You Got This

Samantha Valder has been teaching at Maranatha for six years now. Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, Sami found her way to Minnesota through her older brother attending Northwestern and her going to some of his track meets throughout the years. While doing so, she fell in love with Minnesota. “[...] I looked for a college in Minnesota because I just fell in love with it. I found North Central, and then I studied elementary education there. I met Mr. Valder and loved the area, so we married. I then met Ms. Larson at an interview fair during my senior year. She said, ‘Do you want a job?’ I said, ‘Sure!’” The rest is history. Sami went on to talk about how Maranatha ended up being exactly where she wanted to be—in a Christian school where she could teach early education. 

Mrs. Valder always knew she wanted to teach lower school, anything K-2, but didn’t know she’d end up loving Kindergarten as much as she has. “I love that they [the students] come to school every day just excited to learn. Every time you teach them something new, they have new stories, and they are just like a sponge. They just soak it all up. I also love all the hugs,” she laughed, “I mean, they love you as a teacher, so it’s a sweet relationship.” Mrs. Valder went on to talk about the importance of teaching reading in Kindergarten and the honor of teaching the little ones such a fundamental part of life. 

When it comes to fun programs that happen in Kindergarten, two of them are their “buddy” programs. “We have 4th grade buddies and then we have senior buddies. [...] our 4th grade buddies are our reading buddies, [...] we get together with them once a month.” The 4th-grade reading buddies is an initiative where each Kindergartner is paired up with a 4th grader, and they become exactly that, buddies! They read together and become friends. Our Kindergarten program also has a graduation and parade at the end of the year, during which Kindergarteners buddy up with our seniors who are also graduating. Recently, the Kindergarten team has taken this connection to the next level. “[...] we meet during their [the seniors’] D-Groups, like 45 minutes, and they come, and we just do a different activity [...]. In November, we do Thanksgiving Bingo, and we have prizes, [...] in January we do a snow activity [...].” All of these connection points are so that when it comes time for the Kindergartners to walk in the parade with their senior buddy, they know them and are comfortable with them. 

If she wasn’t teaching, Mrs. Valder said that she’d love to own a wedding venue and be a wedding coordinator. “I would have it on a big piece of land, and it would have different spots to it. But it would be like, ‘Oh, there’s a coffee house there for the people that are getting ready. And then, yep, there’s an area where you can grill out that night or have a catering truck that comes in.’ Just lots of different opportunities, and the land is very, very big.” When asked where she’d like to live one day, she said someplace in the dry heat, specifically Arizona. “I like the dry heat. I feel like I would miss the snow, but I feel like it would just be kind of nice to have dry heat and the desert life and a pool.” 

Mrs. Valder lastly shared that her mom had given her some great advice when she was younger on how to handle her perfectionist tendencies.

“She told me, ‘Just keep trying in school; you got this.’ I tell my students how God invented erasers for a reason. And so, I was always told not to let your perfectionism and your type of personality run your life. And I feel like that stuck with me [...] and I bring it to the Lord.”

Sami hopes to impart that same wisdom to her students, saying that it’s okay not to be perfect. God created each and every one of us differently, and everyone learns and grows at different speeds and in different ways. “I want my students to remember that they are loved, that they’re a child of God, and that they are uniquely made to do the learning that works best for them.”