Mrs. Erin Lanenga
Personal Profile
I grew up in Rockford, MI and attended Calvin College. I met my husband, Mike, while I was student teaching, and we have been married for 3 years. I moved to the Chicago-land area 6 years ago to be closer to him and start my career as a teacher. We just had our first child, Ryne Jonah, in February 2010, and we love seeing him change and learn every day. We attend Elmhurst CRC where I serve on the worship team and as a pianist for Little Lambs. We are also very active with our small group and are very blessed by their accountability and friendship. Besides spending time with my family, I love to sing, play the piano, teach private lessons, read, run, cook, travel, and scuba dive. The Lord has blessed me with many opportunities to do missions and sightsee abroad from a very young age, and I have developed a passion for the arts and other cultures. For this, I developed a great interest in Spanish and music. Plus, my favorite teachers in high school were my Choir and Spanish teachers!
Professional Profile
I graduated from Calvin College with a major in Music Education and minor in Spanish in 2004. During my junior year, I completed my Spanish coursework abroad in Spain. I completed my Masters in Music Education at Northern Illinois University in Spring of 2011 after publishing my thesis on World Music Education. I taught choir and Spanish my first year at Aurora Christian. Since then, I have taught both music and Spanish in Wheaton, Naperville, and Lansing. A couple years ago, I resigned as Director of Choral Activities and Spanish teacher at Illiana Christian High School in order to spend more time with my family. Now, God has led me to TCS part-time, and I am blessed to be here!
Philosophical Profile
In the past 30 years of learning, traveling, and teaching, I have been amazed at the beauty of God’s people. I have a passion for each individual as image bearers of God, and I am humbled by God’s creativity and perfect planning for all of us. I demonstrate this passion for people in my classroom as I strive to get to know each individual student as God’s servant. I believe that God has given me a fantastic job of teaching them exciting elements of His world. It is challenging, humbling (Who can teach without faith in God?), and rewarding. I find more and more each year that the students end up teaching me much more about diligence, imagination, kindness, and humility than I could teach them. I also demonstrate this passion for people through teaching arts and language. Culture is ever-changing, and it is our responsibility as God’s people to learn about and respect other people and their differences while keeping a discerning Christian mind. I love to see students share the same passions as I do, but especially develop ones of their own. More importantly, it brings me great joy to see them use their gifts and language to minister to others and share the wonder and creativity of our King. Lyndon B. Johnson quoted, “Art is a nation’s precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish”. As an art lover, I like this quote, but I pray that my vision is Christ as I serve him in this every exciting journey.
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