Heather Renée Ingram

Heather Renée Ingram is a creative and committed English Language Arts educator. As such, this lifelong learner is charged with supporting students as they blossom into analytical and articulate readers and writers. Well aware of the adverse circumstances many young people face on their quest for quality education, she is honored to have helped hundreds of students find academic success where far too many educators have found failure; indeed, what some consider ‘at-risk’, she optimistically regards as possibility. As well, students from academically rich backgrounds flourish in Mrs. Ingram’s classroom, providing balance in an inclusive space, while stretching themselves across internal and systemic barriers. Moreover, because her students are at such a pivotal point in their young lives, she recognizes that her role is especially important. In an effort to groom conscientious, global citizens, Mrs. Ingram utilizes textual and non-textual resources that represent a broad cross-section of identity markers (i.e.  cultural, socio-economic, gender, sexuality, political, etc.), regardless of the particular course.

Born to a corporate, literature-loving mother and musical, street-savvy father, Heather grew up on Chicago’s south side. By her teenage years, however, she had relocated to suburbia. Unfortunately, this is where she witnessed ‘white flight’ firsthand; though they were the first black family on their block, within two years, there were only black families on the block. In this space, matters of marginalization, educational inequity, and racialized injustice became clear. Propelled by her grandfather’s unsung participation in the March on Washington and her mother’s efforts as a Black Power era community worker, Heather Renée Ingram began a life of scholarly activism. This spirit-shifting work, where the academic meets the personal, continues to inform both her pedagogy and sense of self.