Bright Spots: Seeing things like Ruth

There are 1,400 students attending Tuscaloosa County High School, all smart and talented in their own ways.

We’re highlighting just one of those students who makes an impact on everyone she meets. The word “brilliant” means exceptionally clever or talented. Hopefully, you’ve met someone with this quality.  Ruth Baxter is one of those people.

The keyboard and ukulele are just two instruments Ruth has taught herself to play. This young lady is multi-talented.

She can speak in not one, two, three but four languages besides English. Her abilities don’t stop there. Being blind since birth, Ruth mastered Braille at a young age.

When she’s not crushing milestones, proving doctors and others wrong, you can find Ruth impacting others without even knowing it.

Traci Davidson is a paraprofessional educator at Tuscaloosa County High. She and Ruth have a special bond.

“Her disability doesn’t make her any different to me,” Davidson said.

Most of the time we think about teachers being the ones to teach their students lessons in the classroom and in life. But Ruth Baxter’s teachers said they’re the ones who have learned a lot from her.

“I have learned so much from Ruth,” Orientation and Mobility Specialist Dr. Ellen Bowman said. “I learned to think outside the box, to try more than once. To never quit, to try different strategies. There is more than one way to do things. Be steadfast in all you do.”

“Her disability does not make her any different than the gen-ed population here,” Davidson said. “She is like I said so smart. Everyone here loves her. Anyone who does not know Ruth, I feel sorry for them because she has made my life and me a better person. Just her aura, she is amazing.”

Ruth has an expression she likes to use when she or others aren’t feeling their best. She wants to make sure she shares it with you too.

“Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!”

Thank you, Ruth for making our community a little brighter.