LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Sherilynn Admire was nominated by Heather Voss, the parent of a student.

"Our family was introduced to Mrs. Admire in fall 2015," said Voss. "My oldest daughter was struggling with changes and with school in general. At that time, we knew of one medical issue, but there always seemed like more we were missing. Mrs. Admire took my little one under her wing. If she had a bad day, my little one could visit Mrs. Admire's classroom to work on her coping skills and calm down until she was ready to rejoin her class. Over several years, Mrs. Admire had this visitation schedule with her, and it worked splendidly."

"Groundhog's Day 2017 is a day that will always be the turning point for my little one. That is the day everything clicked for the adults in her life, and we realized without a shadow of a doubt that she was on the spectrum," said Voss. "Mrs. Admire took charge and guided us through the maze of resources. With the assistance of an amazing second-grade teacher, my daughter received her first Student of the Month award. During that time, Mrs. Admire was also the coach for the Tiny Tigers, which is an after-school program for kids that want to run the Oklahoma City Memorial Kids Marathon. When my oldest wanted to join, my second daughter did, too, so she was under Mrs. Admire's wing, as well."

"For the next three years, Mrs. Admire was the go-to person for my oldest daughter and an adult my younger daughters looked up to as they ran with the marathon team after school," said Voss. "Although we moved away just before the pandemic, she still talked with my oldest during the initial shutdown and helped her adapt her school coping skills to the current situation. She is an amazing educator and one I hope to emulate as I 'grow up' in my educational career."