Heather Whitaker is the alternative education teacher at Gorham Middle School in Gorham, Maine where she has been teaching since 2000. Whitaker is passionate about combining learning opportunities with the needs of the community. She started her school’s garden, which donates over 800 pounds of produce to the local food pantry each year. She is also a founding member of the Gorham BackPack Program, which provides students in her community suffering from chronic hunger with food over the weekend. The program was recently awarded a $25,000 State Farm Community Assist grant. Her students are active volunteers for both programs. Whitaker is experienced in using restorative practices and experiential learning. She believes in the power of relationships and that learning should be meaningful to students. Whenever possible, Whitaker takes students out of the classroom on educational field trips to local farms, skiing and snowboarding at Sunday River, hiking in Maine and New Hampshire, and volunteering with the elderly are just some of the opportunities in which she engages her students. Whitaker graduated from Boston College in 2000, where she received her bachelor’s of arts in elementary education with moderate special needs. She later earned her master of science in literacy education from the University of Southern Maine. Whitaker’s biggest love is her family. Her husband, Marc, 9 year-old son, Trent, and 5-year old daughter Maeve inspire her daily. She loves hosting friends at her house, can be found in the mountains skiing during the winter, and is proud to be a “Maine-ah.”