Mr. Pete Dykema |
Email Mr. Pete Dykema
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Professional Biography |
I majored in biology and chemistry and minored in
Bible and philosophy, graduating from Calvin College in 1966. In my senior year, I struggled with the thought that this career goal was really my parents' dream and not really my own. After considering medicine and teaching, I realized it was my desire to teach where I believed I could make a significant contribution to the lives of its students. After teaching math and biology for 3 years at South Christian, the School Board gave me a sabbatical to attend Ball State University where I received my Master’s Degree in biology and environmental science. I returned to South Christian and taught health, physical science, environmental science, and chemistry-physics until 1978. Then I assumed the position of assistant principal-chemistry teacher. I took courses in administration at Michigan State University and did a thorough review of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. When South Christian grew in enrollment to 700 students, I decided to return to the classroom full time. My education continuously gets updated by attending science seminars at Grand Valley State University, Michigan Science Teachers' Conventions, and ChemEd summer workshops and seminars
Personal Biography |
I have been married 41 years and have two children (South Christian graduates) and five grandchildren (attending Legacy Christian). My wife is an R.N. working at Metro Health. My hobbies are grandchildren time, camping, and bicycle touring.
Faith |
I thoroughly enjoy teaching the majesty of God’s created order to students and watching them develop their gifts for a lifetime of service in God’s kingdom. I try to encourage them as imagebearers to be good stewards of creation, to practice Christian ethics in the recording and interpretation of data, and to practice being creative and imaginative when hypothesizing or developing experimental design. I show them how God is actively involved in sustaining and governing the universe through regular and repeatable patterns. Students are encouraged to be curious, to investigate God’s laws of nature, knowing they are studying the very handiwork of God - a way that God reveals His awesomeness to them.