Teacher Wins Top Honors in Her 1st Year as Instructor

Singing songs to teach compound words and taking students on an online river trip of the Grand Canyon to learn geology are some of the reasons a Parkview Elementary School teacher has received national recognition.

Third-grade teacher Heidi M. Haines has been selected as the 1998 Sallie Mae First Class Teacher Award winner from California, officials said Tuesday. She will receive $1,500 and a paid trip to Washington in September.

Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of education loans, received 1,400 nominations nationwide and selected one winner in each state. The award has been handed out for 14 years and recognizes those who have been teachers for one year or less.

Not only was it Haines’ first year in education, she came to Hueneme School District as part of an emergency plan to fill vacancies created by class downsizing. During the school year, she was also finishing her student teaching requirements for Cal State Northridge, Principal Deborah DeSmeth said.

“It’s just an example of her drive,” DeSmeth said Tuesday. “She’s just outstanding.”

DeSmeth said Haines, 34, met with each of her students’ parents within the first few weeks of school and later followed up by visiting several parents at their homes, sending electronic mail to others and setting up a class web page.

“She knows the importance of involving parents in classroom programs,” DeSmeth said. “The other thing that stands out is her willingness to use her extra time [to teach].”

Haines helped to start the Parkview Press Club, an online school newspaper for students whose writing skills are below their grade level. She is a member of a district writing mentor program and has classroom book discussion groups.

To teach about the parts of a flower, Haines sang a song and asked students to assemble a flower with cut-outs of stems and petals. To practice spelling, Haines’ students “became words” by wearing tags around their necks.

“Students, who might never have experienced the wonder of making a seed grow, have eaten salads of Swiss chard, spinach and carrots produced by their own efforts,” Superintendent Robert Fraisse wrote in a glowing four-page nomination.

“This whole thing is amazing,” Haines said Tuesday. She has already attended a three-day seminar on how to teach agricultural concepts, and plans to participate in a workshop next month on writing instruction.

The Ventura resident, who lives with her husband, Jeff, and their 3-year-old daughter Madeleine, said she was inspired to teach by her sister, who teaches at Richard Bard elementary school, and after years of volunteering.

Haines is a former Assistance League Girl’s Club director and she was affiliated with Campfire Boys and Girls groups throughout the county, she said. She has also been a day-care worker and tutored high school and college students.

“It’s a lot about stomping out fires and making things happen,” Haines said of teaching.

She will return to Parkview this fall to teach a combined fourth-and fifth-grade class. Haines plans to use the award money to enroll in graduate school. Haines said she hopes to get become an educational administrator someday.