This February, Kathy Lazor will reach an impressive milestone when she’s named principal of curriculum and special programs for the Tussey Mountain School District. She already has the title of coordinator, but come February, she’ll formally be named principal when she completes her fifth year as a professional educator. This Langondale native has been working toward goals and overcoming obstacles most of her life. As the last Bedford County resident diagnosed with polio, Kathy went through dozens of operations and reconstructive surgeries from the time she was stricken at the age of 4 through her 10th grade at Tussey Mountain High School. She missed months of school and endured thousands of hours of physical rehabilitation, but said she had a relatively normal childhood. “My brothers, sisters and parents never made me feel different. I always thought I could do everything else they could do,” she said. She came out of her physical ordeal with a slight limp and is partially paralyzed from the knee down, but when her children began skiing, she went along and learned to ski with them. “I wanted to have a worthwhile activity we could do together so we could keep in touch as a family.”

That feeling that she could do anything, led her to begin college at the age of 40. She’d been a stay-at-home mom throughout her children’s education - volunteering in the school and community and enjoying raising her children. “But I love to learn and am a voracious reader,” she said. “A Penn State-Altoona literature course caught my eye and I found I loved school. I took another course - a computer class where I learned to type, and even though I cried when I came home the first night because I didn’t think I could do it, I was determined not to give up and in the following weeks learned. In the end, I decided to study toward my degree in education because I loved learning and being around children.” Over the next few years she first commuted from her home in Wood to Altoona and then 78 miles each day to State College, earning first an undergraduate degree and then a graduate degree in education - and being chosen for Penn State’s prestigious University Scholars program which allowed her to travel to study in Europe.

Kathy brought that same drive to her professional life in 2000 when she was hired at Tussey Mountain as a reading specialist. Her leadership skills were quickly apparent, and last year she was appointed to her current position as curriculum coordinator - the only female on the administrative team. “I believe this district has the capability of reaching great heights,” Kathy said. “If we work together, we can reach any goal we set for ourselves, and most importantly, I love to see kids succeed. I want to help our children be all they can be and do all they can do with their lives.”

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