Kittie Weston-Knauer, who recently opened Des Moines’ first public charter school, has been named to The Grio’s 100 History Makers in the Making list.

Weston-Knauer is a former Des Moines Independent Community School District principal who worked with the district for 33 years.

She was once paralyzed after a BMX bike racing accident, but overcame the disability and is now the oldest female competitive BMX rider in the nation, according to The Grio’s website.

The Grio is a division of NBC News that was launched in 2009 as the first video-centric news site devoted to providing content for African-Americans.