Heather Chikoore

Promising Practices Manager – Educator Effectiveness

hchikoore@colegacy.org

Heather Chikoore joined the Colorado Legacy Foundation in February 2011 as Promising Practices Manager for the Educator Effectiveness Initiative.  She is responsible for documenting and disseminating promising practices to schools statewide.  Heather has experience working in a variety of education policy areas primarily with state legislators and legislative staffers. She spent five years at the National Conference of State Legislatures identifying and disseminating legislative trends and research on STEM education, education technology, and expanded learning opportunities.  She has facilitated, presented and testified before legislative groups and other education stakeholders across the country.

Hometown: Lead, South Dakota

College: University of Denver, Masters of Public Policy and University of Colorado at Denver, B.A. Political Science

If you could have dinner with two people, one dead and one living, who would they be? Why?

John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are basically one person, right?  I’d sit back and let them entertain me over wine and steak.  I’d also love to have dinner with my Grandpa Lloyd Grinager, who died when I was eight.  I’d catch him up on my life and brag about my son.  We’d have coffee and donuts.

Favorite Book: Little Women  – I can see a little of myself in each of the characters.

Favorite Teacher:  Mr. Peterson, my high school choir director, was a perfectionist.  We would sing the same measure ten times or more before we moved on to the rest of the song.  From him I learned the importance of persistence and practice.  For a small town public school choir with no selection criteria, we rocked every competition.