This week we find ourselves saying a lot of good-byes. While we can't wait for that final bell to ring, signalling the end of another year and the start of the lazy days of summer, it's bittersweet. Because every year we grow attached to another set of amazing teachers. They've guided our kids, gone above [...]
I was thinking about a month ago, “What am I going to write for my last blog article of the year?” So I asked my wife, Debbie, who happens to be one of our ACS kindergarten teachers. She said, “Why don’t you spend a day in my world and write about it?” So I did.Last Tuesday, [...]
As year-end looms near, and our minds begin to wander away from the tasks at hand to the many things to accomplish in so few weeks, and the promise of summer vacation, I find myself a bit reflective.You see, I won’t be returning to regular teaching next year. The tug-of-war between home and classroom is [...]
It was Monday morning. Our Nicaraguan guests had departed on Saturday, and Sunday had been busy with Run for Water. I was getting ready for school and found myself looking for the light under the bathroom door, listening for movement from the guest bedrooms, and wondering if it was time to put the coffee on. It’s [...]
At the top of my all-time favourite memories as a kid was going to Uncle Cecil and Aunt Sylvia’s farm. They owned and managed a dairy farm in Cobourg, Ontario (they moved to Listowel, Ontario when I was much older). Uncle Cecil was one of my dad’s younger brothers and they were good friends. We [...]
School is almost done for another year and I think the teachers are trying to do me in. They've had to put up with the Brandsma boys for 9 months now and they are exacting their revenge by putting every field trip, every celebration, every project, every special day, EVERYTHING into the last month and [...]
I’ll never forget the first time I met Jack Boersma. I was interviewing for the Principal position at ACS and he was giving me a tour of the facility. He knew every nook and cranny of the facility and a story behind each section of the building. “Oh, I remember crawling up here on these very rafters to [...]
Our Middle School just wrapped up our production of The Sound of Music. There were many amazing memories from the performances (like the reaction of the Grade 4, 5 and 8 students to the scene where Rolf kisses Liesel’s hand), but most of the really memorable moments occurred long before all the rehearsals happened. This [...]
I am not an artist, but I like to create. What I wear each day is like my way of being creative. I like to pull items together and build new outfits that I may have never worn in the past. I would like to think that I look decent each day, but what you [...]
It was my first year teaching. Fresh out of Dordt College, transplanted to sunny California. I had this wonderfully diverse and eager-to-learn first grade class. After the first few weeks of “what am I doing here?!” I was finding my rhythm as a primary teacher. I was connecting with the students, explaining things at their [...]
