Dr. Teisha Struik taught high school English for 19 years and served later as a K-12 curriculum director and as a principal. Her Hope College courses focus on literacy education, classroom management, and strategies for teaching diverse groups of students.  

During her tenure as principal of a K-5 school in Hamilton, Michigan (just south of Holland), her school was honored twice by the Michigan Department of Education as a REWARD school based on student achievement and improvement.

In 2018, Dr. Struik began teaching education courses part-time at Hope and at Grand Valley State University while also serving at Hope as a college supervisor, supporting, coaching and evaluating Hope education majors during their field placements. She became a full-time assistant professor at Hope in 2022. 

She is a member of the Michigan Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association and other professional organizations.

Areas of Expertise

• Educational leadership
• Literacy education
• Educational assessment
• Classroom management

Education

• Ed.D., Alverno College, 2022
• M.A., literacy, Aquinas College, 1999
• B.A., English language arts, Michigan State University, 1992

Presentations and Publications

• Little Read workshop presenter, elementary reading strategies for diverse classes, Big Read Lakeshore, 2022, 2023
• "Oh, the Places You'll Go," Big Read Lakeshore blog, 2023

Outside the College

No surprise for an English teacher: Dr. Struik is a reader. She joined a book club in the mid-1990s that’s still going strong, reading a wide range of literature together. She also enjoys yoga, travel and animals.