Longtime educator receives prestigious award

Rita Heagren knows her way around a classroom.

She has been teaching math to students at Cottonwood High School for the past 29 years. She loves math, she loves teaching and she loves her students--and it shows. Her efforts were recently recognized as she accepted her first Excel Award, an honor bestowed on an educator who exhibits excellence in teaching.

Membership into this prestigious group of award winners isn’t easy. Only 2 percent of the teachers who have taught in the Granite District for 20 years or more have received it. Each year teachers are nominated by parents, students and other teachers. But that is just the beginning. The competition is fierce, as each year there are many deserving educators who are nominated. Heagren has been nominated in the past by some of her students.

 “One common denominator of these recipients is the love they have for their students and the passion they share for teaching and making a difference in the lives of the children,” Granite Education Foundation President Peter Hoj said. “Each is an educator that provides a stable learning environment and is the type students will always remember with fondness and gratitude for having had the opportunity to pass through their class.” 

Heagren said she simply loves what she does.

“When I can reach a student who seems unreachable, or see a student get something for the first time and says ‘thank you,’ that is why I do it,” Heagren said. “I love the kids; they are so much fun, and they really crack me up.”

Heagren tries to take advantage of other teachable moments beyond the classroom. Each year, Cottonwood students participate in a charity fundraiser. Heagren offers herself--her hair at least--as an incentive for the students to reach their goals. Already, she has had her head shaved twice as promised for the student body reaching or exceeding their goal. Heagren says as a woman, she wants others to see that beauty and identity is not about a person’s hair.

“She is a powerful teacher. She loves math and the students,” Cottonwood Principal Mitch Nerdin said. “This combination creates magic in the lives of her students. They come out knowing a great deal more about math, and feel they are now good at math. Our society has created a stereotype that includes a lot of people. This stereotype says that some people can’t do math or are not good at it. Well, once a student has Ms. Heagren, they know they are good at math and feel confident for the rest of their lives.”