My name is Kim Vanderwerff. I have been blessed to be a teacher here at St. Francis de Sales since January of 2007. I am the middle school Social Studies, Religion, and Spanish teacher. I love teaching at St. Francis because of the wonderful family feeling and also because I get to share my faith with the students. I hope that I not only help the students prepare for high school, but I also work provide them with a strong foundation in their faith and their relationship with God. Our school community is a place where students, families, and staff can all grow in our relationship with God.
I am also the leader for a club for 5th-8th grade students called Mary’s FIAT. Fiat is the Latin word for Mary’s “yes” to God to be the mother of Jesus. FIAT also provides a great acronym for our Faith in Action Team! It reminds us that we say “yes” to God by being involved in our faith. We will once again be learning about our faith, leading school prayer services, and having quarterly service projects that will help us to live out our faith, even as young people.
I have been a teacher since January of 1996 and every year I have taught in a Catholic school, first, in my “home” area of the “Holy Land” (northeastern Fond du Lac County), and then 9 1/2 years at St. Peter in Kenosha before coming here. I also went through Catholic school from kindergarten through high school and both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Catholic universities. As you can see, my Catholic faith and Catholic education are extremely important to me!
I live in Kenosha County with my husband, Eddie, and our daughter, Maureen, who is proud that she will be a 2023 graduate of SFDS. We all enjoy reading, visiting museums, going on picnics, and traveling. Even though our parish is St. Peter’s in Kenosha, we consider St. Francis de Sales our “adopted” parish as we spend so much time here.