Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
Heather Welch of Lee, has been the wife of Allen Welch for 34 years and is the mother of two children: Cooper Welch and Ashlyn Carter. She is also the loving grandmother of two: six-month-old Willa and 15-month-old Slate.
Welch has been in the education field for over 30 years. She began her career teaching second grade at Madison Primary School for 14 years, taught TV production, tech labs, computers and reading to middle school students at Madison County Central School (MCCS) for nine years, and she is currently working as a media specialist at MCCS, which she has been doing for 10 years now.
Welch graduated from Madison County High School in 1982 and went on to achieve her Associate of Arts at North Florida Junior College in 1983. In 1985, she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in elementary education from Florida State University (FSU). In 1987, she obtained her Master's Degree in reading and language arts, also from FSU. In 2004, she received her specialist degree in information studies at FSU.
Welch was inspired to go into the education field by a love for children. "I've always loved children," said Welch. "During my senior year of high school, I volunteered in a kindergarten class at Madison Primary School. I really enjoyed working with the students. I decided that after I graduated from high school, I wanted to go to college to get my teaching degree. My dad was also a math and science teacher, and later, a principal. That's what brought us to Madison in 1969, where he was the principal at Madison High School for a few years. My sister, Brigitte Gudz, is also a teacher at MCHS, so I guess education majors run in the family!"
Welch also has a deep rooted love for her students and wants only the best for them. "I hope that the students that I've taught throughout the past 33 years will look back on their time in my class and know that I have loved and cared for each of them," said Welch. "Teaching students to read and write, to work on a school news broadcast, to create a yearbook or to help them find a favorite book or resource has been my goal in each of the positions I've held. But teaching students to be kind, caring and productive citizens is equally important."