her life to making the
Eddie, who was deaf, had shared stories with world a better place. Along the way, she
found Lions.
her about the difficulty of traveling to distant
boarding schools to be educated. Even then, Actually, Lions found her.
he wasn’t allowed to use sign language in school.
She hoped she could make education better
for students like her uncle.

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