Teacher Spotlight: Cindy Arendsen

After 30 years of teaching, Cindy Arendsen continues to build a legacy of loving God, loving kids, and loving learning. In her time at Zeeland Christian, Cindy has taught preschool and kindergarten, and is currently teaching first grade. When asked what she looks forward to most about coming to work each day, she shares, “I…

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Teacher Spotlight: Morgan Swartz

Written by Megan Smith  Morgan Swartz started teaching at Zeeland Christian School 7 years ago, right after graduating from the teaching program at Calvin University. Her first time walking into ZCS, she knew it was where she was meant to be. Immediately feeling God’s presence all around, she knew how special the school.  Before Morgan…

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Teacher Spotlight: Alex Zhou

Written by Megan Smith Alex Zhou teaches sixth and seventh-grade Mandarin Immersion at Zeeland Christian School. He has been married to his wife, Kristi, for 11 years. Keeping them busy, they have four daughters, 9-year-old Samantha, 6-year-old Hannah, 4-year-old Nicole, and 2-year-old Emily. Alex and his wife met each other in China, when Kristi was…

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Teacher Spotlight: Ran Tao Schlosser

Ran (pronounced “ren”), or Tao Laoshi (Tah-ow) (La-ow-shur[which means teacher]) as known by students, had a very unique start to her teaching career at Zeeland Christian.  She was able to experience nearly all of the mandarin elementary classrooms in just two short years. When she learned about the immersion program at Zeeland Christian from a…

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Teacher Spotlight: Marianne Raitz

My name is Marianne Raitz, and I am a First Grade Spanish Immersion and Reading Support Teacher at ZCS. My journey at Zeeland Christian began in September of 2010. I was sitting in the teachers’ lounge of a school I worked at in Costa Rica. I overheard one of the teachers talking about a school…

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Teacher Spotlight: Makenna Hoekstra

By Megan Smith Makenna Hoekstra chose to teach at Zeeland Christian because of the tremendous impact the school has had on her life. She graduated from ZCS in 2012, went to Holland Christian for high school, and got her education degree at Cornerstone University. She is currently teaching 6th grade Math and Social Studies. Although…

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Teacher Spotlight: Carla Zastrow

By Megan Smith Being a middle school teacher takes a very special person. Carla Zastrow fits that description perfectly. She has taught at Zeeland Christian for nearly 20 years, and all of them have been in our middle school. Carla started teaching in California for one year, but she found her fit at Zeeland Christian.…

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Teacher Spotlight: Erin Armas

Written by Megan Smith This year, ZCS welcomed Erin Armas as the new 3rd grade Spanish teacher. Erin’s teaching history includes teaching at a public school in Charlotte, NC, homeschooling her own children, teaching in a homeschool co-op in Guatemala, and even teaching online college and language classes. While serving and living in Guatemala, she…

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Teacher Spotlight: Kevin Schonewill

Written by Megan Smith Kevin Schonewill grew up out on the Great Plains of South Dakota. His family was extremely musical, and ‘doing music’ in church was part of their identity as a family. In Kevin’s younger years, his father owned a music store, where he would occasionally work. His shared deep connection between music…

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Teacher Spotlight: Tom Joustra

Written by Megan Smith If you’ve ever walked the halls of Zeeland Christian School, then chances are you’ve run into the smiling face of Tom Joustra. But what might come as a surprise, is when he set off from his hometown in New Jersey to attend Calvin College, Tom didn’t have teaching in mind at…

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