Deb Vandenberg
What do you teach at Eastern Christian School?
“5th grade math and science.”
What do you love about Eastern Christian School?
“The kids; love for God’s world and connecting their learning to it.”
Why do you like teaching at Eastern Christian? What motivated you to become a teacher at Eastern Christian?
“I knew nothing but Eastern Christian in my education life. I attended Eastern Christian from K-12th grade, went away to college to become a teacher, came back my senior year to student teach at all 3 campuses of EC, and then began teaching here immediately following college graduation.”
How do you teach a Christian Worldview in your classes at EC?
“Everything we do in math and science connects to the amazing, intricate world God created. In math we uncover the amazing patterns God implanted in His creation. In science, every aspect of God’s creation makes us step back and say WOW! We marvel daily at how incredibly the world is made, how filled it is with just amazing creations, and then how we fit in it, as part of that creation, and how we are to care for that creation.”
What is a unique experience, talent or interest that you bring to your classroom to help shape the learning experience of your students?
“A love of math, a love of children, a love of learning new things.”
What sets EC students apart from students in other schools?
“I have not had experience in other schools, so I guess I cannot honestly answer this. However, I will say that our students are very accepting, very tolerant, very caring kids. They care for each other and for new students who enter their “family.” They have good hearts, searching for God’s will in their young lives.”
The Eastern Christian tagline is “Engaging. Nurturing. Transforming.” How do you accomplish this in your role at EC?
“Engaging—active learning in math and science, practical application of learning, challenging to stretch and grow in knowledge and insight of God’s world, becoming responsible, organized students.
Nurturing—my 5th graders become my life! We share interests, prayers, cares, joys. We gain respect for each other each year! I always tell my homeroom they are the best ever! We get to know each other personally. We hold each other accountable, we challenge each other, we care about each other.
Transforming—We are out to make a difference. Entering middle school in 5th grade is a transformation in and of itself. We work to become serious middle school students. We also work to be servers. We serve each other as we learn to be group learners. We serve our communities as we learn about and perform service hours. We partner with 4th graders, teaching them their business projects. We partner with preschool students, teaching bicycle safety as part of St. Jude Children’s Hospital’s Trike-a-Thon. We run the Trike-a-Thon to benefit the children at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.”
What do you want your students to gain from having known you?
“A sense of awe and wonder for the incredible God who created this world and allowed us to be a part of it.”