Featured Teacher: Dale Sandquist

May 18, 2015 by admin

Dale Sandquist cares about his students, and it shows. “You can tell he really loves his job,” said Riley Anderson, one of his former students.

Sandquist spends his days teaching physical education at Waukee Middle School, and he makes sure that his classes are fun. “I looked forward to P.E. because of him,” said Anderson. For this reason, Anderson felt compelled to nominate Sandquist for recognition in myWaukee.

Sandquist grew up in southwest Iowa and describes himself as “a farm boy from Emerson.” He originally began teaching because he wanted to be a coach. He taught and coached every girls’ sport at the high school in Treynor, Iowa, for ten years during the 1970s. He then moved away from education, opening a clothing and sporting goods store in Shenandoah. He owned the store for 25 years and did part-time radio work as a local sportscaster. After moving to central Iowa to be closer to his family, Sandquist began teaching middle school physical education in Waukee, where he has been for the past eight years.

It’s a busy workweek for Sandquist, with 950 students at the school. He and the two other physical education teachers at Waukee Middle School each have six class periods a day with 90 students in each class. The teachers emphasize physical fitness with daily activities and a fit log program in which students can monitor their physical activity.

A big part of Sandquist’s job is to help his students as they learn and grow. “There’s a lot of transitioning and learning going on for middle school kids,” he said, “so we just try to get them headed in the right direction and make them feel safe and happy.”

Sandquist said his favorite part of being a middle school teacher is interacting with the students. He’s also inspired when he receives a letter from a past student expressing appreciation for his teaching. “It’s always satisfying when students feel like they’ve made progress,” he said.

When he’s not working, Sandquist enjoys spending time with his family and following his favorite sports teams, including the Huskers.

Sandquist plans to retire from teaching at the end of this school year, after a total of 18 years in education. However, if his varied and vigorous career is any indication, Sandquist will remain active even after he says farewell to Waukee Middle School.

Featured Teacher: Kristin Steenhoek

April 1, 2015 by admin

For some people, finding an ideal career is a long journey. Not so for Kristin Steenhoek, who teaches in the reading lab at Waukee’s Maple Grove Elementary School.

When asked about her career choice, Steenhoek says, “I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher.” Steenhoek, who spends her days providing extra reading help to small groups of students, grew up babysitting and helping in preschools and children’s Bible School programs.

Her passion for teaching has not gone unnoticed. Laura Smith, who nominated Kristin as one of Waukee’s favorite teachers, describes Steenhoek as one who “goes above and beyond every day” in the classroom.

Steenhoek says one of the best parts of her job is being able to focus on one content area with her students. She takes three students into her classroom for twenty minutes at a time, working with a total of around 30 students by the end of the day. While in her classroom, the students complete learning exercise designed to help them find patterns in words and boost reading comprehension. According to Smith, Steenhoek finds out how each individual child learns best and then helps parents continue the learning process at home. Smith credits this “team effort” approach for the success her own son achieved over the months he spent participating in the reading lab.

When she’s not in the classroom, Steenhoek is spending time with her husband, Jeff, and their two sons, Ethan, 7, and Cael, 3, at their home in Waukee. With two little guys at home, Steenhoek says, “I am doing all things ‘boy’ around here,” which includes lots of outdoor activities like baseball, basketball, and riding bikes.

As a teacher, Steenhoek finds motivation in her students’ excitement to learn. “When you work with kids, especially little kids, every day is kind of a new day. For those kids that might be struggling with one thing one day, the next day they come in and they’re fresh and they’re excited to try it again.”

She also enjoys seeing the progress of her students. “With every little step they make, with every goal they achieve, they’re excited. They’re little sponges—they want to learn more and more all the time. It’s a lot of fun.”

Know an outstanding teacher in the Waukee School District? Nominate them!