High school teacher Mrs. Kelly Meredith has taken the challenge of teaching literally two different languages. This is not her first time teaching English she taught both English I and II the year she was hired here at Heavener High, which was 19-20 years ago. She taught Eng. II, Spanish I, and Show Choir for another year after that. Then, after Mr. Micah Hall (who taught Spanish II half-day and was the technology director for the other half) left HPS and moved back to the Dominican Republic with his wife's family, she was given the choice to teach either Spanish full-time or English full-time.  She chose Spanish and began to teach distant-learning classes to other area schools using Heavener's Tandberg system. Those schools included Bokoshe, Whitesboro, Cameron, Arkoma, and Keota.

When asked if she liked Spanish or English classes better she said “I like them both, but I enjoy Spanish more because it is a bit less serious and stressful than English classes are. I think that is mainly because I am super slow and meticulous when grading research papers and essays. I also love being able to prepare food and art projects for cultural celebrations and holidays from the 23 Spanish-speaking countries' cultures around the world. Also, I love being able to incorporate music into Spanish class, which has been a huge part of my entire life.”

She says it often becomes confusing between classes and finds herself switching from one language to the other because she forgets which language class she is in. 

“I graduated with a Liberal Arts Bachelor's Degree with an emphasis on Music, Psychology, Literature, and Writing. After deciding to become alternatively certified to teach English and Music, and passing the tests to do so, I thought, Hmmm...while I am taking subject-area tests, I might as well try taking the Spanish one, too. I had a feeling I could pass it since I LOVED taking Spanish so much in high school with Mrs. Janice Muse and for 3 more semesters in college with an amazing teacher at Westark Community College (now UAFS). Learning the Spanish language was very easy for me, so I knew that I wanted to continue to use what I had learned--either in teaching, on Mission trips, etc. When asked if she would teach English again next year she said “Yes, I would if no other English teacher is hired. I imagine that the many after-school hours I am putting in this year will help make future years significantly easier than this one. English is not taught at all like it was when I first came to Heavener. We spent an entire semester on grammar and writing, only, and the other one on literature, only.” She says that she loves both grammar and literature, but doesn't enjoy the research paper writing process, at all. She would much rather read, critique, and edit others' writings and poetry, etc. rather than write my own. “Rather than a creator, I am an editor, at heart.”