This week’s Teacher Feature is Timpview’s amazing German teacher Stephen Van Orden.

Q: What made you want to teach?

A: I don’t know if it was ever just one thing. I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in high school myself, and I think there’s just something about being a teacher that I recognized as being part of my personality, part of my character, part of who I wanted to be. And so I always knew that I wanted to do it, and I don’t think there was one specific reason, but I think I just like the life role of wanting to be a teacher.

Q: How long have you been teaching?

A: I’ve been teaching for 32 years. This is my 29th year at Timpview, but I have been paid to teach German for 32 years.

Q: What college did you attend?

A: I went to BYU for a bachelor’s degree, BYU for a master’s degree, and Utah State for a doctorate degree.

Q: Whats your favorite part of teaching?

A: My favorite part of teaching is creating community with students, and helping students to see a bigger world, and to be able to think and understand the world better.

Q: Why did you choose to teach German?

A: I thought at first, I might be a music teacher, or an English teacher, or a history teacher. Um, As I started taking German classes, I just kept taking more and and it just ended up seeming like that was the best way to do it. And I’m glad that I did because I think being a German teacher, a language teacher, you could be a little bit of everything. You could be a literature teacher, a history teacher, a drama teacher, a music teacher. You could be a little bit of all the different kinds of teachers. I’m glad I’m doing what I’m doing.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: Oh, I have lots of hobbies. I collect things. I collect recorder instruments, recorder flutes, and have more than a hundred, base, tenor, alto, soprano. I have all different kinds of recorders. I like to build musical instruments. I like goldfish. Right now I have one pond, but I’ve had as many as four ponds at the same time, and aquariums in the house. I only have a pond at the moment, but I like goldfish. I like woodworking.  In earlier days, I liked to play golf and basketball. That’s about it.

Q: What is something you want your students to know about you?

A: That I like them.