Heather Leigh Blankhorn
Biography
I was born in Reading, PA. I have three sons and three grandchildren. My grandchildren are the 4th generation to attend the Governor Mifflin School District. I am very active in terms of physical fitness. Teaching is my primary focus and always has been. I pride myself on how I connect with my students on a very profound and personal level. I tell them that it matters to me that they leave my classroom a better writer and speaker, but it is far more important to me that they leave a better person, a better version of themselves.
COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTEER SERVICE Choir, St. John Baptist De La Salle Roman Catholic Church, Jan. 2020-current
Student Mentor, Alvernia University Women’s Council, 2018-2019
Member, Alvernia University Women’s Council, 2018-current
Member, Women2Women of Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, 2017-current
School Director, Governor Mifflin School District, 2005-2009
Lifelong Member, St. John Baptist De La Salle Roman Catholic Church
I received my BA in English from Alvernia in 1993. I have a MA in English from Kutztown (2000). I have extensive professional credits at every level, including master level Reading Specialist credits from Kutztown University and doctoral level Community Leadership credits from Alvernia. I also have completed all of the coursework for the BA in Addictions and Mental Health from Alvernia.
Since I returned to Alvernia in 2020, I have taught COM 101 and COM 103 primarily. I have also taught English courses and I taught Writing for Healthcare Science before it was moved into another course. I also taught here in 2008-9, teaching Composition and Research and Writing for the Media.
My interests include the fantasy genre, particularly Tolkien, Martin, and Rowling. This lends itself quite easily to religious and theological study, and I spend a great deal of time studying the connection among Catholicism, Paganism, and Buddhism. Toltec Shamanism is a huge interest of mine. My academic background revolved around poetry, and I have been writing poetry since I can remember. I hope to eventually publish my work. I am currently adapting my poetry around the seasons I have spent hiking, which I do throughout the entire year, focusing on the relationship between nature's cyclical changes and my surviving and continuing to heal through some very traumatic life experiences.
I was nominated for outstanding adjunct professor while I taught at Penn State Berks from 2004-2008.
* Faculty/General Education, Berks Technical Institute, Wyomissing, PA, May, 2018-2020
- English Foundations
- English Composition
- Document Processing
* Teacher/English and History, Abraxas Academy, Morgantown, PA, March 2019-May 2019
* Settlement Administrator, Century 21 Gold, Exeter, PA, 2013-2015Campaign Assistant/Web Article Editor, ISF-Ian Somerhalder Foundation, Santa Monica, CA, 2012-2015
* Lecturer/English, Albright College, Reading, PA, 2004-2008
- English Composition
- Writing About Literature
* Lecturer/Communication Arts & Sciences, Penn State Berks, Reading, PA, 2004-2008
- Effective Speech
* Lecturer/Humanities, Reading Area Community College, Reading, PA, 1994-2001, 2004
- Advanced Reading
- American Literature
- College Reading
- College Writing
- Composition and Literature
- English Composition
* Faculty/General Education, Berks Technical Institute, Wyomissing, PA, 2001 to 2004
- Accounting Research Seminar
- Business English
- English Composition
- Professional Development
- Technical Writing
Blackboard Basics, Advanced, and Gradebook Certified, March 14, 2020
HIPPA for Healthcare Workers, Overview, Privacy Rule, and Security Rule, August 19, 2019
FEMA, Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, April 7, 2019
Pennsylvania Private Academic Schools, English, Secondary Education, Grades 9-12, April 1, 2019
PA Child Welfare Resource Center, Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse: Mandated and Permissive Reporting in PA, March 11, 2019
Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, February 24, 2019
Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Assessment of Suicide Risk Using C-SSRS, February 16, 2019
Council on Chemical Abuse, 2018 Annual Conference, Trauma & Addiction: Healing the Hurt, November 1, 2018