Since the opening of Briar Woods High School (BWHS) in 2005, Heather VanDyke has been the fabric of the business and marketing program. As a former Loudoun County student herself, Ms. VanDyke attended Park View High School and later earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Longwood University.
As a young adult, Ms. VanDyke did not want to become a teacher stating, “Growing up my mom was in education, she was a teacher and I always said I would never be a teacher because I look like my mother, I sound like mother and I did not want to do what my mom did so I went to college to be a computer programmer.”
During her junior year at Longwood University, her advisor told her that she was on track to graduate early. Ms. VanDyke decided that she wanted to stay in school. One of her advisors suggested teaching, but she was not interested because her experience with elementary school kids and she “knew that wasn’t for me … the little children.” Her advisor told her that she would not be working with little kids but could teach business courses to high school students. After some field experience, Ms. VanDyke fell in love with teaching and “17 years later I’ve never left Briar Woods High School.”
An inspiration to Ms. VanDyke was Mrs. Paula Barrett, who Ms. Vandyke met in 1st grade at Rolling Ridge Elementary School. She was so inspirational that Ms. VanDyke became a part of Future Educators of America and visited Mrs. Barrett’s classroom at least once a week from 9-12th grade. “That woman, she’s everything.”
While she has been a teacher at BWHS for 17 years, she was previously a nanny and a recruiter at an airline. But she is glad that she stuck with teaching because “Business and marketing is fun, it’s changing, and the kids make it enjoyable.”
Outside of teaching, Ms. VanDyke is “An avid scuba diver.” She dove in Mexico, Cayman Islands, and the Red Sea in Egypt. She also is a “Dedicated 3 day walker. For the past 15 years, I’ve done the Susan G. Komen 3 day Breast Cancer Walk, … that is something that is near and dear to my heart.”
People who have seen Ms. VanDyke’s classroom knows she has a lot of pink which reminds her of her friends and colleagues that have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and the people that she has walked with.
Ms. VanDyke’s energy spreads throughout the hallways; she is always smiling when people are walking by, entering her room, and teaching. She is enthusiastic and people leave her class learning more and feeling happy.
