84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8, 1990
Teenager Inspires Others
MARY LAEGER-HAGEMEISTER
Dauphin Co. Correspondent
MILLERSTOWN (Perry Co.)
Her eyes are twinkly, almost as
if little lamps are hidden behind
them. A cheery nature and sense of
humor make her a fun person to be
around.
“She’s someone almost every
one likes,” comments her mom.
“At school she is a motivator to the
rest of her classmates. With other
people she is a caring, sensitive
individual. An all-around good
kid.”
Her name is Krista Byers, a
15-year-old freshmen at Green
wood High School, Millerstown.
While many words describe this
young lady, “achiever” describes
most aspects of her life. Krista is
involved in an array of activities
and has achieved many awards and
recognition in them. The most
recent being named 1990 Perry
County Grange’s Junior Princess.
She also won the piano award at
the state Junior Grange competi
tion held at St. Francis College,
Loretta, in June 1990.
In addition to these two out
standing awards with the Grange,
she was named Star Greenhand in
1989, which is awarded to the most
outstanding ninth grader from the
Greenwood Chapter of FFA. She
serves as historian and safety com
mittee co-chairperson for her local
chapter as well. Her animal pro
jects include steers and lambs of
which she is very proud. Her inter
est in agriculture extends to 4-H in
which she is enrolled in swine
projects.
“I actually love my pigs! I know
that sounds weird, but I think
they’re cute. I couldn’t live with
out my animals!" she exclaims.
When asked what she likes best
about living on a farm, she claims
that it is the animals, “I can’t live
without them! Farming is hard
work but I like it. I don’t really like
all the really hard manual labor,
but it has taught me responsibili
ty.” Her responsibilities include
involvement in hockey, basket
ball, softball, class president,
member of student council, and on
the executive committee for
Krista said her best friend is her mother, Linda Byers.
wmesiead
SADD (Students Against Drunk
Driving). In addition, she is the
student correspondent for the
county paper, Wild Cat.
Her interests do not stop there.
Krista is also active in her church.
Recently she has started sharing
the responsibilities of church pian
ist. She has also helped to re
organize the youth group for which
she is the historian. Although she
is very busy with her school, com
munity, and church activities, she
does have time for some hobbies.
One of them -is playing the piano
something she has done for 10
years. Her love for animals carries
over to her hobby of tending her
horses.
Like typical teenager, Krista
prefers to spend her free time on
week-ends at the mall and the
movies.
Fighter
There is one major event in
Krista’s life that labels her a fight
er. Shortly after she received the
state Grange piano award in June,
Krista was involved in a terrifying
automobile accident. It took two
hours to pull her from the car and
involved a helicopter ride to Gei
singer Medical Center, where she
spent the next five weeks.
It took eight hours of surgery to
reconstruct her face. Her upper
right leg bone was smashed, her
elbow muscles were tom and had
so much glass in it that it could not
be put in a cast. Doctors feared she
would lose her right arm, but
extensive surgery and therapy has
paid off. She can play the piano,
but has not regained full use of arm
movement.
Her determination and fighting
nature continues. She is optimistic
that she will again play on the
basketball team since she has prog
ressed further than doctors pre
dicted. Despite the pain and suf
fering Krista had to endure, she
didn’t give up nor did she lose her
sense of humor. She does admit
that she did, and still does get dis
couraged, but is determined to
make the best of it.
Helping her get through the
whole ordeal has been possible
because of her family and friends.
Since her Aunt Sue had a more
flexible schedule, she spent many
hours with her at the hospital as
Krista was going through therapy
preparing to go home. In addition
to the numerous visits by all her
family and friends, she received
more than 350 cards and 25 stuffed
animals. “I don’t think I even had a
stuffed animal before this hap
pened, but I sure have a collection
now!”
Her right leg also limits her
ability to be fully involved in all
the sports activities that have kept
her so busy in years past. But it has
not stopped her from trying.
“I can’t play, but I do go to
basketball practice,” she said.
“I’ve been learning to shoot with
my left hand, so when I do get my
other hand back I’ll be a better
player. So that’s positive.”
She also can see other positive
aspects from the accident. She
said, “Since the accident I have
learned to really appreciate every
one more I think I’m a better
person because of it. I know I’m
more religious, I pray more!”
The support from her family and
friends also helped Krista to real
ize how rich she is with the bless
ings of these special people
“They’re what helped me get
through it.”
Her body will continue to heal
and she’ll continue to re-align her
goals. However, she does have
some specific goals for which she
is aiming. One short-term goal is to
be a state officer for FFA.
She said, “I attended a confer
ence at Penn State and saw what
the officers do. I decided that I
could do that and now that’s one of
my goals.”
Her long-range goals also
include agriculture. After high
school she plans to go to college to
become an agriculture teacher. She
attributes her interest in this area
Krista and one of her friends enjoy the stuffed animals Krista received during her
five-week hospital stay.
CREAMERY (Montgomery
Co.) — The new program deve
loped by Penn State University, is
a series that focuses on eating pat
terns and keeping a record of food
intake; using food exchanges
instead of counting calories; and
learning the essentials of good
basic nutrition. The workbook
stresses sound eating practices and
provides practical skills for mak
ing permanent dietary changes.
This is a 12-week weight loss
series.
Krista received these trophies through her achievements
in sports, 4-H, FFA, and Grange activities.
partially to Miss Baker, her agri
cultural teacher at Greenwood.
While Miss Baker has had an influ
ence in her future career dreams,
there has been a bigger influence in
her life.
When asked who the biggest
influence has been in her life she
did not hesitate to name her mom
and dad, Linda and Edgar Byers.
“They encourage me to do my
best and accept me for who I am.
New ‘Weigh’ Of
New Weigh of Life addresses
positive attitudes toward exercise.
Other areas that will be covered
arc changing eating patterns, deal
ing with food in social situtations
and enchancing self esteem. Class
size will be limited. The classes
will be held at the Montgomery
County 4-H Center, Route 113,
Creamery, on Monday evenings
from 7-9 p.m., January 7 through
March 25, or Tuesday mornings
10 a.m. to 12 noon, January 8
through March 26. The costs of
They are both good listeners. They
show a lot of love and that really
helps!” Krista said.
Krista also claims her mother is
her best friend someone who is
always there for her. Krista’s vari
ous attributes, successes, and tri
bulations have and will continue to
form a unique individual. In her
mom’s words, “She’s a special kid
- an inspiration to us!“ and many
others as well.
Life
registration is $35 due by Decem
ber 20. For more information con
tact the 4-H office at (215)
489-4315.
In a caption that appeared last
week in Homestead Notes, an
unidentified post office customer
was identified as Don Statler. We
regret the error.