In the business of education

It took Richard Heggan a solid eight years to realize that his future was not in the family business. At least, not the family business that is an industry leader in the field of engineering, surveying and environmental services.

It was that other family business—teaching—that made Heggan’s heart sing.

“After earning my bachelor’s degree, I went right to work in my dad’s company. But I realized it just wasn’t my thing,” says Heggan, 33, who earned his master of science degree in teaching (MST), with certification in elementary and middle school science teaching, during the Commencement ceremony for Rowan University’s College of Education on Thursday, May 14.

Heggan was a marketing technician for Adams, Rehmann & Heggan Associates, Inc. in Hammonton. He knew what he was doing was important work. But something, he says, was missing.

He found what he was looking for—the indescribable feeling that comes from being a positive influence in the life of a student—as a paraprofessional aide working with children with behavioral and intellectual disabilities at Hammonton Middle School. For a year, he assisted the classroom teacher with lessons, lesson planning, activities, and student growth objectives. Part of his work included serving as a one-to-one aide for a boy with autism.

A few weeks in, Heggan knew his future was in the classroom.

“I wanted to get into the classroom to see if it was something I really wanted to do. I just loved it. I got to know the students personally. I felt like I was making a difference in their lives. After a couple of weeks, I was saying, ‘This is awesome,’” says Heggan, whose goal is to become a middle school science teacher.

A family of teachers

Given his family history, Heggan’s affinity for teaching isn’t shocking. His wife, Amy, is an elementary school physical education teacher in Hammonton, two of his three sisters and a sister-in-law are teachers, and his beloved late grandmother, Amelia Rehmann Heggan, was a language arts teacher and principal in Winslow Township. She also taught in Mullica and Lindenwold.

Amelia Heggan, who passed away in 2000 at the age of 94, was in the first graduating class at Glassboro Normal School (now Rowan) in 1925.

Teaching and attending Rowan continued a family legacy. But it took some work for Heggan to enter the University’s rigorous, full-time MST program.

A 2004 graduate of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with concentrations in marketing and management, Heggan was required to complete 10 undergraduate classes before he could enroll as a Rowan graduate student. He did so at Atlantic Cape Community College and Camden County College, completing liberal arts and general education classes he hadn’t been required to take for his business degree Coastal Carolina.

In May of 2014, Heggan entered Rowan’s MST program, immediately making an impact on his fellow students with his professionalism, intelligence and creativity, according to Teacher Education Professor Nancy DeJarnette, coordinator of the MST program.

“Rick has been a very strong student, is a leader among his peers, and is very well respected. He’s a go-to guy when the students in his cohort have questions. He is a positive person and he’s turning into a wonderful teacher and role model for elementary kids. They absolutely adore him,” DeJarnette says.

Heggan, who is graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, got involved on Rowan’s campus in both the Eta Psi chapter of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), the international honor society in education, and the Upsilon chapter of Alpha Epsilon Lambda, the national honor society of graduate and professional school students. While fulfilling his undergraduate requirements, he also became part of Phi Theta Kappa, an honor society that distinguishes academic achievements of two-year college students.

Heggan was involved in two big KDP initiatives this academic year for area schoolchildren—the “Frozen” pajama party last fall and KDP’s “Under the Sea”-themed “Literacy Alive” event in March. He helped plan and organize the science room for “Literacy Alive.”

'An admired teacher carries more weight than anyone realizes'

In his student teaching in a fifth-grade elementary classroom at Folsom Elementary School in Folsom, Heggan has created unit and lesson plans that align both the Common Core Curriculum Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.

In an activity inspired by NASA, one of Heggan’s lessons involved having his students create water bottle rockets. In addition to implementing the science and engineering skills necessary to build the rockets, students also had to follow a $1 million imaginary budget to build them.

It was a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) trifecta…and it was great fun, he notes.

“The students had a balance sheet with a budget, including construction costs,” says Heggan. “We integrated all of STEM within the lesson. And, at the end, they got to shoot their rockets. I loved it, but the kids also loved it. I felt like it was something they would remember the rest of their lives.

“My sister once said to me that the word of an admired teacher carries more weight than anyone realizes. I honestly believe that,” he adds.

In pursuit of his MST, Heggan sometimes thought of his grandmother, who walked the then-brand new campus as a young person nine decades ago—and then went out and made a profound impact on the students she taught.

“I never really talked to her about teaching,” says Heggan. “But you could tell she was an awesome teacher. On our family trips to Vermont, she would talk about the animals, flowers, trees, clouds and the weather.  She was always teaching.

“When I came to Rowan, it was a pretty cool experience. I felt like I was following in her footsteps. She was very strict, but very loving. Like a teacher should be.”