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2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Dr. Geeta Heble

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Dr. Geeta Heble began her teaching career in Haddonfield in 1973 working at the Middle School.  She spent thirteen years teaching sixth, seventh and eighth grade Language Arts.  By 1986, she had moved to the high school where she became a mainstay of the faculty for 19 more years.

In the classroom, Dr. Heble made the “Odyssey” come alive and helped many a student master the basics of the five-paragraph essay.  She taught nearly every grade and level from incoming ninth graders to Advanced Placement English 12 to seniors.  Outside the classroom, Mrs. Heble served as an advisor to the school newspaper, the yearbook and coached middle school basketball during her thirty-two years in the Haddonfield schools.  With her colleague Chris Gwin, she was a partner in Project Seed, an important program that promoted equity and diversity issues among our students. 

During her time at the high school, she was known as an indefatigable worker who set high expectations and who demonstrated great empathy and concern for the well-being of her students.  Her former principal, Dr. Joseph Serico noted, “Geeta was an extraordinary role model for both students and teachers.  She prized learning and continuously worked to improve her practice as a teacher.  She accepted challenging assignments like large class sizes of accelerated students.  She sought to be innovative in her teaching of literacy, pioneered cooperative learning at the high school and developed best practices in assessment, backwards design, inter-disciplinary writing and curriculum mapping.

Kate Keating Monti, a teacher herself, nominated Geeta for this award.  She stated, “Mrs. Heble opened my eyes to the positive impact of reading. I always liked to read but she gave us choices and facilitated deep conversations. Upon graduation she gave us each a copy of Desiderata, a copy I kept for years and finally hung in my first classroom as a high school Special Education teacher. Mrs Heble was a quiet force- she made us look inside ourselves and explore. To this day I’m an avid reader and I owe that love to my Senior English class.”

Her colleague at HMHS, Terry Wills wrote, “One of the best things that happened to me during my 18 years teaching English at Haddonfield High School was meeting Geeta Heble.  I envy her fire, her energy, her brilliance, her indomitable spirit, her devotion to family… Professionally, we learned to love Shakespeare with actors from Folgers, implemented cooperative learning in our classrooms, collectively devised and presented programs for the National Council of Teachers of English and composed poetry with Peter Murphy… She challenges me to be a better human being, to be aware of the needs of those around me, and to be a risk taker.”

Her teacher leadership led to Dr. Heble being given additional responsibilities in the high school.  She served as a department facilitator at HMHS during a challenging transition.  She later assumed responsibility as the Supervisor of Humanities for grades 7-12.  After leaving HMHS, she continued her administrative career as the Supervisor of Language Arts in the Moorestown Public Schools. She retired from Moorestown and secured a position closer to home as the Director of Secondary Education and later Director of Curriculum for the Neshaminy Public Schools.
  
Since her retirement in 2014, Dr. Heble has remained active in education and other related activities.  She has taught courses to senior citizens at Temple University in Center City reflecting her varied interests from Indian culture, to cooking and knitting.  She has done executive coaching with pharmaceutical company managers.  She has volunteered at one college and three schools in India teaching English to students, presenting teaching strategies to faculty and providing motivational seminars.  Her other volunteer activities have included the Family Service Association of Bucks County and as a Board Member of Penndel Mental Health Center

Her son, Neal, spoke eloquently about his mom when he wrote, “For over 40 years, I have seen my mom give her all to everything she does.  Whether it is learning an Indian cultural dance, playing tennis with her friends, supporting the sports teams on which her students have played, taking care of her grandchildren, or learning how to play bridge.  If she is going to do something, she gives it every ounce of effort she has.  And that is what she gave to teaching for over 30 years.  For those that think being a teacher is a 9 to 3 job with a long summer vacation, they have not met my mom.  I remember her staying up late nights marking papers, taking each student’s success as her personal mission.  Her summers were not spent going on vacation – they were spent expanding and refining her skills – taking classes and learning lessons that she would bring to her classroom.  For decades she has given and given and given her everything.  And although she has done it without the expectation of anything in return, it warms my heart to see her get recognized for her accomplishments.  Our entire family is extremely proud of her.”