At Lake Carolina Elementary School in Blythewood, South Carolina, fourth-grade teacher Heather Bass employs unique and innovative strategies that motivate her students and keep them engaged in her lessons. As the school coach for both differentiated instruction and integrated thematic instruction (ITI), Bass helps her students incorporate music, cooperative learning and technology into research-based projects that address individual strengths and needs. Though she is often presented with very challenging students—including those who are autistic or have learning disabilities—Bass finds a way to work with them until they blossom and succeed, even after they leave her classroom. Her students' standardized test scores frequently surpass expectations and are consistently among the highest in the state. Bass actively participates in the district's Teacher Leadership Academy and has served as chair of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Committee. She is a member of the Curriculum Committee, has led several workshops for educators at the school and district levels, and has had one of her lesson plans published in an educational magazine. Bass has mentored new and student teachers and has had her classroom videotaped by the district for training purposes. A National Board Certified teacher, Bass regularly uses assessment data to push her students to higher levels, no matter where they start. When national ITI consultants visited her classroom, they cited her instruction as among the best in the nation.
1997 University of South Carolina, B.A.
