LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Anna Parker was nominated by Nicole Weaver, a parent of a former student.

"Anna is an amazing educator who takes the time to get to know her students and help them with their specific needs," said Weaver. "She also helps students who are not assigned to her and has even reached out beyond graduation. My son is 20 now and attends Ohio University's Lancaster branch. This is an accomplishment that we were unsure would happen.

"My son, Zackry, is on the Autism spectrum and has been diagnosed with ADHD, extreme anxiety, and depression. When he was younger (basically until high school), he was bullied because he was "different" to the point that he had a very hard time seeing his self-worth. When Zackry moved onto the high school, Anna became Zackry's intervention specialist. Anna took the time to get to know Zackry, and she showed him that she genuinely cared about him and his success.  She would reach out to me with academic concerns she had regarding Zackry, as well as when she noticed he was struggling personally. She even took the time to get to know my son who is two grades behind Zackry, even though he was not one of her students.

"Anna went above and beyond to get Zackry the support he needed. She set him up with an agency that could assist him with learning to drive, as well as an agency to prepare him and work with him for life after high school.  Anna has checked on Zackry several times since graduation.  I could go on and on about how she impacted our lives and why she deserves to be recognized," said Weaver.