Name: Heather Harvey

Family: Married with lots of pets

School: Hughson High School

Position: Agriculture teacher

Experience and education: I was very active in FFA in high school and developed a deep passion for agriculture and education. I attended Chico State, where I received my bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. I had the privilege of student teaching at Central Valley High School in Ceres and then Hughson High School back in 2019. I taught for a few years at Merced High before making my way back to Hughson!

What attracted you to Hughson? What attracted me to Hughson was the family atmosphere within the district and community. From student teaching here, I have had first-hand experience of what Hughson as a community is like and I truly value and enjoy how tight-knit and supportive it is.

What most inspires you about what you do? Getting the opportunity to inspire students and be a positive role model in their life is what fuels my passion for teaching. I love getting to watch them put what they’ve learned in class to use whether that be in a lab or in real life. Having the opportunity to help them develop as young adults and seeing them develop their own passions is very rewarding.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? A challenge I look forward to tackling this year is building relationships with my students and developing curriculum that ties into their interests.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? My favorite teaching tool is hands-on learning. Any content I can turn into a hands-on lab and allow the students to apply their knowledge is what I love.

What do you want your students to remember? I want my students to always remember that they are heard, valued and seen and will always have someone rooting for them.

How can parents support what you do? Parents can support what I do by checking in with their students on their classwork and checking their aeries. I also encourage parents to always reach out and communicate with me if they have any questions or concerns about their student.

What would surprise people about your job? I think people would be surprised at how many different “hats” an ag teacher wears and how much time we spend with our students outside of the classroom. Whether that be at fair, career development events or even at sporting events. You can typically find an ag teacher at some event with students after school and on most weekends.

What do you do for fun? Outside of school I train dogs. I currently own four dogs and we train and compete in a variety of dog sports up and down the state of California. We compete in flyball, dock diving, disc, barn hunt and have plans to start up in agility this fall.  I think FFA made me pretty competitive in nature and I love getting to compete with my dogs and my friends.