ECC's Heidi Eaton named Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year
Heidi Eaton, a professor of digital technologies at Elgin Community College, was recently named the recipient of the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year Award during the association's 88th annual conference in February.
The award recognizes the finest career and technical teachers at the postsecondary level who have demonstrated innovation in the classroom, commitment to their students and dedication to the improvement of career technical education in their institutions and communities.
"Heidi is a lifelong learner; committed to growing herself professionally and keeping current with changing technologies," said Peggy Heinrich, vice president of Teaching, Learning & Student Development. "She is dedicated to student success and contributes significantly to the community through coaching and volunteerism. Heidi is a perfect example of the faculty who bring high quality, innovative programming to the students of ECC."
Eaton has been teaching at ECC for over 15 years; first joining the college in 2003. She serves as the digital technologies department instructional coordinator, where she has organized and facilitated new part-time faculty orientation and developed and implemented a new full-time faculty onboarding program, among many other accomplishments.
Her education and work background in business has provided a wealth of knowledge which contributes to the digital technologies program. She is at the forefront of curriculum development and program design efforts, currently working on a curriculum alignment project with area high schools that aims to build seamless pathways for secondary education students seeking to pursue a degree in digital technologies.
In addition, Eaton helped support the division in delivering new technologies in the classroom. She has been involved in textbook selection and helping to implement textbook fees into course fees, allowing students access to the needed course materials from day one of class.
Eaton is also the recipient of the 2017 Illinois Business Education Association Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year Award, and was elected to serve as member at large. She was also recognized at an International Conference on Teaching & Leadership Excellence where she received a National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence in Teaching award.
The Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education is dedicated to providing unified, visionary leadership to advance and promote all aspects of career and technical education. It is affiliated with the Association for Career and Technical Education based in Alexandria, Va. For more information, visit www.iacte.org.