Hannah Montgomery Receives Kids Inclusion Spotlight Award

 Adair County SB40 

Hannah Montgomery, 13-year-old daughter of Chris and Paula Montgomery in Memphis, Missouri has been selected as the Adair County SB40 August 2023 Spotlight Award recipient for Kids Inclusion. 

Hannah was nominated for this award by her Adair County SB40 Service Coordinator, Amber O’Dell. Amber said “Hannah is a very active person in her community… She did an amazing job by not only showing her pigs, but showed great advocacy and inclusion skills. Hannah uses a wheelchair while she has shown her community that she can participate just as well as others.” 

August comes with Fair Season and Hannah participated with her 4-H group to show her work at the NEMO Fair held in Kirksville this summer. Hannah proudly showed her pigs along with other area 4-H youth. Hannah was even featured in a local KTVO News story about her involvement with the fair and 4-H for the past several years. Crystal Aminirad, Adair SB40 Executive Director, said “Hannah is sharing an important example with all of her peers. She is bringing the message of inclusion and perseverance to everyone she meets.” 

O’Dell says that Hannah is also a strong self-advocate and has demonstrated those critical self-advocacy skills to her peers. Self-Advocacy is an important skill because people who are able to understand and communicate their own needs are more likely to thrive in school, work and life. Demonstrating good self-advocacy skills helps kids and adults to learn and think differently, recognizing what kind of supports might help, which leads to greater independence. O’Dell added “Hannah is not afraid to voice her opinions and is an overall great person. I’m excited to see what Hannah does in the future!” 

If you would like to nominate a great candidate for a monthly Spotlight Award, Adair County SB40 is accepting nominations. Anyone can make a nomination. Nominations can be made in any of the four following categories: 

•Kids Inclusion Spotlight Award for children in kindergarten – 8th grade 

•Youth Leadership Spotlight Award for youth in grades 9-12 

•Community Volunteer Spotlight Award (any age) 

•Entrepreneur or Employee Spotlight Award (any age) 

In March 2024, a Spotlight Award of the Year winners will be selected from all of the monthly winners. Nominations can be made throughout the year by visiting the Adair County SB40 website or by contacting a SB40 staff member to assist you at (660) 665 – 9400. You can also find more information about the four nomination categories by visiting Adair County SB40’s website, https://www. sb40life.org/.