Katherine M. Heavers

I have been a classroom science teacher for 29 years. I am preparing for my 30th year and will be teaching biology to 9th grade students and human anatomy & physiology to 11th and 12th grades students at a large, high-achieving suburban public school outside of Princeton, NJ. My students are amazing - they are my primary inspiration for the work I do.

My interests are many, but relevant to the current work I am doing with Valerie Kearns are educational psychology and the philosophy of education. The nexus of mindfulness, meditation, neuroplasticity and learning is really where my passion lies. This is an exciting time in education, as AI is on the forefront of everyone's minds. My primary goal is to teach humans how to be human; secondary to that work is the teaching of science, which, I've found, is the absolute best way in. How better to pique curiosity than to show someone how life works?

I co-authored Transforming Teaching Through Relationship-Building and Self-Reflection: Finding Our Way In with Val Kearns in 2024. This book explores methods to enhance connection-building in educational settings by encouraging readers to engage in self-reflection on topics such as fostering trust, wielding language with intention, nurturing emotional safety, offering meaningful feedback, unearthing and confronting bias, and promoting student voice.