by Clem Boyd, Communication Content Manager
During virtual lessons last year, students at Calvary Christian Academy in West Branch, Michigan, were not quite sure who their teacher might be: Yoda? A pirate? A Picasso painting?
Underneath all the makeup and creativity, they found their fun and dedicated instructor, 2003 alumna Heidi Bruder.
As a middle school teacher navigating the unexpected switch to remote learning last March, Heidi faced the dilemma that puzzled all educators: how to make online learning engaging and productive. She dug deep for ideas — deep in the bottom of an old costume bin!
The perky, friendly teacher who her students knew and loved began showing up as someone (or something) completely different. With the application of previously undiscovered makeup skills, Bruder appeared to the kids as Hulk Hogan, Yoda, a Picasso painting, a mermaid, a mad scientist, a ventriloquist’s dummy. The cast of characters was amazing to behold.
For Heidi, it was another experience with God’s incredible and imaginative ways. She has seen Jesus come through in her life and through her life unexpectedly and beautifully over and over again. The Lord’s love for her has been the most surprising of all, and there’s no disguising how much that means to Heidi.
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More to the Story
Heidi’s many transformations can be viewed in Zoom teaching videos for her fifth through seventh graders.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Bachelor of Arts in Middle Childhood Education, strong graduation, and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.