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Pointer Salutes: Knox conquers Mount Kilimanjaro: School benefits from educator’s endurance No one knows that better than Dorothy Knox, head of school for Hampton Roads Montessori in Oyster Point. Knox recently waged one of the biggest uphill battles of her life, but it wasn’t in the classroom. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. And she was motivated not just by her sense of adventure, but also by her quest to energize the children and parents of the Montessori school and the community to help create a first and second grade for the school. It was a financial mountain the school was trying to climb. Knox figured there was no better example to set than to put one foot in front of the other and set out on a real climb. Her supporters, she thought, would follow by reaching the fundraising peak via their checkbook. So, on February 27, Knox, 48, started climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 19,340 feet tall. A member of The Adventure Club East, Knox and several others from the area reached the summit on March 3. “I will never forget it,” she says. “I am so fortunate to have been able to do it, to be able to realize most my dreams. I have always wanted to go to Africa.” Knox is a world traveler, so when the adventure club decided to go to Africa, she was thrilled. But to successfully complete the climb, lots of preparation and months of training are necessary. As she was training for the enormous climb, she was searching for a source of motivation to keep her going. “I thought about the children,” she said. “I thought, ‘I can turn this into a fundraiser.’ I needed something to inspire me to get to the top.” And the effort, called Elevation for Education, to raise $19,310 for the school was born. “It was great,” she says. “Fundraising is so difficult. I envisioned every single person in the school having a part. I don’t think there was a family who didn’t contribute something, whether it was money or helping to plan and organize.” The idea excited everyone, including the almost 100 children at the Montessori school. They embraced Knox’s climb and challenge to bring in money to launch the elementary school. “We received donations from one penny to $1,000, Knox says. “Every single donation was treated equally.” About $15,000 has been raised so far. Money was not the only thing raised as a result of Knox’s climb. The children, upon hearing about Knox going to Africa, embarked upon a learning expedition about the continent and the mountain Knox was going to climb. “They learned so much about Africa,” she says. “They did a tremendous amount of work studying the culture and geography. They were constantly excited. Every day they would say, ‘When are you climbing the mountain? Why are you still here?’” That motivated me because there was no way I could say I didn’t make it to the top, no matter how hard it was,” she says. Each class at the school made Knox a banner to unfurl at the summit. She was ready, mission in hand. The experience proved to be almost beyond words, Knox says. The climb was difficult, but she was intent on making it. The statistics weighed heavy on Knox’s mind: only about 40 percent of the people who start the Mount Kilimanjaro climb make it to the top. But Knox had trained hard and was confident that she could do it. For hours each day, the group, along with tour guides and porters, climbed, seeing amazing views and landscape along the way. “It was nothing like I expected,” Knox says. “The vistas are huge. So, when you climb, you have these huge open spaces. As you go through each zone, you see desert that is very barren, and lava rocks.” The base of the Kilimanjaro is rain forest, with temperatures in the low 80s. As the group climbed, the climate changed dramatically. “We saw a beautiful sunrise. I praised God for such magnificent beauty and even more for the opportunity to be on Mt. Kilimanjaro—a dream come true! By now I had no doubt that I would make it to the summit and felt very peaceful and content,” Knox wrote in one entry. On the last day, after hours and hours of climbing, Knox and her travel mates reached the top, an incredible feat of endurance, patience and skill. Flanked by glaciers and covered in snow, the temperature at the summit was 20 degrees with a minus 20 wind-chill factor. “I remember looking out and thinking ‘what a magnificent experience,’” she says. “It is a very personal moment for each person. It puts everything in perspective.” Having reached their goal, the group then began the climb down, also very tough. But for Knox, the entire experience was absolutely worth the work. “For me it was unreal,” she says. “I kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe I am climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. If only I could rise above and look down on myself and see myself climbing up. In some ways you feel totally insignificant on this huge mountain. But then you feel totally privileged. “I am so fortunate to have been able to do this,” she says. “You forget about how hard it is and keep plodding along. I am so lucky for the opportunity and support I had. If I could think back on a time when I was a child, I would never have thought I would be this blessed.” After the life-changing climb, Knox and her comrades went on a safari. They also tracked gorillas in Rwanda and took a brief trip into Uganda. Now, back at school, Knox is working on turning the first and second grades, for which she climbed so hard, into a reality. In September, when the classes begin, the summit will come into view. |
