Kimberlee Goff

My grandmother was a teacher, and my dad was a social worker and therapist to special needs adults. We had a sped needs Sunday school class that I got to teach in when I was a teenager. These things and others made me want to be a sped teacher. This is my 30th year of teaching and I still love it!

One year I had a very memorable high school class. They were hard workers and had a real bond with each other and me. That year one girl found out she had a cancerous brain tumor. Years before after having my first child we found out I had a cancerous brain tumor. Because of this I was able to be with her after her surgery and help her parents through her recovery. I helped the class get through it too. A year later it returned and she passed. I still keep in contact with many of them.

I would finish paying off my debt from my brain surgery and help my parents. We’ve been paying on it for 24 years and are almost done! Also, a few years ago, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I live in South Carolina and they in Michigan. I drive up in the summers to help, but I could go more often by plane or still drive if I had the extra money. He has declined a lot and I know they could use more help and some money to help fix their bathroom so it is safer and easier for my dad.