From Royalty to Green Mountains

After teaching abroad for 15 years, Ms. VanDriesen has come back to the U.S. She chose Vermont as it is a place she hasn't been.

VanDriesen explained that teaching in England was extremely different from teaching in the U.S. She said that it was very difficult to explain and there were many differences. In England homework doesn’t count towards a student's grade; it comes from a state exam. “ How do I convince students to do homework when there is no point?” she says.

Moving during a global pandemic presented challenges. She started her move in mid-July and got here a few days later. She said that “every single bit” was difficult. She had all of her furniture shipped and it got stuck on the ship and she moved into her new house without any furniture.

VanDriesen left the U.S. in 2004 and made her way to Krakow, Poland and was there for 4 years before moving to England. She said that Poland was so beautiful, filled with castles, fields and rolling hills.

She taught in three different schools in England, the first being an American school that was pretty similar to ours. The second was a Catholic all-girls school located in the countryside. They even had a few princesses. She explained that one time she said to write something down that no one knows about you, and one girl said, “ My crown is made out of coral and gold.”

The last school she worked at in England before coming here was a private school that was co-ed and more international. She added that the biggest difference was that every school has uniforms.

Here at WUHS, Ms. VanDriesen teaches 5 classes per day including Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and AP Statistics. All of her classes are mixed with 9-12 graders.

She has been teaching for 19 years and has been enjoying her time at Woodstock so far. She said that Covid was affecting her teaching, “It's hard to build a relationship when you can't see a face...it's hard to understand people and their expressions.”

She currently lives in South Cavendish. She is looking forward to the spring and being able to garden because she had started gardening in England.

“Vermont is very beautiful,” she says, noting that outside of school she enjoys going on walks but for now, school is very consuming. She hopes to be able to explore more of Vermont after she is settled in.