Russell Corey advises current and future Hill Learning Center students to “listen to your teachers. They want to set you up for success. The real world can be less forgiving than they are.” His experiences as a Hill student from 1996-2000 were instrumental in this advice.
Following graduation from Durham Academy and Hill, Russell earned a degree in Landscape Design and Horticulture from North Carolina State University. He worked in the landscape and design industry for several years before joining Kawasaki Engines as a district manager for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Long Island, New York. In 2010 he was assigned to a new district covering the southeast and was able to return to North Carolina. In 2012, he was named District Manager of the Year. He currently is the Regional Manager and is responsible for seven districts in seventeen states across the eastern United States. He has been nominated by Kawasaki to enroll in an Executive Leadership Development program through Brandman University. Russell, his wife and two daughters live in Apex.
As he looks back over his school experiences prior Hill, Russell describes himself as lacking the ability to focus, maintain organization and uninterested in the subject matter, but “At Hill, I learned critical skills and developed methods and successful practices in learning to live and thrive with ADHD. I was taught the importance of time management, organization, and I found more focus in the smaller class settings.” He goes on to say, “I quickly learned that not everyone learns in the same fashion. I was unaware of the pitfalls that someone with ADHD can fall into.” Russell points out that it took time to develop the skills and awareness to “create safety nets to protect from those pitfalls.” There were fun times as well. Russell was a member of the first class in the “new” building, the current Hill school location. “It was quite a change from the small, brick building across the street.”
After leaving an academic setting, Russell says he continues to employ strategies he learned at Hill. “Much of what I learned in school to help overcome some of the difficulties of dealing with ADHD, I apply in my everyday life. Tricks for communicating, staying organized, and understanding the different learning pathways have played a significant role in my professional career.”