Heidi Matthews, your favorite librarian... And maybe new UEA President?

     Heidi Matthews has been in the education field for 26 years. Treasure Mountain Junior High (TMJH) has been blessed with her presence as a librarian since 2000 and grade after grade, students still love her.
     When we asked her what her ideas were for encouraging and pushing students to read, her answer was, “When students have choice in what they read and find books that that they care about and the books are the appropriate reading level, that should be enough to encourage them.” This shows how much Mrs.Matthews relies on students love for reading, she wants everyone to read. She decided to become a librarian based of the fact that she loves books, and teaching students. She loves to have the opportunity to work with the other teachers. Her favorite thing, she says, is that she has a focal point in the school coordinating around literacy. She used to be an english teacher, but changed to a librarian because she wanted something different and more time to herself.
     It makes Mrs.Matthews sad that a lot of the kids at Treasure don’t go into the library unless it is
People are at different stages a lot of times students start getting busier and students don't have time to read, she hopes students see the value of the library and how they can use it to their advantage. She has worked here for 16 years has made the purchases , the books, in her opinion, are “rocking”. There isn’t as much of a non-fiction section, but she says she is working on it. She is happy that she has healthy library budget. Plus, you can check out digital books.
     If you hadn't heard, Heidi Matthews is running for UEA President and she's a shoo-in. (P.S that is the correct spelling, not “shoe-in.”) She says that she is running to give a larger voice to teachers. In her words “So many decisions are made by people in power who have no experience. The people who aren't getting what they need to learn or teach need a voice. There is so much research out there that correlates a strong teacher union for students. The teachers are a big part in how we educate in Park City.” There are 20,000 people with a vote in this election, to those people Mrs. Matthews says “I’ve never known a teacher without an opinion, your vote in this election is your voice and we need an association leader with a proven record of asking tough questions, leadership and doing tough work for education. Time to speak up.”  Find Heidi at her campaign website Electheidi4uea.com