By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Evan at a young age, Heather Damick felt like she had a calling.
“Early on, I knew I wanted a career teaching and supporting children in some capacity,” she said. “My first job was a lifeguard for our local pool and the best part of my job—outside of getting paid to swim laps—was teaching swimming lessons.
“Then, during my senior year, I had a placement in a second-grade classroom where I tutored, developed lessons and was mentored by an amazing educator.”
For the past 12 years, Damick’s passion for teaching has been on full display at Plainwell Middle School.
And for her committed service to the district and its students, Damick was named as the recipient of the Plainwell Educator of Year, an award distributed by the Otsego-Plainwell Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Receiving this award means a tremendous amount to me because I know what caliber of teachers I work with at Plainwell,” Damick said. “So many amazing educators are deserving of this award, so standing out among them feels even more momentous.”
Damick was in a professional development meeting on a Friday morning when she received an email from Plainwell Community Schools superintendent Matthew Montange informing her of the award.
“I just sat in disbelief and awe for a few moments before texting my husband and best friend,” she said. “I don’t think I stopped smiling for the whole weekend.”
Plainwell Middle School principal Ben Manting nominated Damick for the honor.
“I feel incredibly thankful to be surrounded by amazing educators who continue to inspire and encourage me daily,” Damick said. “I am also thankful for Ben Manting for recognizing my talents and recommending me for this award.”
Damick has been a teacher for 18 years, with all but the first of those at the middle school level. She started off at Kalamazoo Public Schools before coming to PMS in the science department.
In addition to her work in the classroom—which includes creating a new forensic science class last summer—Damick is heavily involved in National Junior Honor Society. In fact, she, along with fellow PMS teacher Maria Noto Cassada, were responsible for starting the local chapter at PMS more than a decade ago.
“We wanted to provide our top academic students with opportunities to develop leadership skills and serve their community,” Damick said. “This group is important to me because I want to inspire students to look beyond themselves and see opportunities to help those in their community and beyond.
“These opportunities impact their view of the world and I hope that they continue to find ways to support those around them once they leave middle school. I love seeing so many of our previous members have been inducted into NHS.”
Damick has also presented at the Michigan Science Teachers Association Conference several times and developed a scientific writing course with Edupath, an online professional development platform for the state of Michigan.
Her presentations at the MSTA Conference revolved around increasing student engagement and purposeful science discussions. The course for Edupath, “Scientific Argumentation- Implementation Strategies to Support All Learners, was designed “to encourage and support science teachers who would like to support students of all abilities to become more fluent scientific writers.”
“When presenting and developing the Edupath course, my goal was to provide meaningful strategies that teachers could directly implement into their classrooms,” Damick said. “There are countless opportunities for ELA and mathematics, but high-quality professions development for science is not as readily available.
“These sessions are my way of giving back and sharing my knowledge and expertise with others. One of my professional goals is to continue to lead more professional development and pass on my knowledge to the next generation of teachers, just as people have done for me.
“I have had some amazing educators such as Dawn Kahler and Marty Green who shared their passion for science and continue to inspire my professional growth. I want to do the same for others.”
