Did you know that high school in Canada is comprised of only 10th, 11th and 12th grades?

You can thank Timothy’s seventh grade science and Bible teacher Mika de Vin for that little bit of north-of-the-border trivia.

de Vin, who is wrapping up his second year at Timothy, is a Calgary, Alberta, Canada native whose path to Elmhurst has an interesting story to it — rooted with some Trojan lineage.

de Vin’s family moved to Vernon, British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast at the start of high school—and where de Vin made the transition to a Christian education. A standout soccer player, de Vin earned a soccer scholarship to NAIA Division II Dordt University, a Christian liberal arts school in northwest Iowa (Sioux Center).

There, de Vin met his future wife, Olivia Helmus, a 2017 Timothy Christian Schools graduate. The couple will celebrate their second wedding anniversary this summer.

de Vin entered Dordt (where a good chunk of his family went to school) as a physical education major, but quickly changed his tune.

“I switched to middle school math and science education after my freshman year,” said de Vin, a team captain and All-Conference honorable mention selection his senior season at Dordt (and a two-time scholar-athlete recipient there).

“I started to realize I wanted to be in the classroom more than the gymnasium,” de Vin said. “I recognized I loved athletics and playing sports; it’s something I found value in. But as I went through my education classes, I felt I was called to interact with students in a different way. As I took classes at Dordt, I started to see the big life picture and it wasn’t all about sports — not that it’s a bad thing. I wanted to be in the classroom where students could find themselves and explore. I like seeing how the world works. God created this world and that’s something I really value.”

de Vin also felt strongly about being in a Christian school. “I always knew I wanted to go into Christ-centered education. Because I grew up going to a public school, it’s something I came to value a lot,” he said. “I grew up in a Christian home and when we moved to British Columbia, I made the switch to a Christian school and was able to see the difference in the community of close believers and how much of an impact it had on the growth of my faith as well. I wanted that for my college career and for my education career. Timothy brought that for me. It was a big calling for me. Timothy was where my wife grew up and she wanted to be close to family, which is something we value highly as well. It all kind of worked out.”

“I like the word ‘wondering.’ I like kids to wonder. I like them to have questions. I like them to leave the class wondering what’s next.”

de Vin, who is an assistant coach with the Timothy Christian high school boys varsity soccer team and also runs the middle school Chem Toobers elective, tells the story of something one of his college professors would tell the class each day.

“I had a college professor who started each day saying, ‘We get to do this,’” de Vin recalled. “That always has stuck with me. I get to do this. It’s a blessing.”

de Vin is big on letting students find their footing in the classroom and in the realm of science. “I provide students with exploration opportunities and the ability to interact with things,” he said. “Science lends itself well to experimenting. I like the word ‘wondering.’ I like kids to wonder. I like them to have questions. I like them to leave the class wondering what’s next.”

de Vin also cites from his namesake Micah 6:8 that says in part: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

“That applies to me and the students,” he said. “Do I act justly with them? Am I meeting them appropriately and are they doing the same? I want to be fair and just and want them to do the same. I want to show loving mercy to each of my students and to pursue grace and forgiveness. I hope my classroom is a safe place for each student not only to experience science and Bible opportunities, but also a place to walk humbly and listen to what God is telling us and how He is leading us. Kids experience a lot of changes in life. I want them to walk humbly with God and to feel cared for. Science is wondering about the world and trying better to understand how God created all of it. We get to be in awe and be in wonder of what He has created.”