Heather Burch
5th Grade Teacher - Elementary Dept. Lead
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Favorite Verse: Zephaniah 3:17 - Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.
Educational Background: I carry two Bachelor of Arts degrees from CSUN in Psychology and Child Development. I obtained my California Clear Teaching Credential for K-8 from CSULA. I have a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling: Trauma and Crisis Care from Liberty University, as well as a certification in Pastoral Counseling. I also earned a 3 year degree in Biblical Studies and Theology from Faith Bible Institute. Educational Experience: I have been in education for 26 years. I first worked as a 1:1 Behavioral Therapist with children diagnosed with ASD. In 2000, God called me into teaching. I worked in LAUSD for 18 years until God, again, called me out of it and into ministry work at my church utilizing my Pastoral Counseling degree. In 2020, I got the call again from God to go back into teaching at HCS. I have taught grades 1st through 6th over the years and am currently teaching 5th grade, specifically English and History. All About Me: I derive great joy from watching a student come to the realization that they can do so much more than they think they can when they learn who they are in God’s eyes. Teaching children their identity in Christ is tantamount to them gaining a Biblical worldview. It is key to their survival in this ever-increasing hostile world against Christians. In my classroom, all students are considered family, which means they are supported, encouraged, heard, safe, and loved. I believe in meeting the needs of each student in order for them to achieve their spiritual and academic goals. Every child is capable of learning, and I like to take the time to get to know them and discover their unique way of learning. I am a third generation native Californian. I love to read (mostly Victorian mysteries), hike, and garden. I have a fur baby kitty named Tillie. The students love to see pictures of her and hear about her silly antics. |
Elementary ProgramTeacher(s): Heather Burch & Jami Casas
Third grade is often considered a pivotal year in your child’s educational journey. Instruction in phonics is phased out and increased emphasis is placed on vocabulary acquisition, comprehension strategies, text analysis, language conventions, and writing. Hillcrest third grade students will learn to use context as an independent vocabulary strategy. They are learning to refer to information in the text when asking and answering questions about texts they have read. They will also apply analysis strategies to determine the theme or central message of text. In mathematics, your child will deepen their understanding of place value and their knowledge of & skill with addition, subtraction, and multiplication of whole numbers. Your child will also develop an understanding of fractions as numbers, concepts of area and perimeter of plane figures, and attributes of various shapes. In Social Studies we will cover the geography of our local region, American Indians in our region, how communities have changed over time, as well as American citizens, symbols and government. For Science, this year is filled with the exploration of energy, matter and light. As well as investigation and experimentation relating adaptation to the survival and fitness of the organism. Your student will become familiar with the patterns and movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars—both as those bodies actually move and as they appear to move when viewed from Earth. Most importantly, third grade will also be the year for students to develop a strong Biblical worldview. We will begin to explore what God and the Bible have to say about every aspect of our lives in a personal and meaningful way. We will do this by focusing on servanthood and what it means to be a servant in all aspects of our life.
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