Congratulations to the latest Superior Educator - Heather Beck of Houghton-Portage Township Schools. Read her nomination below! 

Heather Beck joined Houghton Elementary School this past year and has hit the ground running. New to the district, but not teaching, Heather stands out as an engaged, happy and thoughtful teacher. You can tell she really cares about the success and growth of each of her students. Heather takes the time to communicate thoroughly with parents about how their child is progressing, all throughout the year. This has been extremely helpful for my husband and I to understand and support our daughter the best we can during her first year of school. This thoroughness also has helped us (parents and teacher) work quickly to change classroom plans, such as homework and lesson plans, along with our at home habits, such as eating and sleeping habits, to ensure our daughter and Mrs. Beck's other students are thriving. I have had the pleasure of volunteering in Mrs. Beck's classroom and first hand got to witness her adaptability and excitement for teaching her class. She is able to keep 20+ five and six year olds learning, playing and safe each and every day at school. She knows that the first year of school for children is an important one and always figures out a way to make learning fun through themed lessons for the season, holidays, or even most recently for the Solar Eclipse. Without her I am not sure our daughter's kindergarten year would have gone quite as smoothly as it has.