Principal’s first career choice was graphic design
Marriage and talent took him from art college to Redeemer
Tuesday January 31, 2012 -- Deb Bartlett
When Scugog Christian School principal Mike Vanderboor was in university, a former teacher interviewed him about why he wanted to get into education.

Years later, Vanderboor discovered that former teacher called his old school to let staff members know Vanderboor planned to be a teacher.

“They chuckled about that,” says Vanderboor, who admits he was not “the favourite student.”

“In fact, I spent a lot of time getting to know the administration. I got to know the inside of the principal’s office quite well,” he says.

He shared the story when asked what prompted him to become an educator.

Vanderboor says he had no desire to be a teacher; he wanted to be a graphic designer.

“God always has a plan that sometimes doesn’t match up with ours,” he says.

Vanderboor was enrolled to start at the Ontario College of Art (OAC). He met a woman who was attending Redeemer University College and they decided to marry.

Realizing that commuting to Toronto would be impractical, he deferred attending OAC for a year, and discovered that Redeemer had a “wonderful art program” so he switched to Redeemer.

While at Redeemer, Vanderboor was involved with theatre arts, set design and sports.

With Dr. John Byl, Vanderboor led the Hamilton homeschool group through athletics, and did one-day training sessions for Grade 7/8 students in Christian schools in southern Ontario.

He chose to finish his Bachelor of Arts at Redeemer, and in third year, Dr. Byl suggested Vanderboor consider education because it was how he spent his spare time.

“It wasn’t a gift or talent I saw, but it was something that other people saw,” says Vanderboor.

That was when the interview with his former teacher took place.

Vanderboor says after years of teaching at the elementary and secondary level, “it’s neat to go back and have those same staff members that taught me as peers, and be able to sit and work together.”

He says they’re excited for him in his new role as principal.

To comment on this story, or to share what put you on the path to becoming an educator, contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 26, or e-mail jennifer(at)axiomnews.ca.