About Heather ArabadjisDevoted educator and talented children’s book author, Heather Arabadjis has a strong message to share with the next generation. It is one of tolerance, self-control and a belief that anything is possible with a solid education and a positive attitude. Her life story has inspired many students and their families.
Born in Brooklyn New York, Heather’s outlook on life during her early years were forged by trial and challenge. The youngest of three children, she and her family encountered numerous struggles. Despite a tumultuous childhood, Heather overcame the odds and graduated from Long Island City High in 1999. It was a deep motivation for personal growth and success that propelled her to higher learning, graduating from the prestigious St. John’s University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing. While on St. John’s campus her involvement and leadership potential grew with appointments such as president of her sorority, Latinas PromoviendoComunidad/ Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc. well as president of the American Marketing Association club.
Throughout the years, her personal growth, academic achievements, and community involvement solidified her desire to invest in future minds – she felt a strong calling to ‘give back’. So when the jobs for marketing execs were sparse, Heather decided to apply to the NYC Teaching Fellows Program – she often jokes that she had never really thought about teaching until coming across a posting on Monster.com. Her talents were recognized and she was accepted to the program in June 2003. By the Fall of that same year, she began teaching at Joseph R. Drake School P.S. 48 in the South Bronx. Heather would eventually remain there for 8 years helping to train the minds of our next generation from kindergarten through to the third grade in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods. Her thirst for self-edification and investing in childhood education has kept growing. Her determination to climb higher enabled her to receive a Master of Science in Elementary Education at Mercy College in 2005. But she didn’t stop there, and went on to receive an Advanced Degree in Educational Leadership from Brooklyn College in 2007.
Heather has been motivated by her own personal struggles and triumphs to pen a children’s series to show them that they can do the same…and so was born the Monster Mas series. The first story was written in response to pupils struggling with angermanagement issues. After reading her story to her second grade students they prompted and encouraged her to continue. “I decided to take their advice. I always teach my students that their ideas are important and they should always share them.” – she recalls. She took a children’s book writing workshop at Gotham Writers workshop to learn how to format a children’s book along with specific strategies. “If you really want to do something, you have to fully educate yourself in the topic.” Heather educated herself by buying many books about publishing a book. After, sending out her manuscript to publishers and without reply, she said to herself, “publishers are looking for the latest trends, but what do they know about the issues happening within schools.”
Heather invested in herself and future by taking her life-long savings to self publish her first book. ‘Monster Mas’ was released in December 2013. Currently, Heather teaches various subjects to all grade levels from k-12 for NYC DOE Home Instruction Schools, and has done so for over six years. “I teach students who are physically or medically unable to attend school for a period of time.” In this role she continues to find passion for education…the passion that birthed her second book ‘Monster Mas Vs. The Test’, which aims to help children cope with testing anxiety. The hope is to revolutionize test taking by making it fun with some simple, yet effective strategies. Her latest book, Monster Mas Runs for President focuses on teaching students how a president even gets nominated for their political party. Her goal for this book is to teach students in elementary and middle school more about local politics, which will empower them to advocate for their own education.
