Sheila Rocker Heppe
Professional Background
Sheila Rocker Heppe is the Coordinator of Secondary Education at Humboldt State University. She earned her undergraduate degrees in English & Psychology at the University of California, Davis. She holds multiple California teaching credentials and a Pupil Personnel Credential. Sheila has taught Kindergarten and 6th-12th grades in public schools. Even as her own children progress through the middle years, Eighth Graders continue to be her favorite age group!
Sheila completed her MA in Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco where she specialized in Marriage, Family and Parenting issues and School Counseling.
Professional Interests/Expertise
Sheila serves on the Higher Education Panel for the California League of Middle Schools. First as a classroom teacher and now as the advisor for the Middle Level program at HSU, Sheila has been active in CLMS for twenty years. Throughout her career, the unique qualities and concerns of middle level education has been her primary professional interest. Sheila serves as a consultant for schools transitioning to embrace the middle school model and she especially enjoys providing professional development and team building experiences surrounding staffing, school climate and curricular issues.
Safe schools, non-violent crisis intervention, conflict management and the development and maintenance of positive classroom environments in schools are topics about which Sheila has presented professionally and taught at the college level. Additionally, she enjoys opportunities to provide leadership, communication and mediation training in schools and other public service settings.
Courses Taught at HSU
In her role as SED Program coordinator, Sheila oversees all of the fieldwork courses at Humboldt State. She works closely with HSU’s stellar group of University Supervisors as they work with SED credential candidates. Sheila teaches the prerequisite courses for the SED program in which students explore their interest in entering the field of education by observing in secondary classrooms in the schools surrounding Humboldt State University. For the SED program, she teaches or has taught, Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, Middle School Methods and Applications, Classroom Management, Multicultural Issues in Education and Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools.
Outside Interests
Sheila stays active in the Humboldt community in a variety of roles. In her role as child/student advocate, she enjoys serving as a board member for North Coast Children’s Services and playing an active part on local school and district committees. In her role as community member, Sheila and her partner Chris stay active. Together they enjoy local activities and events, travel with their children and time spent with friends. Sheila delights in attending farmer’s market, participating in book groups, mothers’ groups and meditation groups and being outside (preferably in the sun). Her favorite destinations are a quiet lane in the pool, the beach, the forest, the mountains, and anywhere deep breathing, long walks and full conversation are possible.
And in her most cherished role as a mother, one willfind Sheila cheering on the sidelines of any of a number of sport fields/courts, listening at music lessons, riding horses with her daughter, discussing books with her son, laughing at the clever antics of tweeners, and fully marveling at daily miracles while watching her children grow through each stage of their incredible lives.
Skip to Navigation
