Becky Breiland

Professional Biography: 
I graduated from Calvin College in 2000 with a B.A. in U.S. History and an English minor. After graduating, I took a job teaching 6th grade English and history at Milpitas Christian school.   While I loved teaching English and history together, I really wanted to teach eighth grade U.S. History, so I took a job at Achiever Christian School the following year.   I taught 8th grade history and English for four years at Achiever before moving to San Jose Christian.  Currently, I am working to complete my master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Santa Clara University, and I hope to graduate in the coming year.

Personal Biography:
My husband and I have been married for three years, and we attend Church of the Chimes in San Jose.  We enjoy doing many things together including traveling, biking, going to the beach, playing games and any other fun adventures that we manage to plan.  Swimming has always been a big part of my life, and I coached in addition to teaching for many years.  In the last year I’ve scaled back from swimming and now enjoy teaching private lessons in the summer time.  I also enjoy playing field hockey with my team, the Silkes, up at Stanford during the fall.  I like to make sure that I always have a good book available to read and recently have taken up quilting.

Philosophy of education:
I believe that each of us is created as a unique individual with a purpose: to bring glory to God.  We are called to use the gifts and talents that God has given us, and school assists us in developing those gifts and talents—even helping us discover some we didn’t know about.  Education should give us the opportunity to discover and work with new material and learn how we can be agents of change in God’s world.  The discipline of Social Studies allows us to see how we fit into God’s world.  It teaches us about other cultures and people, both of which are gifts to be explored.  In this area of study, we are also given the responsibility to be active participants in our communities so that we affect it in a positive way. 

One of the things I hope to communicate to my students is that if you do “it” with all your heart, it’s pleasing to God.  The “it” can be playing sports, being a student, playing an instrument, working at a job, whatever God has given you the capabilities to do.  I believe students are best served when school, church and home work together to raise children that view the world as belonging to God, and where they see the importance of being God’s hands, feet, and voice to the world.