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Glendia Plott

Glendia Plott gets up around 5 every morning and runs five miles. When she gets home, she’s right back out the door to go to work. To look at her, one would never guess she has battled cancer twice and has dedicated her life to educating and nurturing the developmentally disabled.

She not only lives with her youngest daughter Terrie, who is developmentally disabled, but also Brad, Mike and Aaron, who have Down syndrome. Glendia provides the ideal home and atmosphere for these young adults. She makes sure they’re off to the monthly dance, to ice skating for Terrie, bowling for Brad, work for Aaron and weight lifting for Mike. All of them have brought home medals from Special Olympics and Glendia has always been there cheering them on.

Glendia has taught these kids values, morals and unconditional love. She has taught them responsibility and helped them feel a sense of belonging in a community that can be sometimes cruel.

Recently, Glendia won the Educator of the Year award from Arc of Spokane. This is a great honor and is greatly deserved. But to Glendia, her life style is a calling. Her happiness is in seeing others succeed. She is building a foundation for a more accepting, loving community. She is a true hero in so many eyes, especially ours.

MEMO: Would you like to nominate someone as an Everyday Hero? Write a short essay between 100 and 200 words telling us about your hero and send it to: Everyday Hero, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane WA 99210-1615.