DePaul School of NE Florida
Jacksonville, FL
Heather Callejas has been teaching and working with children since 2008. She began teaching in a public school, kindergarten class. The way the children follow her class rules and how much they respect her is just amazing. When the kindergarten class is walking the hallway, they use a rule called Hip & Lip. With a finger on their lip and a hand on their hip, they remember to be quiet and keep their hands to themselves, as they walk softly to their destination. Everything has a place in her classroom and the children know it, backpacks on the hooks, books on the shelves and feet on the floor. Heather makes her classroom a warm, welcoming and comfortable safe place for her students to learn and to have fun. In addition to being a core subject classroom teacher, she also teaches art and music. Heather notices what others overlook, remembers what others forget, and makes sure nothing and no one slips through the cracks. She pays attention to every detail of each students learning style, ability and obstacles so she can help them overcome. A huge part of what she does is to help build confidence, structure, and a routine so her students feel success early on and are more capable of handling the challenges that come as their curriculum changes. She is very thoughtful, deeply compassionate, extremely structured and very loving. One other area of teaching Heather is responsible for is animal and plant care. She has a passion for animals and has become a wonderful dog/kitten foster mom. She brings home dogs & kittens from the local animal shelter and nurtures them back to health physically and emotionally until they are ready to find a forever family. Each one of them holds a special place in her heart just like each of the students she teaches. She shares her foster experiences with her students so they can develop compassion, responsibility and empathy along with academics
Heather was nominated for First Coast Teacher of the Week, in recognition of her exceptional dedication and commitment to teaching students with Dyslexia. That nomination turned into a local news story highlight, she was interviewed by a reporter and on TV that evening. Heather also received The True North Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in 2024-2025 school year at DePaul School. Heather is bi-lingual and has Endorsements for Exceptional Student Education and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Heather was so inspired by her kindergarten teacher that she decided to become a teacher. This school year Heather received a surprise note from a parent of a student she taught kindergarten to 13 years ago. The student wanted to recognize Heather at her high school graduation party for all the ways that Heather helped her learn and for inspiring her to become a teacher. What a blessing it is for Heather to be a part of teaching cycle where… one teacher inspires one student to become a teacher who in turn inspires a student to become a future teacher who will then inspire a future student to become a teacher, and so on!
For the last six years Heather has been teaching students in grades 2-8 to develop skills to help them overcome Dyslexia and other learning differences, which requires and extra dose of patience and time plus a totally different style of teaching. Dyslexia is a challenge in and of itself! She takes on the challenges that each student faces and helps them individually to find a way to learn that suits their unique situation. She fosters their learning abilities and helps them face the challenges of new subjects. She is patient and loving with each student. One of Heather’s classrooms was set up in what was originally designed as a storage room! It was an odd shaped room, with a connecting door to another classroom and another door that was the HVAC mechanical room with a loud air handling unit in it. Heather overcame the size and noise in the room by decorating it to feel fun and relaxing. She had a special corner for a small library where the students could read either sitting in a comfy chair by the window or laying on a mat in front of the bookcase. She strung lights across the ceiling for break time so the room wouldn’t be too bright or too dark. She hung all kinds of colorful learning tools for the students and every year she decorates her door to be very welcoming for her students. She spends money out of her own pocket for fidget toys and gadgets to help her students keep their focus and relieve any stress they may be feeling. She has brought animals to school for her students to love on and to learn from. They have raised ducklings, fostered kittens, and rescued possums. Nature and nurture find their way into her teaching.