Bow English Teacher Awarded 2015 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical

Heidi Pauer, a Bow High School English teacher, has been awarded the 2015 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, according to a press statement.

Awarded annually, the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical provides an opportunity for a New Hampshire teacher to explore new ways to enhance classroom teaching through a self-designed project aimed at enriching the teaching profession statewide. Pauer will use this opportunity to cultivate creativity in New Hampshire classrooms.

“Traditional programs with outdated methods are still commonplace throughout New Hampshire high schools,” Pauer said. “Research shows that creativity activates critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills. Creativity needs to be taught more in our schools to ensure that we are preparing students for the changing demands of a 21st century workforce.”

Over the course of the next year, Pauer will help high school educators across the state develop lesson plans, activities and assessments to help develop the creative confidence of New Hampshire high school students. Her work on creativity cuts across all subject matters.

“Creativity is a critical component of success in every field of study and in every profession,” said Hilary DeAngelis, manager of student aid at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. “Writers and artists need to be creative, sure – but so do medical researchers and engineers and mathematicians. Heidi’s workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions with educators will help provide students with new tools to help master whatever subjects they are studying.”

Pauer, a Concord resident, has taught English at Bow High School for the past 18 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts and her Master of Arts in teaching in secondary English education from the University of New Hampshire. Pauer has taught several workshops on creativity and is working toward a teaching certification in visual arts, as well as finishing her CAGS on Arts Leadership and Learning at Plymouth State University. She also received the New Hampshire English Teacher of the Year Award in 2003 from the New Hampshire Council of Teachers of English.

The Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical was established in 1986 by then-Gov. John H. Sununu and the New Hampshire Legislature to honor the life and work of Concord teacher Christa McAuliffe. The program provides a year-long sabbatical to a talented New Hampshire teacher each year.

The statewide program is administered by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation with oversight from a steering committee made up of representatives from the office of the governor and the State Board of Education, the President of the New Hampshire Senate, the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, the Presidents of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers and a McAuliffe family member.