from http://vanliew.myteacher.dvusd.com

The following is the "about me" page from my teacher website that I keep up. Just thought I might post it for my friends and family to see, as well. Just in case anyone out there cares.

A Personal Note

Hi there. My name is Vaughn Adam Van Liew II: if you're a student, you can call me Mr. Van Liew, and if a parent, you can call me Adam.

I go by Adam because Vaughn is also my dad's name. My parents decided to call me Adam to cut the confusion. Much good that did! I went by Vaughn in 2nd grade, junior high, during college, and at my first teaching job.

I was born February 28th, 1983, in Columbia, South Carolina, where my father was in seminary studying for his Masters in Christian Studies. Ten months later, we moved back to where my parents had both been born and raised: back to Phoenix, Arizona. My sister, Bethany, was born in Phoenix. Then when four years old, we moved to Boulder City, Nevada. Three weeks into my third grade year, we moved to Birmingham, Alabama. When going into sixth grade, we moved back to Phoenix, where I've been living since. My parents and sister moved to Senegal, West Africa, to teach at a missionary kids' school in Dakar called Dakar Academy. After a year, Bethany moved to Alabama, where she currently lives. She is married to a great guy, Joseph Dumas, and they now have a son, my nephew, Jonathan David. My parents left Africa after two years, and now currently reside in Alabama, as well. They work at a boys' ranch called Big Oak Ranch, where they are house parents to up to 8 boys at a time, ranging in age from 5-18 years old.

I graduated Deer Valley High School in 2001, 5th of 405 students. I went on to Southwestern Bible College in Phoenix. During my sophomore year there, on Saturday, December 28, 2002, I married my beautiful and wonderful wife, Amy Michelle (Ogle). We'd known each other since junior high, but nothing had really happened between us until college. She is the love of my life. I graduated Southwestern summa cum laude (with highest honor) with a 4.0 in my major's studies. I earned a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education, with two minors: Bible and Math. On Friday, March 31, 2006, Amy gave birth to our first child, a boy, whom we named Vaughn Aidan Van Liew III. (He was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 3/4 in. long.) We also just found out (on 9/10/06) that Amy is again pregnant! Woohoo! The due date should be around May 14th or so. I'll keep you posted. If you'd like to hear more of my musings and thoughts, you can visit my personal blog at http://dutchroyalty.blogspot.com. Be forewarned that this blog has nothing to do with DVUSD or DVHS in any official sense. It is clearly a personal blog.

I student taught with Mrs. Kathy Mauser in the Timberwolf Core at Desert Sky Middle School. That was an incredible experience: learning from an amazing teacher and enjoying getting to know some great students. After student teaching, I then went to work for Cornerstone Charter School, Phoenix, AZ. I finished out the school year with them. It is a great school for at-risk students, and I enjoyed learning and growing through the student population there instructing me on how to live out grace while still retaining control of the classroom and an atmosphere of learning. In the 2005-6 school year, I taught Algebra 1/2 and Algebra 3/4 at Boulder Creek High School. I had a great time being a Jaguar for a year, but decided that working closer to home would be of great benefit. I now get to call my high school alma mater my teaching home, as well. GO SKYHAWKS!