Ripon College provided grounding in special education for Lindsey Kreye Heil ’07

Ripon College proved to be an intimate home away from home for Lindsey Kreye Heil ’07. When looking for colleges, she says, “I wanted to go to school somewhere away from home, but not too far. I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, about 300 miles from Ripon. Not only was Ripon away from home, but I still had family nearby. I had an aunt and uncle in Ripon, and an aunt, uncle and grandma in Fond du Lac.

“So, even though I was away from home, I still had the comfort of family if I needed them. Finally, I chose Ripon because I wanted to attend a small school where I could create relationships with my professors because I didn’t have this opportunity in high school with the large class sizes upwards of 40 students and a graduating class of nearly 450 students.”

Ripon’s curriculum was a good fit for Heil. She majored in educational studies and history, and later earned a master’s degree in special education from Concordia University. She is a high school special education teacher at Chanhassen High School in Chanhassen, Minnesota. She works with students who have mild-to-moderate learning disabilities and also teaches 10th-grade English and a small-group structured English class.

“The remainder of my day is spent providing academic support to students in all content areas and teaching organization and self-advocacy skills,” she says.

At Ripon College, Heil studied elementary education and furthered her schooling to obtain special education licensure many years after graduation. “Although my courses of study at Ripon College were geared in a different direction than I actually ended up in, I definitely established a wonderful foundation for my teaching career from Ripon College and I implement many things that I learned at Ripon into my teaching every single day,” she says.

She says she holds many of her Ripon College experiences near and dear to her heart: being a member of St. Jude Up ’til Dawn, being a caller/supervisor for the Annual Fund Phonathon, being a peer contact through Student Support Services and participating in activities and excursions with her peer contacts, and being a member of the Senior Class Board, which allowed her to participate in the planning of many events throughout her senior year.

“I created many lasting relationships while attending Ripon College, including those with Dr. Jeanne Williams, the most amazing education professor around, and meeting my best friend Stacy Krusa Teachout ’07, who is like a sister that I never had,” she says.

Posted December 19, 2018 in Alumni.

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