Isabella Vander Woude is joining the Clapham School faculty this fall as our Class Eight teacher. Inspired by her own eighth-grade teacher as well as her involvement in the Great Texts program at Baylor University, Isabella looks forward to mentoring and serving her students this year.
Please share a little about yourself; where “home” is, where you worship, what led you to teaching?
I grew up in Northwest Indiana, close enough to Chicago and the lakeshore to frequent often. I love the area, but what makes it truly special is my family and my extended family that live there. Along with many aunts, uncles, and cousins, I also have 3 younger brothers. Since I have always had a passion for learning, it has always seemed clear to me that God was calling me to be a teacher. I have been attending a church in South Holland with my family, but as I move to Wheaton and begin my time at Clapham, I am eager to find a church home and get plugged in.
You were a part of the Honors College at Baylor in the Great Texts program. What did you love about that program, and what are you hoping to incorporate into your own classroom experience moving forward?
The Baylor Honors College has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Through my classes and discussions there, my shared love for the humanities and God’s Word was able to flourish and deepen. I hope to incorporate many opportunities in my classroom to make and discuss profound connections between what we read and draw and write and observe, so that my students may experience the joy of discovery, just as I did during my time at Baylor.
Not only have you had a classical education in your primary and secondary schooling, but I have to imagine the faculty at Baylor was exceptional as well. Please share about a professor, teacher, or classroom experience that was especially formative for you.
My 8th-grade teacher left a great impression on me. From diagramming sentences to discussing Dante, she provided me with a way to grow and exercise my knowledge while also teaching me what it meant to be someone who pursues the true, the good and the beautiful. I looked forward to each day because she always presented a new challenge that led to a new treasure. Thankfully, most of my teachers and professors have shared this same joy in the classroom, bringing the material to life. As I step into my teaching role at Clapham, I want to be someone who imparts both wisdom and enthusiasm to my students.
What are some of the books that you have studied/read that shaped you? What are you reading now?
I have studied St. Augustine’s Confessions on multiple occasions, and each time I reread it, it has the greater effect on me. Augustine expertly models for me what a personal dialogue with God looks like and encourages me to continue in faithful reflection and confession in my own life. I also find comfort in the community that is placed around Augustine during his conversion process. Through his teacher, Ambrose, his mother, Monica and his friend, Alypius, Augustine is blessed with beautiful models of Christianity all which teach him how to live out his faith. There is an emphasis on finding and establishing a community that not only challenges one intellectually, but spiritually as well.
As for what I am currently reading, I just finished reading Frankenstein, which is a stupendous novel, and I can’t believe I hadn’t read it sooner. It is suspenseful, thought-provoking and I personally enjoyed Mary Shelley’s use of Paradise Lost throughout the story.
The integration of discipleship and learning is a crucial part of the Clapham experience. What principles of discipleship are you hoping your students will come to embody exiting eighth grade? Are there particular things that you’re hoping to do in class that you’re hoping will facilitate this growth?
As a teacher and mentor, I not only want to properly instruct my students in what is true, honorable, and right, but also encourage them to apply the lessons and truths that they have learned in the classroom to their lives going forward. By diving into the promises of God, I hope that I can facilitate discussions about how each of us can act on those promises and display Christ through the development and use of virtuous habits.
Looking ahead to the upcoming school year, what’s one goal you have for yourself as a teacher at Clapham, and how do you hope to achieve it?
I am looking forward to getting to know my students and forming deep connections with them as well as their families. I hope that my students will see me as someone that they can approach for both academic and spiritual guidance, as well as encouragement and accountability. Since Christ humbled himself and became a servant, I hope to achieve this goal by assuming a posture of humility and imitating my Savior so that I may better serve the needs and interests of my community.