Scott Noteboom: Connecting with a Range of Student Groups
This post is part of the Lynden Schools Staff Spotlight series
At one point in teacher Scott Noteboom’s day he’s working with second graders. Then, at another time, he’s teaching high school seniors. Noteboom enjoys the variety, but he also loves the opportunity to connect with so many different students.
The Role
As a teacher in the district’s parent partnership Lynden Academy, Noteboom understands flexibility. From teaching high school language arts to physical education and drawing for second through fifth graders, he’s connecting with a range of Lynden students. Noteboom also assists with the administrative side of Lynden Academy, helping track and evaluate academic progress and requirements. “Basically, anything my principal needs me to do, I do,” he says.
“The best part of my job is working with such a wide variety of kids,” he says. “One universal element is that when you commit fully to each group of kids, you receive it back tenfold. I’m sure any teacher or coach will agree that the satisfaction you get from teaching and coaching our kids brings about a sense of joy that is really hard to put into words. Saying I absolutely love this work would be a giant understatement.”
Noteboom continues his student-based connections most days of the year by also coaching at Lynden High School. In the fall he assists the varsity football program and in the spring the track and field athletes. “This is a great opportunity to get outside and run out all that pent up energy,” he says, “and an opportunity to connect with a different set of students.”
Being part of Lynden Schools gives Noteboom the opportunity for “strong mentorship, partnership and professional examples” everywhere he goes. “I’ve had the privilege of working underneath and alongside the very best our state has to offer,” he says. “It would be impossible to quantify the knowledge and practice I’ve gathered from my mentors and colleagues. Our community is truly unique and very exceptional that way.”
In terms of community, Noteboom says it’s an honor to pour back into a community he grew up in. “To stop,’ he says, “and really think about that is enough to bring a guy to tears.”
Getting to Know Scott
Noteboom enjoys so much of what his life in Lynden offers. From walking his dog to skipping rocks on a river or reading, writing and working in his yard, Noteboom says he values the simple pleasures, the quiet solitude and the laughs with close friends. Of course, he enjoys occasionally wandering Mexico with his “better half,” finding adventures along the way.
But what he finds himself doing most when away from school is drawing. “I do it every day,” he says, “and keep it as my intrinsic reward for getting my daily tasks completed.”
Staying connected to the community happens naturally for Noteboom, who has an extensive root system in the community. And as he starts to teach and coach a new generation of students—the children of those he went to school with—he not only gets reminded of his growing age, but of the opportunity to appreciate Lynden and the range of students he connects with daily.
