BY LAURA HARPER
Staff Writer

Baldwin’s new vice principal resembles many Baldwin students through her love and enthusiasm for a sport that she feels passionate about.

Heather Hibner played softball while attending South Allegheny High School and Bethany College, and has been coaching that sport for as long as she taught, about 11 years, for both South Allegheny and Elizabeth Forward.

Hibner won five section titles and was named Coach of the Year by the McKeesport Daily newspaper twice.

“This will be my first season not coaching,” Hibner said.

Hibner also plays for a softball team that helps raise money for children with advanced medical conditions, and she co-manages that league as well.

“Last year we helped to raise money for a little boy with a brain tumor,” she said.

In college, Hibner played for the Bethany Bison softball team. During her time there, the team was ranked sixth in the nation.

Off of the softball field, Hibner was working on a degree in biochemistry when a professor inspired her to become an English teacher.

“He talked to the students like adults,” Hibner said.

As an English teacher, Hibner also taught a creative writing class, which was an elective with only a few participating students.

As an end project, she would have her students put together a portfolio of poems that they wrote themselves while experimenting with different kinds of styles.

“It was a great way for me to see how they improved throughout the class,” she said. “I got to see how they grew as writers.”

Hibner is a fan of poetry herself, and enjoys writing her own poetry, often in free verse. She says that she was inspired by her grandfather, Luke Riley, who is a published poet.

Riley is the author of An Irish Legacy, which is a book of his works.

“He was a great storyteller,” Hibner said. “He taught me to be reflective in living.”

Hibner is married with two young children: Colby, 5, and Paisley, 4, and three dogs, Ally, Jordan, and Buford.

Hibner is very devoted to her family and loves spending time with her kids. Every summer, they take a family vacation to the Outer Banks.

She has two siblings, Aimee, who is also a teacher at South Allegheny, and Corey, who just graduated from Slippery Rock University with a degree in marketing.

Hibner also enjoys gardening and likes to watch Black List when she has the time.