Middle School Staff
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
I never thought that I would become a teacher. Both of my older siblings were teachers, and while I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, I knew that being a teacher wasn’t on my list. However, not only is our God a powerful and intricate creator, he has a sense of humor as well. During my first year at Trinity Christian College in 1995, I began coaching middle school kids. Not only did I love coaching, I loved working with the students as well. I graduated from Calvin College in 2000 with a major in history and a minor in political science and later received a Master’s degree from Grand Valley State University in Middle Level Education.
When I am not teaching, I love spending time with my wife and three children. We enjoy camping, playing and watching sports, playing games, and generally having fun together. I also enjoy spending time with friends, going out for dinner with my wife, reading, and being physically active. I try to take every opportunity to enjoy the gifts in life God has provided me with.
My Deep Hope for my students is that they will love Jesus, help bring restoration to the whole world, and follow the Holy Spirit’s calling to live joyful and intentional lives. My class storyline is “With Joy - Love, Serve, Restore”. My social studies curriculum is designed to engage students in God’s story when they learn about US history, our nation’s government, as well as world geography. In my class we do more than just learn facts, we look at all of the world, past and present, see it as God’s story, and we dig into it. We uncover the choices that we as people have made and we celebrate how God has been faithful in spite of our sin. We engage in God's story by challenging ourselves to see how God is calling us to love others, serve the world around us, and bring restoration where it is needed. I take my calling as a teacher seriously, yet I have a ton of fun with it as well. Teaching middle school students at Byron Center Christian School is such a blessing to me.
My Deep Hope is that we will deeply know that we are created in love and belong to our Creator, and that we will will use math to grow as perseverant thinkers and kingdom problem solvers.
I have been so blessed to be a teacher at BCCS! Teaching is something I truly love doing. I am thankful God has placed me here and allowed me to know so many wonderful students and families who have been a great support to me as a teacher.
I graduated from Calvin College with a teaching degree in 1986, and that is when I began my journey at Byron Center Christian. I have taught many different grade levels throughout the years, from first grade, to fourth, then second and now I thoroughly enjoy the middle school students of sixth grade! I teach language arts and social studies. Each level has helped me grow as a teacher and given me boundless blessings. This community has always given great support and encouragement. I am truly thankful to be a part of the BCCS family.
I have also loved to coach, something that I have done in one sport or another since I was eighteen years old! At BCCS, I have coached track and volleyball. Coaching has offered me another avenue to work with young people and know them outside of the classroom.
I have three grown children all of whom attended BCCS and loved it. They still consider it home. I enjoy spending time together with my family playing any kind of game we can get our hands on. I also love being outside and getting in nature. I spend my summers painting!
I love teaching! I love being here at Byron Center Christian! I am thankful each day for the opportunity God has given me to be a part of HIS children's lives!
A Favorite Passage: Romans 5:1-5
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
My Deep Hope is that our desire is to hear the words of God and seek to obey HIS voice in our lives.
I was born and raised on a farm south of Holland, Michigan. After graduating from Holland Christian High School in 1987, I didn’t know where God was leading me. I began working in a local factory where after a couple years, I felt God had other plans in store for me. With God’s lead I went to Calvin College and graduated in the spring of 1994. Later I went on to receive a Master's Degree from Western Michigan University. Byron Center is my home where I reside with my wife, Jaci (a professor of nursing at Calvin College), my daughter Maggie, and my son, Christian, both whom attended BCCS. My interests include hunting (especially deer), motorcycling, and restoring older motorcycles and snowmobiles (mostly Yamahas).
My favorite Bible passage is Psalm 23. God doesn't ever promise to make our path straight, smooth, or even easy; in fact He tells us we will "walk through the valley of the shadow of death," but He will always be with us, and our cup will run over.
My Deep Hope for science is that in everything we do we see the Story of God in Creation; His creation of the universe, our fall, our redemption, and His restoration, and we use that story to become His agents of restoration in our fallen world.
Teaching at Byron Center Christian School is the greatest job I have ever had. I have the opportunity every day to tell children about their Savior, and how to live for Him. This is a challenge and a huge responsibility, but there are not many jobs where you can openly talk about God and prepare children to serve in His kingdom. Each child is made in the image of God and I praise Him for the variety He has placed in my life and classroom. I ask for prayers as I try, with God's help, to do this job to the best of my ability. May God be given the glory for the things that are done this school year!
I teach sixth grade Bible, Math, and Science
I have taught at Byron Center Christian School since 2001. (You may have known me then as Miss Bozek.)
I graduated from Cornerstone University with honors and I received the President's Award for Christian Leadership. While I attended school I was a scholarship member of the Women's Basketball Team, and part of their National Honor Society.
I completed my Master's Degree in General Education with a focus on Project Based Learning in December of 2006 from Cornerstone University.I was married in the summer of 2004 to Chad Musch and have a son and daughter. Chad is a school teacher as well. We both enjoy playing and coaching many sports. I have coached and officiated basketball and volleyball. I currently play in a volleyball league. During the summer we help run a free basketball camp in New Mexico for children on the Navajo Reservation. Through the game of basketball, we have the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with them. As a family we enjoy the National Parks and exploring this amazing creation we are blessed to live in. We love to travel, and I have 4 states of the fifty states left to visit. Our children travel and hike with us.
Favorite Verse: (I have two that are favorites. It is really hard to pick just one!)
1. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23.
2. "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Philemon 1:16
My Deep Hope is that you will know you are a child of God and you have a purpose He created only for you. I pray that you can walk step by step using your gifts in service to Him.
I am grateful to be invited into the Byron Center Christian community this year! I graduated from Calvin University in 2023 with a degree in English Secondary Education. During my time at Calvin, I enjoyed working at the library on campus, serving as a Freshman Orientation Leader, and studying abroad in Liverpool, England for a semester. The opportunity to work at a Christian school has appealed to me since my decision to pursue a teaching career. I attribute this sense of vocation to the numerous ways I have been blessed by Christian education in my own life.
I grew up in Hudsonville, where my three siblings and I attended Hudsonville Christian School and then Unity Christian High School. My own passion for reading developed in my middle school years, so I love that I can experience the wonder of stories with students in this stage of life. I especially love the way in which books expand our understanding of the world so that we can be better servants of Christ within it, and I hope to convey this through my teaching.
My hobbies are running outdoors, reading novels, and starting – but rarely finishing – crossword puzzles. Jane Eyre is my favorite novel, and I have read it several times. I also enjoy spending time with family, friends, and my dog.
My favorite passage in the Bible is Romans 8. I take great comfort in the assurance that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
My Deep Hope is that we explore beauty. brokenness, and redemption in literature, language, and life to discern our calling within God’s world.
I am thankful to be a part of the BCCS community. God has richly blessed me with a passion for teaching middle school students, and I am always amazed at how He works through the hearts of young people. I grew up in Northwest Iowa before moving to West Michigan and attending Calvin Christian High School. I graduated from college in 2014 with a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education and Biblical Studies from Grace Bible College (now Grace Christian University).
After teaching for one year in the Grand Rapids area, God called me to Elmhurst, Illinois where I spent four years teaching at Timothy Christian Middle School. In 2017, I married my wife Amy, and in 2019, we were called back to the homeland to be a part of God's work here at BCCS. God has gifted me with experiences where I have been pushed to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually, and I can't wait to share what I have learned with my students!
Some passions of mine include coaching sports (especially basketball), backpacking, and rooting against both Michigan and Michigan State sports teams (Go Hawkeyes!).
My favorite Bible passage is Joshua 24:15. I believe it speaks to us as Christians to hold fast to our faith, even when it is the less popular thing to do. The devotion that Joshua shows to not just his own faith, but the commitment to lead his own family in God's ways, is powerful. It inspires me to set a Godly example as a friend, husband, and educator.
My Deep Hope is that students will see the Good News found in God’s Story and be Good News to others.