Ms. Heppe's Biography

Ms. Heppe is a teacher at Columbia Middle School, teaching ELD (English Language Development), which is a class for students who speak a second language.

Two of her classes are for kids who are still learning English, and one class is for students who are preparing to become "mainstream" students, who no longer need extra help with English. This is her first year at Coumbia Middle School.

So far this year, Ms. Heppe had also coached boys' and girls' volleyball, and has volunteered to help the 8^th grade girls develop a dance team for Columbia. She really enjoys working with kids after school because she gets to see them having fun, not just working on difficult assignments

She grew up in Spain and Turkey, and at one point in time, she spoke 4 different languages: Spanish, English, Turkish, and German.

Now, however, she focuses mainly on Spanish and English. She graduated from High School at Incirlik American High School in Incirlik, Turkey.

She went to college in two places. First, she got a degree in Journalism from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She worked at a television station in Santa Maria, a newspaper in Visalia, and another news magazine in San Luis Obispo, before she decided to become a teacher.

Then she began Sacramento State's Bilingual and Multicultural Education program to become an elementary school teacher. Before long, however, she discovered a knack for teaching middle school. She began teaching in East Palo Alto, working with 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders at Belle Haven Elementary. Then, she transferred here to Columbia Middle School, where she found her long term goals. She plans to stay next year, and hopefully many years to come.

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