In the first teacher feature, I featured Art and Theater instructor Erin Allen. This section will cover CTE Nurse Aide instructor, Heather Higgins.
Higgins has been teaching Nurse Aide for two years. Before teaching, she worked in healthcare as an RN (Registered Nurse). Throughout her experience of being a RN, Higgins learned that her passion lies in teaching.
“I knew I wanted to become a teacher when I realized how much fulfillment I found in helping others learn and gain confidence,” Higgins said. “In healthcare I was mentoring new staff, and I found that guiding someone to understand a skill or concept was just as rewarding as providing patient care.”
The elements of teaching, Higgins noticed, were perfect for her.
“[It] allowed me to combine my clinical experience, love of learning, and desire to positively influence the future of healthcare,” Higgins said.
More than teaching CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) skills or anatomical structures, Higgins strives to make an impact on students’ lives and prepare them for occupations in healthcare. With a nursing basis, she understands how important it is to be equipped in the field.
“My background in nursing and leadership exposed me to the critical need for strong, compassionate, and well-prepared healthcare professionals. I wanted to be part of shaping that foundation early, especially for students entering the field for the first time,” Higgins said.
Higgins inspires students to work toward their goals. Sophomore Chloe Zollman, who wants to become a pediatric nurse, considers Higgins to be an inspiration for her future.
“I look up to her and she inspires me to be in her position,” Zollman said.
Junior Gracie Pelter is currently in Higgins’s Nurse Aide II class. She took the class with the goal of becoming an NICU nurse, an RN that specializes in newborn infants that require additional attention, because “[she] wants to help the little babies.” Higgins has guided Pelter towards this aspiration.
“Mrs. Higgins has shown me that [becoming an NICU nurse] is possible. Everyday, she teaches us not only in the classroom, but life skills that will help us trust our instincts in the future. I have loved being in her class for the past two years, and I am upset that I won’t be with her for a third time next year,” Pelter said.
While Higgins has been teaching for a short time, she knows that it is what she is meant to do. To her, leading students toward their futures is incredibly encouraging and rewarding.
“Teaching is more than a job to me, it’s a calling. Being able to make a lasting impact on students’ lives and future careers is something I don’t take lightly, and it motivates me every day,” Higgins said. “Although I am a new teacher and am learning how to become a better teacher everyday, I love my students and being in the classroom with them.”
