Editor’s note: When Kent ISD launched School News Network, Dan Takens, then superintendent of Byron Center Public Schools, was on the original SNN Superintendent’s Advisory Committee. Takens, who retired in 2020, is now regularly subbing in Kentwood Public Schools where he began his career. For our 10th anniversary, SNN checked in on him as he rekindled his “teacher spirit.”
Kentwood, Byron Center — Dan Takens took a moment to reflect on the book he was reading to fourth-graders at Brookwood Elementary School in Kentwood Public Schools.
Roz, the droid in “The Wild Robot Protects,” by Peter Brown, had captivated the students’ attention.
“I can’t believe the robot can swim! He goes underwater,” Takens said of the book’s title character.
Takens was a guest reader in teacher Todd Jongekrijg’s class for March is Reading Month, a month he remembers well.
“When I was principal here, to get the kids to read, we set a goal for how many pages they would read,” Takens recalled. “One year I let them make a sundae out of me. They put ice cream and syrup on me and I had to sit in front of the whole student body.”
He also kissed a pig and let the top reader shave his head as rewards for reaching their reading goal.
‘It makes me so excited having everything come full circle like it has and seeing Dan back in action with that teacher spirit.’
— fourth-grade teacher Todd Jongekrijg
Relationships Come Full Circle
Takens’ visit showed how relationships developed through teaching can extend over generations. Takens, Brookwood principal from 1998 to 2004, hired Jongekrijg as a teacher there in 2000. Takens, himself, was hired by Jongekrijg’s father, Allen, for his first job as student teacher at Crestwood Middle School. Todd was a seventh-grader in Takens’ first class.
“He was like the cool, young teacher,” said Jongekrijg. Then, years later, “As a principal, he was still a teacher at heart. He made my job so much easier.”
Jongekrijg enjoyed introducing his students to Takens.
“It makes me so excited having everything come full circle like it has and seeing Dan back in action with that teacher spirit.”
In 2004, Takens became the first principal of Countryside Elementary in Byron Center Public Schools. He went on to serve that district as Nickels Intermediate School principal before serving as assistant superintendent, and as superintendent from 2008 through 2019, when he retired.
Takens is now a regular substitute teacher at Brookwood, East Kentwood High School and Wyoming High School. He said subbing is a great way to do what he loves.
“The part I missed the most when I was an administrator was that day-to-day contact with kids. I enjoy that a lot,” he said, noting the nostalgia he feels at Brookwood. “It’s really neat. It’s great to see the school continue with a high learning focus. The kids are well behaved. The staff works together well.”
Takens, true to form, turned reading to Jongekrijg’s class into a full lesson. He talked about the story, made observations and connections and reminded the class that they’ve come a long way as readers.
“When you get into fourth grade reading really becomes enjoyable,” he told the class. “You start to pick out your own books. When I was principal here, it was fun to watch the kindergartners learn their letters — consonants and vowels and eventually when they put together a word! Look at how far you’ve come in just a few years.”
Read more:
• Students & grandpas connect through card, hugs and common languages
• He wrote the book on trying new foods
