Julie Vanderlinden Joins Staff
January 26, 2010
Another teacher from Iowa's Big Red Country has drifted south to Midget Country.
Julie Vanderlinden, the daughter of Bob and Joyce Moore, was born and raised in Centerville, Iowa. Two sisters, Dawn and Amy, and brother, Mike, are all older. She jokes, “Because I'm the youngest, they call me spoiled. My reply is, 'I can't help it if I was born last.'” Ms. Vanderlinden's mother works for the Department of Human Services; her father is retired from the city and now works for the Daily Iowegian.
All of Ms. Vanderlinden's education was in Centerville. Her kindergarten and 1st grade years were in the public school. From 2nd through 5th grades, she attended St. Mary's Catholic School and then switched back to public schools.
While attending Centerville High School, Ms. Vanderlinden was involved in many Redette activities, including band, flags, volleyball, track and National Honor Society. She admits, “I enjoyed flags the most, because we were a small group and adopted our own routine. We were also socially close-knit.” To earn money and stay busy, she took babysitting jobs and was an employee at Fareway.
“Mom and Grandma Virginia Kauzlarich were my role models,” she says. “I spent a lot of time with them. Besides having excellent values, they set a good example by volunteering and helping others. A homemaking teacher in high school was someone I admired very much; her name was Sharon Walker.”
Following high school graduation in 1999, Ms. Vanderlinden attended Indian Hills Community College for two years, completing an Associate's Degree. “To earn money for college,” she explains, “I worked at Subway and HyVee those two years.”
After a year at the University of Northern Iowa, she returned to Centerville. As many from this area have done, she enrolled at Graceland but continued to work. “Centerville School District hired me as an aide," she explains. “I continued studying to reach my career goal of being a teacher.” She graduated from Graceland in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a reading endorsement.
Grinning she adds, “Working at HyVee was where I met my husband, Daniel. He graduated from Moulton-Udell High School. We were married on April 2, 2005. He now teaches vocal and instrumental music and is the band director in the Moulton School.”
Ms. Vanderlinden's first real teaching job was at St. Mary's Catholic School in Centerville, where she taught 1st grade for three years. Because she was pregnant during the 2007-2008 school year, she planned to await the birth of their daughter, Olivia, before returning to the classroom. “I did take a one-on-one teaching job,” she states, “because I missed the kids.” Olivia was born on New Year's Day, 2008
“Last year I did long-term subbing at Centerville and Moulton. That made me really miss full-time teaching. In Centerville, I knew most of the administrators and teachers from my school days. They were extremely supportive and helpful.”
After seeing Putnam County's vacant special education position on a Web site, Julie applied, was interviewed and was hired. “I'm very happy here,” she says. “I love the educational atmosphere. Mrs. Spase is an excellent principal, and I feel fortunate to have Bonnie Burns, Jamie Lewis, Linda Klinginsmith and Tammy Head in my classroom. There is a great school spirit here. Everyone works as a team.”
She sees the best elementary teachers as having “patience, flexibility, compassion and understanding. Also, all teachers must be fair, honest and set good examples.”
Along with being a member of the St. Mary's Catholic Church in Centerville, Julie takes part in biking, scrapbooking, shopping and spending time with children.
Ms. Vanderlinden is a dedicated teacher who loves teaching children. Although she may have once worn the red of Centerville High School's Redettes, she is proud to wear the blue and white of the Putnam County Midgets.
