The family of a former Great Falls Public Schools student, who had lived with a genetic neurodevelopmental movement disorder, donated a manual wheelchair and a power wheelchair to the district after the student’s death earlier this year.
During their Aug. 5 meeting, the school board voted to accept the donation from Kathryn Hill’s family to the district’s physical therapy department.
In a May letter to the board, the physical therapy department wrote that they’d been offered the donation.
“As a department, we feel that these would be very beneficial for students that we currently have and already have students in mind that could use them,” according to their letter.
A technician from Benefis Health System’s home healthcare and equipment division looked over the wheelchairs and deemed them in good working condition after a few minor repairs that were completed, according to their letter.
During the meeting, Board Member Bill Bronson, said the power wheelchairs are “incredibly expensive.”
He thanked the family for thinking of the district and that the wheelchairs could be used in the physical therapy program.
Hill was a “conscientious student, passionate learner, observant friend, and lover of all things historical. She enjoyed writing short stories, creating digital and traditional art, and reading a variety of genres. She loved historical non-fiction, documentaries, as well as Jane Austen books and movies. Kathryn had diverse tastes in music and loved to dance. Learning about different cultures and areas of the world was a favorite pastime,” according to her obituary.
Hill died in April, about two months shy of her 20th birthday. She graduated from Great Falls High School in February 2023 in a personal ceremony due to her medical circumstances, according to her obituary.
In lieu of flowers, “Kathryn’s greatest wish was to have a Kathryn Hill Memorial Scholarship with the Great Falls Public School Foundation to assist others in their post-high school education,” according to her obituary.
Memorials can be made by donating to the Great Falls Public School Foundation and indicating the “Kathryn Hill Memorial Scholarship” either by mail or on their website.
