Alum Named Distinguished Student Teacher

Jill Van Arsdalen ’07 was recently recognized by the state Department of Education as a 2009 New Jersey Distinguished Student Teacher award recipient.

Van Arsdalen, who just completed the Graduate Level Teacher Certification Program (GTLP) at Rider, student taught ninth and tenth grade Algebra I and Interactive Algebra classes at Haddon Heights Junior/Senior High School in Haddon Heights, N.J. 

“I am so grateful to my professors throughout the program,” said Van Arsdalen citing Dr. Kathleen Pierce, department chair of Graduate Education and 
assistant professor of Teacher Education, and Dr. Don Ambrose, acting associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences. “I would also like to thank my student-teaching supervisor, Ken Boardman, as well as my cooperating teachers at Haddon Heights High School — Ruth Tocco, Michelle Demery and Joanne Johnson.”

Van Arsdalen started GTLP last summer and student taught this spring. “I feel very honored to have received this award and I am even more eager to begin my career as a teacher,” she added.

The New Jersey Distinguished Student Teacher awards recognize the five most outstanding prospective teachers in the state.

“Jill’s success adds to the recognition of Jeanne Muzi who won the New Jersey Teacher of the Year award,” Ambrose said. Muzi, who completed GTLP at Rider, teaches at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Lawrence.

As an undergraduate at Rider, Van Arsdalen, a Mathematics major, tutored various levels of mathematics and worked as a tutor in the Math Skills Lab. She found that she loved tutoring and wanted to become a teacher in order to help students. So, she enrolled into the GLTP program at Rider.

“After my first course with Dr. Ambrose, I was hooked!  I loved everything about this program, and it kept on getting better and better,” Van Arsdalen said. “I was lucky to have Dr. Pierce for many of my classes after that — she was so full of relevant educational advice, and she was such an inspiration for me and my classmates.”

The certification program gave Van Arsdalen the opportunity to participate in class discussions, pertinent education topics, delve into interesting issues in her writing assignments, practice student teaching in front of her peers, and share her classroom experience with other student teachers.

“This is an awesome program, jam-packed with useful information, all of which I will take with me as I enter the field of teaching,” Van Arsdalen said. “My classes throughout GLTP helped me become a collaborative and reflective teacher.” 

Not only was Van Arsdalen prepared when she stepped foot into the classroom, but she found she loved every minute of student teaching.

“The students welcomed me into their classroom immediately, the teachers were so warm and friendly, and I was eager to start taking over the classes,” she said. “It was everything I had imagined it would be — lesson planning, seating charts, grading homework and quizzes, creating tests, and I enjoyed every bit of it!” 

Van Arsdalen, who is now looking for a teaching position, said her favorite thing about teaching is the students because they make every day unique and rewarding.

“I look forward to seeing the light bulbs turn on in their heads when they understand something for the first time. My students are the future, and I love educating them to prepare them for what lies ahead in their lives,” she said. “I cannot wait to get into my own classroom and begin implementing everything I have learned at Rider and throughout my student teaching experience.”