About the Hidden Hero and their story
The hidden hero we chose to represent is Katherine Wayne, my grandma. She spent her career as a teacher and later school principal looking to impart her lifelong drive for learning onto students. She was an advocate for science, mathematics, the arts, and higher education and sought to help an otherwise struggling public school district filled with kids who were economically disenfranchised compared to their richer, more suburban neighbors. Her passion for learning never stopped in the classroom. Even after retiring several years ago she decided to take on the project of learning French, spent time studying history, and, of course, tried to pass on her passion to her grandchildren. She has always been a role model to me, she really made me understand that I don’t stop learning just because school is out and that there’s so much about the world to find an interest in. When I’m at home and we go out for coffee or lunch she always finds something interesting to tell me about, be it the life of Pablo Piccaso, the state of world affairs, or even just stories of when she was a principal. The final puzzle in this game is inspired by one such story. When she wasn’t yet the principal of the school, her office used to be connected to the principal’s office, meaning when students were sent to the principal they would always have to go through her office. It’s easy to imagine this being more than a bit distracting, especially since the kids sent to the principal are usually not the most even-kilter, mild-mannered students. So one summer break, she asked the maintenance staff to remove the door connecting their two offices and instead place the door to the principal’s office in the hallway, so the old door was covered up by a wall as if it were never there. The first day back, a couple of children, evidently regulars, walked in looking for the principal’s office. When they saw the door missing, they were obviously more than a bit confused but, rather than ask for help or clarification, one of them had an idea. He walked up slowly and knocked on the wall. My grandma never mentioned in this story if she managed to keep her composure in this situation but I can be certain that I wouldn’t have.

Horizons Participant
The University of Tulsa