WACO, Texas – Remarkable women are our mothers and daughters. They are the women we look up to in so many ways.

Haley Slaughter is a mother, teacher and leader in Central Texas.

“I love what we call the ‘Lightbulb Moment,'” Slaughter said.

Slaughter is a dyslexia instructional specialist with the Waco Independent School District. She helps students in grades two through five.

“Just to be an advocate for those students who need to have that extra push. That they need somebody to be their cheerleader,” Slaughter said.

This learning disability hits close to home.

“My husband is dyslexic. His father is dyslexic. So it kind of ran in his family, and we know that dyslexia is prevalent in family history, so that there was a good chance that eventually, one day when we have children, one of our children would be dyslexic. And our oldest son is dyslexic,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter says she loves to be able to give her students the tools they need to succeed.

“So that they can better understand how to read, which is a significant life function throughout the rest of their life,” Slaughter says.

Just like her students are hitting the books – so is she.

Slaughter has been hard at work on her Certified Academic Language Therapist, or C.A.L.T. certification, and has started work on her Masters in Education.

“I want to make sure that I’m up to date on my education and I’m current, so that I can teach those values and teach those things to my students, as well,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter does all of this while raising three children ages two, six and nine.

“My own children see me doing my homework at night, which makes them come into the living room and they’ll sit with me, and my oldest will do his reading, and my middle one will do his site words, and we’ll all get together and do our homework until everybody is finished,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter is passionate about learning, and sharing this knowledge with others.

“I love learning new things. I love passing that knowledge onto everyone who will listen,” Slaughter said. “I absolutely love being a mentor to my other teachers. I hope that they would always reach out to me to ask questions.”

And above all, her family is everything to her.

“That’s what makes my world go round. Is just being able to go home, to spend time with them, to have those special moments and memories that you can’t have forever, but just cherish them right now so that they are important,” Slaughter said.