Email 1st grade
Phone: 712-737-2274 Ext. 223
Years at OCCS: 16
Endorsement Background: BA in Elementary education (grades K-8) with a reading endorsement from Dordt College
Professional Development: I taught first grade at OCCS from 1982-1985. From 1986-1987 I taught the enrichment program at OCCS and then after staying home with my children for several years I returned to OCCS and began working in the middle school resource room and classroom. During my years in the middle school, I taught Literature and Bible classes. During 2005-2007 I taught fulltime 5th grade classroom and for the last several years I have again been enjoying teaching first grade.
Family: I have a wonderful husband, Darren, who works at EZLiner Industries, a division of Diamond Vogel Paints. We have seven children(two are in-laws and one will be next summer). Our oldest son Aaron is married to Ashley and they live in Los Angeles where he is working in the movie industry and she is an engineer. Brandon is our second son and he is married to Erica. They are both working in Sioux Center - Brandon works for Agency Two Twelve and Erica as a graphic design artist for Link Manufacturing. Jordan is our third son and he is a junior at Dordt majoring in business at Dordt. He is also engaged to Meagan Langeraap and they plan to get married June, 2012. Kaly is our youngest and she is a junior at Unity. Our family enjoys spending times together participating in and watching lots of football games. We also enjoy going to Christian music concerts and festivals.
Faith Statement:
Philippians 3:2-7 tells us that we are to have the servant mind of Christ. As a teacher I believe that this is extremely important. I must keep myself well grounded in God's word and well educated in all the areas of education that pertain to me. Having done this, I can better serve my family, my students, their parents, and other staff members. I believe that God has called me to teach and has blessed me over the many years I have taught. In education, I must make the needs of my students my first priority. It is my desire as a classroom teacher, to figure out each student's areas of strengths and weaknesses and then find methods to help them develop to their greatest potential and use their gifts to serve God and others.
