By Baily DeBoer
This week’s staff spotlight is Heather Youde. She is currently a math instructional coach, which means she helps kids from ages Pre-K through 12th grade with math. She can be found at both school locations helping out, and has been teaching with us for 19 years. Heather grew up on a farm outside of Primghar and graduated from South O’Brien. She attended college at Northwestern in Orange City and graduated with a PE and elementary education degree with a health minor, along with a middle school education endorsement and coaching endorsement. Heather’s older brother, Greg, was a teacher and when she was in high school she observed one of his classes, which was amazing! She knew from that moment on she wanted to be just like him. Heather’s favorite thing about teaching is the relationships she gets to build with the students. She thinks it’s awesome to see everyone’s individual personalities and enjoys watching them do things they think they can’t. Heather’s best advice for students would be “Don’t give up on yourself. You are worth all of the hard work that life has to offer. Some days you just have to ‘Suck it Up, Buttercup.” The advice she wishes she would have received in high school is “Don’t grow up so fast. Just be a kid!”