My name is Dawn Stam. I have been blessed to be a part of the staff and student life here in a variety ways throughout my time here at ACA. I have appreciated the family-culture that exists here between the students, staff, parents, and teachers.
I received my degree in education at Dordt University in Sioux Center, IA. I have an Elementary Education Degree with a Middle School Endorsement where I focused my teacher training in grades 5-8. I specialized in Math and Social Studies.
I grew up in a loving Christian home and my parents invested in our spiritual upbringing by sending us to a Christian school K-12. In second grade my Aunt was diagnosed with cancer, and she died the following year when I was in third grade. I loved my aunt deeply and our families were especially close. I remember asking my mom one evening about what it meant to ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, for Him to come into my heart, and how to do this. She shared that it meant I needed to pray, personally asking Jesus to forgive me for all my sins, believing that He died on the cross and was raised from the dead to pay for all my sins and to save me from the punishment I would need to pay for them. Then she said I would also need to ask Jesus to be Lord of my life, to help me love him and serve him each day. Our faith in God is a journey with peaks and valleys that God leads and guides us through as we grow in love for God and our knowledge of him.
Being a part of Christian education helped my knowledge of God and his love for me come full circle in that I was hearing God’s word read at home, preached at church, and taught in school. I was able to understand that God is not just in Bible class, but God is in control and involved in all the world through his creation and in the subjects we are learning. God gave me love for children as I grew up and gave me a desire to teach them not just to learn different subjects but to see who God is through the different subjects and their need for him in their own lives.
It is an honor and privilege to a part of kids' lives through christian education. I have and continue to enjoy getting to know students each year and see them grow and mature.