Chemistry teacher on path to US citizenship

Upper School Chemistry teacher Heather Foucault-Camm demonstrated an understanding of U.S history, government, and civic principles after passing the U.S citizenship test and continues on in her pathway of naturalization.

Camm who lived in Canada until she was 25, then moved to England on a European passport for six years and is now currently a green card resident in America, started seeking her U.S citizenship seven years ago.

“I have the right to three [passports] but we’re going to hold only the U.S passport. If we’re going to commit we are going to be 100% all-in… that doesn’t mean that we will lose our family history, it just means that we are all in, in terms of the label.” said Camm.

Camm has been in this process for seven years and has wanted all the rights as a typical American citizen all the while.

“ The voting piece is very important to us…it’s not a political statement, it’s that we believe very strongly in the democratic philosophy and the idea of

the voting right of every citizen.” said Camm

Throughout the naturalization process, Camm has had to deal with whatever obstacles that may come her way and this includes the worry factor of the process.

“The worry piece about how things were going to work out in terms of the emotion was a significant part of the process for 7 years.” said Camm. On the pathway to

citizenship the individual must have demonstrated good moral character, along with clean background checks on financial and criminal records, and social media posts.

“ It was a very powerful moment because we were struck by the gravity of it. But as a teacher it was very important to experience stress because this is how students feel sitting an exam and it’s helpful as educators to be reminded of that.” said Camm.

However, along with the worry piece of the citizenship process, Camm also had to deal with common misconceptions concerning the process itself. According to Camm, her daughter Penelope was on the playground when a fellow student came up to her and said

“If your parents fail this test, they are going to have to leave the country.” Camm was shocked by this statement in all of its falsehood due to the fact that anyone seeking citizenship is entitled to two attempts.

“It’s a teachable moment.” Camm said. “It’s hard because where that child got that information from we don’t know but we assured [Penelope] that she was fine and that we were going to be ok.”

Besides the seemingly negative that went along with Camm in her process, Camm also encountered many things that she deemed positive.

“ I think what I will remember the most is when we passed, we told the kids and they gave us hugs. The whole [Sanford] community was very supportive of us, we had dinner as a family and we saved the receipt because we wanted to make that a part of our family history.”

Like other American citizens, Camm believes that there are two parts to the title. “Philosophically, to be a citizen for us is to be a contributing member to the greatest experiment in democratic government that has ever existed. Practically what it means to us is security. It means that my children and I can remain in this country indefinitely.”

Camm and her husband are set to take an oath of allegiance to the United States in early March where they will officially become U.S citizens.

“ I made fun of her because she’s going to have to spell the word color right now and not with the U” said Julia Griffith class of 2020 and AP Chemistry student.