Ruth VandenHeuvel | Serving ICS for 25 Years

ICS is proud to recognize Ruth VandenHeuvel, who has been with our schools serving as a teacher at ICES for 25 years. We are blessed to have Ruth as part of our teaching staff and applaud her for the continued dedication she shows in her work.

In celebration of this milestone we asked Ruth to share a bit of her experience working for ICS.

1. What made you decide to pursue a career in teaching?

I was working in a day care and loved babysitting and working with children, so I thought I would try a year of taking Early Childhood Education. After a year I decided to graduate with a two year degree. The week before graduation, I prayed about continuing this degree with an education degree and with my parent’s blessing and willingness to help me with my US tuition loan, I did. Doing practicums in the local schools helped me to have a desire to become a teacher.

2. What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your job?

Being able to begin each new day with a devotion and hearing the kids’ comments, questions and personal prayers is a big highlight for me! Witnessing the students’ desires to reflect God as an image bearer, servant worker, creation enjoyer, God-worshipper, community builder, earth keeper and beauty creator brings joy to my heart. Seeing them improve their reading and math skills or make a biblical connection in a subject area is so rewarding! Just the privilege of getting to know my students better over the school year is rewarding in and of itself!

3. What are some of the biggest changes you have witnessed in your time of teaching?

I’m getting old, so my first year of teaching in Rocky Christian School we still had gestetner machines to run off papers!Technology has changed so much, so fast! We still had floppy disks in College and I’m still learning new things about technology every day. The increase of our fast paced world has made kids become less patient and harder to please. As well, the increase of screen time has also impacted kids’ learning by shortening their attention spans, which makes teaching even more challenging! The Christian aspect of teaching has always been there, but over the years, I think “Teaching for Transformation” has helped to make teaching from a biblical point of view more distinctive and intentional, which I have appreciated and really enjoy! Being able to refer to the biblical storyline and ask the students specific questions such as, “What have you learned about God’s plan or purpose in this biblical event or unit?” is very exciting!

4. What is the most important thing that you have learned in your career?

I have learned that every child is so unique and has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, just like their teachers. It is too overwhelming to try to teach every child everything you want to in a year, so before the Lord, I have learned to ask for wisdom, guidance and strength and be reminded of God’s big picture. We may not feel like we are getting anywhere or making an impact in their lives, but by God’s grace, we try and know that God’s plan for their lives is so much bigger than our plan; He created each one a masterpiece and knows His plan for their life.