Heather Onderick
A strategic, thoughtful and courageous learner and leader.

I am 42 years old and have been blessed with a life of a variety of high and low moments that make me value each and every one of them in their passing.  I grew up very similar to international students.  My father worked in the oil and gas business and although we did not frequently country hop, the longest I attended a school was 4 years.   My educational background as a student comes with the same diversity as my teaching resume.  I attended public, Catholic and private schools growing up.  I went to university at a small liberal arts college and finally, I did my first Masters by correspondence.  However, much of my so called "education" has actually come from my travels to over 75 different countries over the course of my extraordinary life.

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One of the most impactful educational experiences I had was in 4th grade when learning about culture in Canada.  I can still remember the visit to Chinatown, all sorts of animals hanging: grilled, smoked, boiled, in window frames.  Walking down the street, sampling ginger candy and coal steamed sweet potatoes, then popping into the Chinese medicine store and hearing the specialist´s story of the potent Ginseng plant and its vital health benefits.  A week later, we were eating grape leaves in Cabbagetown, while sitting in a Greek immigrant´s living room as they told us the stories of their front yard gardens planted to help pay their family bills as they started their lives in Canada.  Through these multi-sensory immersion experiences, and not only common media such as textbooks, books and video, I was able to learn deeply about how culture impacts identity.   And now, as an educational leader, I try to create similar experiences for my peers, parents, students through designing experiences through the universal design for learning lenses. 

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And now as an adult, I have been blessed to be active in my own education almost continuously in my 41 years.  Currently, the professional nourishment I have received from the Endicott Educational Administration and Leadership program has been tremendous.  Not only have I added to my professional learning network of contacts around the world, I have been challenged to see things in so many different ways, learned about international school marketing, designed my own dream school, developed a strategic plan and much, much more.  These new understandings have been easy to transfer into my current position at a fairly young school.  All of this makes me realize how incredible each experience can be when we capitalize on what we have versus overthinking what we do not have.

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