Heather Whitaker of Gorham Middle School in Gorham, Maine, has been named the 2020 Teacher of the Year for the state of Maine.

I love to tell stories about classroom educators who have earned honors for their work in the classroom. One of these is Heather Whitaker, a middle school teacher who has been named the 2020 Teacher of the Year for her home state of Maine.

Heather has taught at Gorham Middle School for nearly 20 years. During that time, she co-founded a backpack program in her school district to provide meals for underprivileged students to eat on weekends and vacations. In addition, Heather inaugurated a school garden. Over the last 15 years, the garden has produced an average of 800 pounds of produce per year for the Gorham Community Food Pantry.  Students in her alternative education classes are active volunteers for both programs. Recently the program was awarded a State Farm Community Assist grant in the amount of $25,000.

The process by which Heather was selected for the 2020 honors was lengthy. She was chosen from more than 300 teachers who were nominated by a member of their community earlier this year. She was then named the 2019 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year. Next she was named one of three state finalists before finally being named the 2020 Teacher of the Year.

“It was an honor to be selected, and it’s extremely exciting because it helps highlight the work of alternative learners and how hard they work to get to school and to stay in school,” Heather expressed. “I think it also gives other alternative education teachers a platform and a voice, through me, to bring attention to the needs of youth who are at risk within our schools.”

The honored educator earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with Moderate Special Needs from Boston College in 2000. She completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Literary Education from the University of Southern Maine in 2005.

To read more about Heather, see this press release from the University of Southern Maine.