Louisiana SR 240: COMMENDATIONS:  Commends Ruth Shirley Heidecker for 43 years of dedicated service as an educator and congratulates her on her retirement.

Bill Text

2018 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 240
BY SENATORS GATTI AND PEACOCK
A RESOLUTION
To commend outstanding educator, Ruth Shirley Heidecker of Bossier City, Louisiana, for
her many contributions made on behalf of public education, and to congratulate her
on a well-deserved retirement after forty-three years in the education profession.
WHEREAS, Mrs. Heidecker announced her retirement from Apollo Elementary
School after a stellar career as a first-grade teacher of reading and mathematics; and
WHEREAS, during her tenure, Ruth Heidecker was an exemplary educator and a
passionate advocate for elementary education; and she was always patient with her students,
willing to go the extra mile for administrators, and supportive of her colleagues; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Heidecker felt an obligation to provide encouragement and
inspiration to her students so they would develop a lifelong interest in reading and learning;
and
WHEREAS, Ruth Heidecker possesses a gracious demeanor and a keen intellect
having earned a bachelor of science degree from Northeast Louisiana University (now
known as University of Louisiana at Monroe) and a master's degree in education from
Centenary College in Shreveport; and
WHEREAS, Ruth Heidecker is a certified elementary teacher and reading specialist
who has applied her tireless work ethic to improve the classroom experience for the benefit
of her students and she is also faculty supervisor of teacher education candidates; and
WHEREAS, she has witnessed advancements in educational practices during her
career and has implemented numerous innovations in reading instruction that include
Accelerated Reader, sight word applications, and phonics; and
WHEREAS, Ruth Heidecker is most praiseworthy for her exceptional dedication to
the teaching profession, a vocation that resonates in every fiber of her being, and for her
intense involvement in improved scholastic achievement for the hundreds of students
entrusted to her care; and
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SR NO. 240 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, on May 25, 2018, Mrs. Heidecker will relinquish First Grade Room
#103 to a new teacher, a classroom she had occupied since the 1980s; and
WHEREAS, Ruth Heidecker has proved to be an educator of boundless energy and
ability, a person of great empathy and vision, and a teacher whose devotion to education has
been a priceless gift to the public school system of Bossier Parish and the state of Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend and congratulate Ruth Heidecker for her many contributions to
further the pursuits of elementary education and reading proficiency in young students and
does hereby recognizes her for a lifetime of devotion to the education profession.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Mrs. Ruth Shirley Heidecker and Laura Leflett, principal of Apollo Elementary School.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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