Personal and Professional Background

My name is Amy Heidt. I teach Advanced Biology, Physical Science and Science, Technology and Society at Northeast Campus, Tift County High School in Southwest Georgia, where I am the science department chair. Northeast is a unique school in that it is a ninth grade academy with approximately 600 ninth grade students. This allows us to concentrate completely on the needs of incoming high school freshmen, and frees our students from the freshman “low man on the totem pole” and allows them to be the leaders in all activities on campus.

I have two children: Shelly Sumner is a rising senior at Mercer University, and Elliot Sumner, a rising senior at Tift County High School. My husband of 25 years is Paul Sumner. We live “in the woods” in a small agrarian community in Tift County.

I have been teaching science for 20 years, and have taught 7th through 10th grades. I have been at Northeast teaching 9th grade only for about six years. My educational background includes a BS in Zoology from the University of Georgia, a Master of Science Education, and an Education Specialist in Science Education from Valdosta State University.

I am very excited about the Science Behind Our Foods program and am honored to have been chosen to participate. The expertise and new perspectives that our Graduate Teaching Fellow brings to the classroom are an invaluable asset to my students and me. My students and I have and will continue to benefit from the program.