Q&A With Heights Grad Deidre Walker
What’s your major?
Early childhood education.
How about your dream job after graduation?
I’d love to be a kindergarten teacher. It’s important for kids to have positive influences as early as possible, while they’re still young and impressionable.
Do you have a favorite memory or two from Gearity Elementary?Making friends. I went to Heights schools all the way from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Many of the kids I met at Gearity stayed my friends all those years.
What did you learn at Heights High that prepared you for college?I took lots of AP classes at Heights, and the transition to college level work was easy.
What did you enjoy most at Heights?I had some wonderful teachers who both inspired me and made class fun—one even got me interested in physics, and I am not a science person! I was a member of the Minority Student Achievement Network. Among our activities, we went to the middle schools to encourage kids to work toward taking AP classes. In my senior year, I did a project assisting a kindergarten teacher at Gearity. That’s what steered me toward teaching as a career.
What advice would you give current Heights High students?
Don’t get distracted! Heights has so many academic opportunities—you can go in so many different directions, try so many different programs. Be prepared, and use your time well.