She saw hope in every child. She never looked down on children because of their neighborhood or their parents.

Pamela Franks on her mother, Harriett Ball

Harriett Ball was born in the Houston area in 1946. She was a major inspiration behind the KIPP charter school system. The system is named for her song, “Knowledge is Power” . She was a master teacher, writer, artist, advocate and innovator who taught for over 25 years in the Houston and Austin school districts. Her teaching style incorporates audio, visual, tactile and kinesthetic teaching modes and because of this could serve regular education and special education students because it helped each student learn in his or her best learning mode. She has been recognized as one of the top teachers in the United States, in newspapers, books and television and appears in the movie, Waiting for Superman.  She fought for ‘under taught’ students and for education majors to be better equipped with methods that could reach every child.  All of this, and she raised four children as a single mother. She died February 2, 2011.