With 25 years experience in the field of education, Heather Decatur has helped thousands of students believe in their own potential and accomplish goals previously believed to be out of reach. Heather has an M.Ed. in Literacy K-12 and holds a current North Carolina Professional Educator's License in the areas of: K-12 Reading, English as a Second Language K-12, English 9-12, and Elementary Education K-6. Her teaching experience has included 2nd-5th grades and 9th-12th grade Academic and Honors English. In addition, Heather has taught specialized reading skills courses to people aged 5 years to 70 years. She also spent a portion of her career as an Instructional Literacy Coach where she had the privilege of coaching fellow teachers to improve their own practice. In one of the most informative and transformational experiences of her career, Heather had the opportunity to work as a Research Assistant with the Friday Institute and the Carolina Institute of Public Policy. In this role, she traveled to schools across North Carolina gathering data on instructional practices and classroom management through formal classroom observations and conducting interviews with teachers and principals. Through the lens of all of her experiences combined, she has developed a unique ability to connect with students of all ages. She has been described as having an innate ability to get students to enthusiastically engage which enables her to help them achieve amazing growth in short periods of time.