Heather Sawyer, Deering High School class of 1995, is always up for a change.

“I never do the same thing more than once because I get bored,” she said.

Sawyer’s appetite for keeping things fresh has led her to change careers twice. Today, she teaches science at DHS, working out of the same classrooms where she discovered her own love of science. In recognition of her work supporting students both in and out of the classroom, DHS faculty and staff have chosen to honor Sawyer with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award.

“In this room, Cheryl Dominic taught advanced biology and I took it as a junior,” Sawyer said while sitting in the classroom she now teaches herself. “It was one of the most fascinating classes I have ever taken. I remember her talking about connections between nutrition and your immune system, and me being like ‘tell me more!’”

Inspired by her high school science classes, Sawyer went to the University of Maine Orono to pursue her bachelor’s in natural resources and master’s in ecology and environmental science. She then did research for Bowdoin College, collecting water samples to look at nutrients and plankton coming from the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers and going out into the ocean. The rivers were historically polluted by mills. Plankton populations are an indicator of healthy water, Swayer said.

“I didn’t want to be a teacher, I wanted to be a scientist,” she said. “I wanted to do research and I absolutely loved it. It was really cool, but unless you’re going to get your PhD, there’s no moving up the ladder and you’re kind of stuck. I didn’t know where to go from there.”

Not wanting to go back to school, Sawyer felt her research career had stalled out and decided to make her first career change—floral designing.

“It had just been a hobby kind of thing,” she said. “I did the flowers for my own wedding, I did flowers for a couple friends’ weddings, and I took a little class at SMCC. I just really enjoyed it and it started off as this little side gig.”

Sawyer started doing floral arrangements for weddings and other big events. She loved the work, but after four years, she was ready for another change.

“It was great, except weddings are on the weekends,” she said. “As the kids got older, I needed to go to baseball and soccer, and those are on the weekends. I came to this point where they got a little bit older and I thought I needed to change or go bigger, and I didn’t want to go bigger.”

That’s when Sawyer remembered working with communities on a watershed plan, needing to educate community members at monthly meetings about nitrate and phosphorous levels, and what those indicators meant. She decided to go into teaching.

“I liked the idea of explaining these concepts to people and making these connections,” she said. “That’s when it was like ‘Oh, I can teach.’”

She got her teaching certificate, substitute teaching at the Friends School on Mackworth Island while working towards certification. Then she taught at Massabesic High School before going to DHS. She initially taught biology and environmental science, but in recent years she’s taken on engineering and forensics. It’s not just teaching that she does, though. She is the advisor for student government, advisor to the class of 2026, and DHS event coordinator.

“There are so many people that are Deering alum that work here and are committed to the school,” she said. “You can look at anybody here, they’re volunteering in these positions to keep these traditions going and to keep the spirit of Deering alive, so that the kids can have the same experiences we had.”