Teacher of the Week: Mr. Vandeurs

by William Torres, junior feature editor

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I liked working with students when I did after school help, and it just snowballed from there. I then worked at a summer camp, eventually ran the summer camp, and started observations. I never knew that teaching was 100% the right choice until I stepped in a classroom full time to teach.
Why did you choose to teach this subject?

Science was always my favorite subject. I love how broad it is. You can do research and experiment on literally anything you want. Science was a subject that I thoroughly enjoyed every year of middle/ high school. I actually started college as an architect, but changed before I took any classes. I love how open science is. Anyone can be a scientist, all you have to do is change something, and record the results.

How many years have you been a teacher?

This is my second year as a full time teacher. My first official teaching position was last year at WJPS.

What teacher had impacted your life when you were in school?

My two favorite teachers were both outgoing ,funny, and charismatic teachers.

Mr. McCrarey was my AP biology teacher and he inspired me to use bad puns, and have a classroom snake (his was named Monty). The other teacher that most impacted me was Dr. Greenburger, whom I never actually had as a teacher. He would give me life advice, and give me a place to be after school a lot of the time.

What makes you different from all the other teachers?

I like to think my attitude towards education, reports with students, and expectations differ me from other teacher. I expect a lot from my students, but I am very fair, and students look forward to being in my class. I don’t mind a noisy classroom as long as students are on task. I like to have fun as much as students do, and i have trained my body to function on very little sleep.

What sacrifices have you made since being a teacher?

Primarily sleep. I do a lot of activities outside of teaching, and I don’t get enough sleep because of it. However band practice is harder to schedule with grad school, and I see my girlfriend less and less and the semester goes on.

What do you believe the ups and downs of being a teacher are?

The only down is that it takes a lot of work and dedication. I have fun teaching, which I can’t say about every job that I have had. I get the potential to make a large impact on a student’s life, and show them everything science has to offer. I love that every day of work is different. I worked in a vitamin manufacturer before teaching, and the repetition made me hate my job. There are never enough hours in a day and if you want to be a great teacher, it seems there are less than 24. Time is precious.

Have your students impacted you as a teacher?

My students have impacted how I teach and run my classroom. I learn from them all of the time. My students absolutely impact me as a teacher. Know your audience and change accordingly. If you teach every student the same, you are doing something wrong.

Do you have any secret talents? If so what are they?

All my talents aren’t secrets. I can play the banjo fairly well, and I used to work at zumiez, so I can build a skateboard in less than 5 minutes.The closest thing to a secret talent would be that I am a pokemon master.