Sarah Huizenga's passion for education and her willingness to apply that commitment to a leadership position has earned her the job of dean of students at Cityside Middle School, effective immediately. She succeeds Laurie Poll, who was named principal of New Groningen Elementary.
"Sarah impressed us with her passion and her desire to not only help Cityside stay on track but to push us onto new tracks of opportunity," Cityside Principal Jon Voss said. A total of 12 internal candidates were considered for the job.
Huizenga is not new to the job of student dean. She spent one year in the position on a part-time basis at Creekside Middle School. An educator for 18 years, Huizenga has held the following positions:
- Sixth and seventh grade English language arts, Cityside Middle School, 2004 to the present;
- Dean of students, Creekside Middle School, 2003-2004;
- Seventh grade English language arts, social studies, computer science, Creekside Middle School, 1998 through 2003;
- Ninth grade English and Paideia teacher, Millbrook High School, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1992 through 1998.
In 2004, Huizenga earned her master's degree in educational leadership from Grand Valley State University. She hold's a bachelor's degree in English from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A team of 19 Americans—including Zeeland teachers, staff, students, and graduates—spent quality time sharing educational ideas with 85 of their counterparts in Haiti this summer. The "Teacher Summit" was organized by New Groningen Principal Laurie Poll in cooperation with GLOW Ministries. The whirlwind trip was an eye opener for our teachers and was paid for with private funding. Zeeland teachers attending included Mary Elhart, Mark Gronevelt, Ralph Neal and Poll. Cityside administrative assistant Jill Bouwman attended as did ZEHS graduates Drew Coffin and Gregg Elhart and current ZEHS students Nate Poll and Noah Snyder. 
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