Photo Courtesy of Kai Talbert
Shannon Evans '27
STAFF WRITER
At the high school, Ms. Heather Biddle serves a dual role as both a teacher and a coach, impacting students in meaningful ways across a variety of academic and extracurricular settings. Known for her commitment to fostering academic growth and personal development, she works tirelessly to ensure that every student has the tools they need to succeed.
As a teacher, Biddle teaches “Learning to Learn,” a regular education intervention class designed to strengthen students’ executive functioning skills. Her classes consist of various types of students – from those in Advanced Placement (AP) courses to those in Academic classes, as well as students recovering from injuries like concussions or transitioning from other countries. Biddle shares that she wishes to prepare “students to succeed [and] to be good humans as they move forward and go [receive] post-secondary [education], or whatever their choices are.” She also recounts that she has “wanted to be a teacher since she was in elementary school,” with her inspiration being her “fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Bateman.”
A skier herself, Ms. Biddle has also applied her teaching philosophy to her position as the advisor for Unionville’s Ski Club. This club offers students the opportunity to go on entertaining ski trips in which they engage in a thrilling sport while bonding with their peers. Biddle’s role in the club involves managing fundraisers and helping plan trips. Beginning at the start of the school year, Ski Club runs a raffle booth at the October Community Fair to help raise money for the ski trips. These fundraising attempts typically help cover bus costs, while all other costs are paid for by students. According to Ms. Biddle, one of the club’s main goals this year has been to increase freshman enrollment, as the club’s 165 participants have little-to-no 9th graders. To increase participation and make the sport more accessible to all students, Ms. Biddle has six local trips planned this year, all at different locations and during different times, with the most recent one being to Mount Killington in Piko, Vermont. With more opportunities, she hopes to see more students joining the club and partaking in the activity.
Through her roles as both a teacher and a coach, Ms. Biddle exemplifies the idea of educating the whole student. Whether inside the classroom or on the slopes, she is dedicated to helping students thrive and ensuring they have the foundation they need to succeed in all aspects of their lives.
