Rachael Hiestand

Owner | Director | Teacher

Mrs. Hiestand was born and raised in Crown Point. She has a degree in Elementary Education from Purdue Calumet. She started her teaching career in the Lake Central school district in 2006. Out of 9 years of teaching for LC, she spent 8 of those in kindergarten. She began teaching at Teddy Bear in 2014 alongside Teddy Bear creator Bonnie Coulter. Rachael  took over as the Director in 2016 and helped expand the program from 4 classes to 10, and currently we have 14 classes. Rachael currently runs Teddy Bear’s 14 classes.

She currently teaches 2- and 3-day classes. She is married with 2 daughters. In her spare time, you can find her watching her daughters play softball, run track, or run cross country. She loves to travel, read, and spend time outside.