Posted 3:59 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014
Because of his ability to inspire kids, Eric Vander Loop, a former UW-L education major, was recently recognized as one of 30 teachers nationally in the Target Presents PEOPLE All-Star Teachers campaign.
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Eric Vander Loop, ’99, teaches fifth grade at Woodland Intermediate School in Appleton. He graduated from UW-L with a degree in education and a minor in special education.[/caption]
Every year fifth-grade teacher Eric Vander Loop, ’99, tells his students he doesn’t care how good they are at reading, math or science.
“If you walk out of my door a better person, I’m happy,” he tells them.
And they do. Vander Loop’s students at Woodland Intermediate School in Appleton have launched campaigns to benefit cancer research for the past six years — raising at total of $123,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Because of his ability to inspire kids, Vander Loop, a former UW-L education major, was recently recognized as one of 30 teachers nationally in the Target Presents PEOPLE All-Star Teachers campaign. Vander Loop was honored for his impact on the lives of students and communities during the pre-game ceremony of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game July 15 in Minneapolis.
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Eric Vander Loop, ’99[/caption]
Vander Loop says the cool part about teaching fifth grade is that students are transitioning out of elementary school, and are open to some bigger ideas.
“For the first time in their life, you can challenge their thinking,” he says. “And they have no limits to their thinking. They believe they can do anything, which is cool.”
Without barriers, Vander Loop gives students plenty of space to think. About six years ago, he started holding classroom jam sessions where the floor was open for kids to talk about everything happening in the world of fifth grade. As students got more comfortable, the ideas got bigger.
One day the high school helper, Sam Burton, seemed unusually quiet during the jam session. A girl in the class asked if he had anything to share. Burton spoke up, saying he had just learned that morning that his mother had stage-four lung cancer.
“I was floored,” says Vander Loop. “And looking at the kids faces, I could tell they were too.”
After Burton left the room, the kids were buzzing, trying to figure out how they could help Burton’s mom. The next year as sixth graders, some students from the class and Vander Loop decided to launch a fundraiser. They raised $3,000 the first year for the American Cancer Society. Since then, every year Vander Loop recruits a small army of 40 kids who fry brats, mow lawns, sell cakes, shoot hoops and more — all with the goal of raising money to benefit cancer research. When students learn to dream big, have compassion and look past the barriers to their goals, the rest — math, science and reading — all fall into place, says Vander Loop.
The yearly fundraising campaigns have transformed into a non-profit organization, Unless, dedicated to fundraising and educating about cancer. The group name plays off the quote in Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax,” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Vander Loop says his students believe they can move mountains, and the truth is, they can.
“That’s how you should believe,” he says. “You don’t have to limit your thinking and what you believe you can do.”
Vander Loop says UW-L believed in him early on in ways that inspired him. He began to believe that he could go out and change the world.
“I’m not sure everyone in education thinks that. I wholeheartedly believe it,” he says. “If you listen to kids’ hearts and minds and put them in a position to be successful, the world can truly be a better place.”
Eric Vander Loop, ’99, teaches fifth grade at Woodland Intermediate School in Appleton. He graduated from UW-L with a degree in education and a minor in special education.[/caption]
Every year fifth-grade teacher Eric Vander Loop, ’99, tells his students he doesn’t care how good they are at reading, math or science.
“If you walk out of my door a better person, I’m happy,” he tells them.
And they do. Vander Loop’s students at Woodland Intermediate School in Appleton have launched campaigns to benefit cancer research for the past six years — raising at total of $123,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Because of his ability to inspire kids, Vander Loop, a former UW-L education major, was recently recognized as one of 30 teachers nationally in the Target Presents PEOPLE All-Star Teachers campaign. Vander Loop was honored for his impact on the lives of students and communities during the pre-game ceremony of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game July 15 in Minneapolis.
[caption id="attachment_4542" align="alignright" width="250"] Eric Vander Loop, ’99[/caption]
Vander Loop says the cool part about teaching fifth grade is that students are transitioning out of elementary school, and are open to some bigger ideas.
“For the first time in their life, you can challenge their thinking,” he says. “And they have no limits to their thinking. They believe they can do anything, which is cool.”
Without barriers, Vander Loop gives students plenty of space to think. About six years ago, he started holding classroom jam sessions where the floor was open for kids to talk about everything happening in the world of fifth grade. As students got more comfortable, the ideas got bigger.
One day the high school helper, Sam Burton, seemed unusually quiet during the jam session. A girl in the class asked if he had anything to share. Burton spoke up, saying he had just learned that morning that his mother had stage-four lung cancer.
“I was floored,” says Vander Loop. “And looking at the kids faces, I could tell they were too.”
After Burton left the room, the kids were buzzing, trying to figure out how they could help Burton’s mom. The next year as sixth graders, some students from the class and Vander Loop decided to launch a fundraiser. They raised $3,000 the first year for the American Cancer Society. Since then, every year Vander Loop recruits a small army of 40 kids who fry brats, mow lawns, sell cakes, shoot hoops and more — all with the goal of raising money to benefit cancer research. When students learn to dream big, have compassion and look past the barriers to their goals, the rest — math, science and reading — all fall into place, says Vander Loop.
The yearly fundraising campaigns have transformed into a non-profit organization, Unless, dedicated to fundraising and educating about cancer. The group name plays off the quote in Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax,” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Vander Loop says his students believe they can move mountains, and the truth is, they can.
“That’s how you should believe,” he says. “You don’t have to limit your thinking and what you believe you can do.”
Vander Loop says UW-L believed in him early on in ways that inspired him. He began to believe that he could go out and change the world.
“I’m not sure everyone in education thinks that. I wholeheartedly believe it,” he says. “If you listen to kids’ hearts and minds and put them in a position to be successful, the world can truly be a better place.”