Dr. Heidi Chambers was born an only child in Champaign, Illinois to Heather Mapp and Peter Kniskern. She has two children: Ramsay Chambers who is 27, and Emily Chambers who is 22. Both of her children are graduates of the University of Georgia. Chambers attended South Gwinnett High School in Snellville, Georgia. She currently teaches American Literature, Advanced Placement Literature, and Journalism (Purango). She has four cats and a spoiled dog named Fernando. She has traveled and visited four continents and nine countries.

Dr. Chambers has always wanted to teach and used to actually teach her stuffed animals when she was little. She began her education at UGA for a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in English Education. She received another M.Ed. in leadership from Albany State and her doctorate from NOVA Southeastern in leadership as well. She is currently qualified to teach Advanced Placement courses, and just this year returned to college to take four masters level English classes so her AP students can receive dual enrollment credit. Dr. Chambers taught one year of special education in Early County and has been teaching English at BHS for 30 years.

At BHS, Dr. Chambers runs her class by establishing a routine. According to her, “When students come in the room, they have some sort of sponge activity.” Next, her students will take part in a main lesson that often has group or partner work. She assigns a weekly vocabulary quiz and does flashcards on Fridays. 

Dr. Chambers stated, “I am rigorous and have set expectations. I hope my classes are fun and that my students enjoy my somewhat sarcastic sense of humor.” She believes these are her strengths, meanwhile, she stated that her weakness was that, “It takes a lot for me to lose my temper, but when I do, it is very stressful and takes me a while to regain my composure.” She loves her career because of the “interaction with the students.” She feels as though they keep her young and enjoys seeing her students after they have graduated.

Dr. Chambers plans on retiring in five years. She may continue teaching college classes, but she hopes to travel. She would like to credit her second-grade teachers Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Beckett for assisting her in reaching her current position. Her favorite quote is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” by Aticus from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.