LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Heather Bartoe was nominated by her spouse, John Waltermeyer. 

"My wife, Heather, does a lot each year for her students. She works at a low-income school in Las Vegas as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Specialist, teaching all of the approximately 550-600 students at the school, ranging from grades K-5. She has a love of science and puts her heart and soul into teaching the students at her school all she can about the subject," said Waltermeyer.

"In the 2024-2025 school year, she received a grant for a commercial hydroponics setup for the school and got the school garden up and running. She would come home and tell me stories about how excited the students were about planting vegetables and watching them grow," said Waltermeyer. "At the end of the last school year, she was able to choose 10 students to attend the school district farmer's market (the first time for her school). This year, she received another grant for the school's garden program. With this grant, she plans to purchase fruit trees for the garden and organize community events where parents can visit the garden with their children to help care for the crops," said Waltermeyer.

"She is getting ready to start a gardening club to help teach parents how they can grow vegetables in our hot desert climate. She spends many hours researching ways to make her lessons engaging and fun, and her dedication to her students is why I think she deserves this nomination," said Waltermeyer.