Daily Inspiration: Meet Kelly Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Lee

Hi Kelly, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I always wanted to be an educator. Since I was a very little girl, I played school like no other—mostly with imaginary friends and stuffed animals (all very well behaved)—and dreamt of the day I’d become “Miss Tebbenkamp.”

It was 1991 and I was a junior in high school. I had an amazing opportunity to spend a portion of my school day at a local elementary school to further prepare myself for the field of education—an opportunity I am quite grateful for. The sponsor asked if I’d be willing to assist in a special education classroom and although I knew little of what to expect, I took the leap. I swiftly fell in love with the students and with the profession and entered my undergraduate degree in the field.

I began my adventure as an educator in 1996 and although I wasn’t fully prepared (how can one truly be?), I rocked it, and I felt at home in my new profession. I found myself weaving positive social and emotional skills into a lot of my academic lessons—a bit “out of the box” at the time. When teaching math, for example, I found a way to weave in self-esteem, self-advocacy, sharing, problem solving, and many other of the millions of skills youth foundationally need.

Did I mention I was “rocking it?” Well…I was until I met Justin, my first student with Asperger Syndrome in 1997 shortly after the diagnosis was added to the DSM-IV. (And, indeed. I know this is no longer an official diagnosis.) I adored Justin yet I quickly realized that I needed more tools in my toolbox to meet his unique needs thus I returned to school and acquired a graduate degree with an emphasis in autism.

Within my graduate studies, I became involved in Camp Determination as a volunteer, Director, then volunteer again (getting married and having children will cause one to step back from commitments a bit). Camp Determination provided an overnight camp experience for autistic youth across all fifty states and provided me an opportunity to see how powerful a comfortable, natural, accepting atmosphere can be to encourage social development and increased independence and self-esteem. It also gave me the chance to see some of the numerous challenges parents face. My eyes were opened to new ways to educate and support children and also to encourage, love, include and give abundant grace to parents.

My graduate studies ignited an even stronger passion—one to specifically serve and advocate for individuals on the autism spectrum. Post graduate school, I organized and facilitated community-based social groups, returned to the classroom for a while then became an Autism Specialist at a local school district. In that role, I assisted with program development, trained staff members, served as a resource for parents, modeled strategies, and assisted with the development of individualized program supports. My love for providing support and solid programming to individuals on the spectrum deepened. I thought for certain I would always enter a school and call it my “home.”

That grounded certainty was shaken in 2006. I received a call from a parent of one of my previous campers that the nonprofit that hosted Camp Determination would be closing its doors due to lack of funding. The family was crushed, fearing that the key positive experience her son had through the year, the one he counted down to, was no longer available. She begged that I consider taking action to keep an overnight camp for autistic youth available in Kansas City. I was a new mom, loved my part time gig as an Autism Specialist and although my heart was broken for the loss of Camp Determination, I hung up the phone with tears in my eyes and a deep desire to help, yet also had absolute resistance to take action.

My resistance softened after thinking it through, receiving additional phone calls, and having the support of my friend and colleague, Dr. Kaye Otten. Together, we listened to prior campers and parents say that no one could “take the reins” and bring a camp to life without knowing the numerous details involved in overseeing the lofty task. Together, we thought about the lives changed through the camp, reflected on our own childhood summer camp experiences, and decided we couldn’t sit it out.

Hand in hand, we created By-Laws, developed a Board of Directors, and cofounded a nonprofit, Camp Encourage. Never would I have imagined that we could have jumped in and taken care of all of the ground-up details, but we did. Faith, hope, and a strong belief in the power of something very good will do that to you. And, never would I have imagined that I would step away from working in the school environment. Yet, I did and here I am, eighteen years later. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have both professionally and personally faced obstacles through the years. When each were tossed in my path, I was fortunate to have supportive humans around me and a strong team. I also believe in finding the good, learning the lessons through the muck, and holding as tight as can be to a positive attitude.

My friend and fellow co-founder of Camp Encourage, Kaye Otten taught me something that has really resonated through the years. You can “sit back and admire the problem or you can do something about it.” I am quick to get up, learn from others, seek solutions, and press on.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Camp Encourage was founded in 2007 to encourage social growth, independence, and self-esteem in youth on the autism spectrum by providing quality overnight camp experiences and social opportunities. Since its inception, Camp Encourage has provided nearly 1900 camper slots to autistic youth and their peers in Missouri and Kansas, and has proudly released over $780,000 to families in need of scholarship funding.

We strive to provide a place where each camper: feels proud about who they are, can shine by exhibiting individual talents, is able to share positive experiences with others with similar interests and abilities, can connect and keep in touch with new friends, and knows that there is a place where judgments and teasing are absent.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up on acreage in southern Belton and grew up learning to appreciate the outdoors. I enjoyed friends but also enjoyed time to myself, was confident yet insecure, liked being not-exactly-like-the-others, loved laughter, enjoyed volleyball and basketball (and was lucky to have parents that never missed a game), and had a heart for justice.

Pricing:

• There is a fee to attend our overnight camps however, each applicant is encouraged to submit a scholarship application for a partial or full scholarship.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://campencourage.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campencourage
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campencourage
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/campencourage/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@campencourage5090