Ms. Heather Turpin
Instructor
For seventeen years, Heather Turpin has served as a K-12 private educator and tutor in the disciplines of reading, spelling, and writing. Her teaching practice focuses on serving students with learning disabilities as well as students who are gifted and talented. Heather has partnered with families of students who are deaf, students diagnosed with specific reading disabilities including dyslexia, and students who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). For eight years, Heather taught in a homeschool educational cooperative. In 2015, she began using Barton, an Orton-Gillingham-based curriculum, which led her to the IEW Structure and Style methodology, and ever since she has taught writing the IEW way.
Heather holds her accreditation from the Institute for Excellence in Writing as a Certified Instructor. She is also fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), trained as an ASL interpreter, and conversational in Spanish. From 2015 to 2017, she was enrolled in a TESOL Classroom Study. Currently she is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in doctrine and methodology of education. For nearly two years, Heather resided in Mexico before traveling to Costa Rica, where she educated students who were deaf and blind. Born in Okinawa, Japan, Heather is an avid international traveler. She homeschooled her own four children in Michigan, where she resides today.
In 2013, Ms. Lauren Bridgeford graduated with a BA in Languages, Literature, and Criticism from Hunter College. She has also obtained her DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification from Cambridge University. Currently, Ms. Bridgeford is a Registered Instructor accredited by the Institute for Excellence in Writing, and she is pursuing her master’s degree in Secondary Education.
Deanna Heikkinen has been privately teaching writing as well as history, literature, and art history to students grades 2-12 for over six years. Prior to that, she was a tenured professor of humanities at Los Angeles Valley College with a focus on teaching the Great Books of Western Civilization. Additionally, she taught world history, western civilization, Native American history, and anthropology at the college level. Whether teaching elementary, middle, or high schoolers for Rose Writing Center, Deanna's diverse background allows her to serve as our test prep, academic support, and custom lesson specialist.
