Celebrating Our New Faculty and Staff

It was great to see so many of you at parent-teacher conferences. Parent partnership is one of the things that makes GRCHS a great place for students. The three days that followed were filled with professional development for our faculty. On Wednesday we joined together as a staff to grow in our shared vision of Christian education and how that impacts this generation of students. It was a chance for us to remember why we got into education. One of the things we worked on was our “deep hope” for our students in each course we teach or the office that we occupy. 

I was struck by the fact that roughly one out of every five faculty members in our meeting is new to Grand Rapids Christian. Throughout the interview process, I was able to hear a lot about each one of them, including their deep hopes for their classes and how their love of Jesus would impact their teaching. Last Wednesday was a great opportunity for some of their colleagues to get to know them on a deeper level. In a day and age where there is a major teacher shortage, I found myself incredibly grateful for God’s faithfulness in the hiring process. Our new teammates are already participating in chapel, leading staff devotions, and impacting our students in many ways. To say that we hired great additions to our school is a huge understatement! Here are the new members of our faculty and staff:

• Shelly Hendricks - Spanish/Spanish Immersion teacher
• Chaz Meyaard - Social Studies teacher
• Jenny Griffin - Math teacher
• Jonathan Owens - English teacher
• David Mosterd - Bible and Theology teacher
• Matthew Falk - Science teacher
• Erin DeYoung - Orchestra teacher
• Megan Karsten - Academic Skills teacher
• Jen VanBeek - Counselor
• Jacob McCracken - Counselor
• Kate Mellitz - Director of Theatre

If your student is fortunate enough to have one of our new faculty members teaching or supporting them this year, please take a moment to encourage them and to thank them for being part of our community. We pray that GRCS is a blessing to each one of them and we know that we are a better place because of their God-given gifts and talents. 

Thank you for your prayers and partnership!

—Brad