A Passion for Literature Fuels a Call for Teaching

English teacher. Yearbook advisor. Advocate for Literature. All three roles are ably filled by Erica Hiers, a teacher now in her third year at North Atlanta High School.

Hiers, who has taught for eight years, came to North Atlanta from Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville. Since arriving, she said she has thrived.

“I love the people here. Many of my colleagues have become good friends, and that makes for a much more pleasant and enjoyable work environment,” she said. “The students at North are eager and teachable spirits. Another great thing about our school is how involved the parents are. Just being here you really get a sense that this is an educational community where everyone is working toward the same goal.”

Like all faculty, Heirs’ has a constant stream of daily obligations. But the sheer volume of her work has never deterred her from being anything less than completely enthusiastic about being a teacher.

“I love the richness and depth of literature, so it is fun to help kids learn how to draw implications, make connections, and deepen their understanding of the texts we’re reading,” she said.

The biggest challenge she encounters in her work is the amount of grading necessary, “There’s never enough time for all of it,” she said, “And it’s even tougher when you’re teaching new subjects and spending all of your limited free time reading new material and planning lessons.”

Though education is her calling, it was not an expected path for her when she was younger. At an early age she envisioned the life of an actress. “When I was young I was always up on the stage for school plays. I guess you could say that I chickened out when I realized how hard it is to support yourself financially as an actress,” she said.

The Valdosta, Georgia-native went to college at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where she started out as journalism major. It was while she was attending to college-related community-service obligations that her vocational aspirations took a turn toward teaching. The catalyst was a volunteer slot in an after-school program. “In working with the kids and seeing what a difference my efforts made I was able to realize that teaching was my real calling,” she said.

In addition to teaching, Hiers also plays flag football, and recently coached the Junior-Freshmen Powderpuff Team to a 14-7 victory against journalism teacher, Andre Regan.

Hiers first year of teaching was in China, but after returning to Georgia, she taught at a high school in Douglassville. After three years at Central Gwinnett, she felt the tug to “go North” and she hasn’t looked back since.