Golden Apple 2025: Amy Heusterberg-Richards

GREEN BAY – Amy Heusterberg-Richards grew up in Howards Grove — the granddaughter of a teacher.

“My late, maternal grandma, Helen Schulz, taught in a rural, one-room schoolhouse near Plymouth and later wrote books about such. (We share that journey too; a picture of her hangs behind my desk.) I was always drawn to teaching as a career in my youth. In kindergarten, I would ‘assign’ playground activities to my peers at recess; they listened, but my teacher warned my parents I’d have to change my ways to keep friends,” she recalled.

“In late elementary school, I’d play ‘school’ with the neighborhood kids in my childhood backyard, etc... Teaching was always the professional calling for me, but in my late adolescence and early adulthood I tried hard to ignore it.”
Heusterberg-Richards started college at St. Norbert thinking she was on a path to English/pre-Law, but joined the secondary education program “just in case.”

“Ultimately, four years later, I student-taught. I loved it, and stopped studying for the LSATs. Just before college graduation, I took a job at Bay Port and have been here in the ELA Department for the almost-two-decades since.

Over a decade ago, Heusterberg-Richards was asked to teach English Literature in Bay Port’s new International Baccalaureate (IB) department.
“The International Baccalaureate program is similar to the AP program in that both offer students the option to take college-level courses in high school (for potential credit). IB places unique emphasis on student collaboration and ownership as well as worldly-mindedness (reading translated works, etc.), too. The trainings I attended for/within the IB organization connected me with inspiring educators from around the world and shared with me a global collection of best pedagogical practices,” she stated.

“In the time since, I’ve implemented more experiential and student-empowered approaches in my IB course as well as in my other classes.

“I hope my teaching style blends high expectations and creative, energetic approaches. I try to encourage academic risk-taking and playful experiences with rigorous learning goals.

“We laugh often and work hard in my classroom. I welcome all learners as they authentically are. I listen to student voices. I see the human behind the learner. I’m passionate about education.”

Leading up to the 2025 Golden Apple Awards on Wednesday, April 2 at the Oneida Casino Hotel, we will be highlighting the recipients in each edition of the Press Times.