Posts by Staff Contributor
Being Shaped for God’s Purpose
Middle School is an exciting journey where students learn valuable lessons in a supportive environment while making unforgettable memories! As Makenna Hoekstra, one of our fantastic 6th-grade teachers, says, “It’s all about meeting kids where they are at and encouraging them to live into how God created them.” There’s nothing sweeter than hearing our students…
Read MoreTaiwan Trip 2024
By: Alex Zhou As a Chinese saying goes: ”What you learn from traveling ten thousand miles is more than reading ten thousand books.” After years of dedication and hard work, 9 middle school students in the Mandarin program have been given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty of Chinese culture, practice language skills,…
Read MoreWelcomed As We Are
When we say inclusion at Zeeland Christian, we are referring to the 33-year-long commitment to welcome, include, educate, and extend belonging to all learners. After all these years, our desire to provide inclusive education to all children is even stronger. Why? Because we have 33 years’ worth of names, faces, stories, and Holy Spirit moments…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight- Jackie Roskamp
Leading the Way Eighth-grade teacher Jackie Roskamp knows what it means to witness faith working the lives of her students. After 11 years of teaching at Zeeland Christian School (ZCS), she has experienced her students profess their faith as a result of the lessons she passes on to them every day. She grew…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight- Chuck Commeret
Finding the Lesson Within Don’t take yourself too seriously. Laugh at yourself as much as possible. Mistakes can be the best teacher. These are just a few lessons that Chuck Commeret, fourth-grade teacher, has learned throughout his teaching career. These lessons are just a few amongst the many he…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight- Melanie Vander Ploeg
Leading Faith-First In Caledonia, MI, Melanie VanderPloeg, second-grade teacher at Zeeland Christian, began her faith journey. To this day she still resides in that small town where she discovered her love for Christ in third grade at Bible Study. In awe of the great Creator and the ways to pardon our sinfulness, she…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight- Becky Schrotenboer
An Authentic Faith Becky Schrotenboer, third-grade Spanish immersion teacher, knew she wanted to teach the Word of God to students during her freshman year of college. Fast forward to 2019, and Becky has been teaching at Zeeland Christian School (ZCS) for 10 years. Each day she is able to laugh with and lead her…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight- John Buteyn
I was born in Waupun, Wisconsin, a small town in the central part of Wisconsin in a strong Christian family as the sixth of eight children. My parents were actively involved in both our home church and Christian school. My dad was always involved in serving on either the church council of elders or on…
Read MoreWhat if? Innovation Design Project
For the last four weeks, our fourth and sixth graders have stepped away from their normal routine and took on a huge challenge that will benefit the students of ZCS for a long time. The “What If? Innovation Project©” challenged the students to design a nature-based playground that encourages play, worship and learning for…
Read MoreTeacher Spotlight – Mark Sneller
The Hearts They’ll Have Mark Sneller remembers his first-day teaching at Zeeland Christian thirty-nine years ago, watching the joyful little students climb the stairs up to his classroom. He also remembers his first fire drill, carrying each nervous child down the stairs so they would not have to exit by themselves, “It’s what you do,”…
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