Board of Trustees

Matt Adkins and his wife, Audrey, have three children, all of whom are currently enrolled in Forest School. Matt works as the External Relations Director at Hope College, where he also graduated from before he worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He and his family are members of Zion Lutheran Church in Holland.

Matt is an energetic and personable individual who has worked in public, high-pressured environments, led confidential searches and recruitment efforts, and is now in higher education, helping students in their vocational discernment journey with a Christian perspective. He is intentionally committed to a Reformed theological perspective.

Jesse and his wife, Marisol (Mari), have four children, two in Spanish Immersion at Rose Park, and two at HCMS. Jesse is the children’s pastor at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville, and previously was both a youth ministry leader and Lead Pastor at ResLife in Holland. He currently serves as a board member of Resurrection Life in Holland, as well as on our HCS Diversity Task Force.

As evidenced by his membership on the Diversity Task Force, Jesse is committed to the Strategic Priority of seeing Holland Christian “thriving as a place of belonging.” He appreciates the Reformed perspective of Jesus being Lord of all and applied to every subject in an HC education.

Allison Dozeman and her husband, Joel ’99, have two young children, a daughter at Forest School in 3rd grade, and a son who attends Lakeside Montessori preschool in Holland. They are members at Maple Avenue Ministries in Holland. Allison is a physician at Holland Foot & Ankle, where she has recently served as Board President.

She was born and raised in Grand Rapids before moving to Illinois just prior to middle school. She attended Grand Rapids Christian Schools K-5th, a Lutheran middle school, and a Catholic high school. She then graduated from Wheaton College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Spanish. After college Allison spent a year volunteering at a small jungle hospital in rural Honduras. She attended Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago and completed her surgical residency in Portland, Oregon.

Allison is a strong advocate for Christian education. She writes, “Christian education allows teachers and staff to guide children using Scripture in all facets of education, so that each child can grow in their faith and impact local communities and the world. Holland Christian has a strong legacy as a distinct place where kids can feel supported and challenged to grow academically, emotionally and spiritually.”

Keely Lehr ’95 and her husband, Matt, have one son at HCMS, and two children at HCHS, with one son in the ESS program. A graduate of Calvin University, Keely is past president of the Rose Park Parent Board, and has served on the HCMS parent team as well as on the ditto Board. She works as the Regional Director of Development for the University of Michigan Medical School. She has over 14 years of development work at both Resonate and International Needs.

Keely brings significant experience in fundraising, leadership marketing/communication, ESS (parent advocate), and is passionate about HC’s mission. As a Reformed Christian, Keely believes “in the authority of the Bible, and the importance of weaving that into each subject at Holland Christian.” She believes it is imperative “that kids are taught the glory of God in all subjects to prepare and equip them to live for Christ.”

Craig Oosterhouse is married to Betsy and has two sons. Their oldest is an HC graduate attending the University of Michigan, and their youngest is a junior at HC’s High School. They are members at Haven Christian Reformed Church, and were previously members at Bethany CRC for 25 years.

Craig has a strong record of board leadership experience in Christian education. He spent the prior 5+ years as a board member at Zeeland Christian Schools (ZCS), most recently serving as board treasurer. Craig (a South Christian graduate) attended Calvin College and studied accounting before launching a career in banking. He has held leadership roles at Mercantile Bank, Chemical Bank/TCF, and is currently a VP Market Manager in commercial lending for Holland & Grand Rapids at ChoiceOne Bank. Craig’s wife, Betsy, works as an early childhood educator at ZCS and also serves as a manager at ditto.

Craig shared, “I enjoy representing the HC community in my everyday living. It’s a joy to be asked about HC and what makes HC special. Seeing a child, teenager, and adult that has their heart on fire for Jesus–there is nothing more contagious and uplifting than that!

Kevin ’98 has an accounting background and works as Assistant Finance Manager for the City of Zeeland. He and his wife, Alicia (Klaasen) ’98, have three children, all of whom have graduated from Holland Christian High School. As a family they attend Providence CRC, where Kevin has variously volunteered as deacon, and both middle school and high school youth group leader over the past 13 years. He has also coached a variety of youth sports teams and currently serves as treasurer for Holland Little League.

Kevin appreciates the education that both he and his wife received from HCS, especially the worldview they learned here, that “God permeates everything, even math.” He says that this same worldview is “essential to instill in each generation, so as they enter the workforce they know that no matter what they are doing, kingdom building is present in that activity.” With his financial and vocational background, Kevin is well-gifted to be “part of an organization that is accountable to a much larger group of stakeholders and the challenges that go with that.” He is accustomed to working with the day-to-day “operations of an organization within a public sphere, but also being accountable for [its] long-term financial sustainability.”

Brad Sawdon and his wife, Meghan, have three children, a 9th grade daughter at HC High School, and a 1st grade daughter and 5th grade son both in Forest School. They are members at Graafschap Christian Reformed Church in Holland. Brad is an entrepreneur and works as the co-founder & CEO of KODE, a business that connects healthcare providers and medical coders in real-time. He attended Grand Valley State University for his undergraduate degree and MBA, and attended the University of Pittsburgh Law School for a year before getting recruited by an investment banking firm. After his time in the mergers and acquisition industry, he served as Director of Corporate Development at Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well as the Chief Growth Officer of a healthcare startup before moving to Holland and founding KODE.

Brad is passionate about preserving and enhancing HC’s commitment to academic excellence and Christian education. He writes, “As a private Christian school we are in the position to advance academic rigor rather than retreat from it. Holland Christian can be a beacon for providing an academic environment in which rigor fosters curiosity. This curiosity not only serves kids well professionally, but also in seeking Jesus and better understanding the teachings of the Bible.”

The owner of Macatawa Technologies, a local IT solutions and technology support company for West Michigan businesses, David Steenwyk is married to Elizabeth, and the father of three children, all of whom attend HC’s Forest School. He and his family are members of Christ Memorial Church.

A graduate of Holland Public Schools and Michigan State University, David and his family have come to deeply appreciate Christian education through a variety of HC experiences. As a board member, we appreciate Dave’s propensity to ask compelling questions and seek deeper understanding before moving to conclusions. David has been described as someone who “has his opinions, and will share those, but he will seek to understand other’s opinions as well. He will also drive for consensus.”

Matt Stob is a 1998 graduate of Holland Christian. He and his wife, Lena, have three daughters attending HCS, two at the High School and a 1st grader at South Side, and as a family the Stobs have hosted three different international students at HC across six academic years. Since 2009, Matt has served as pastor of Maranatha Christian Reformed Church in Holland; during this time, he has also served several terms on Classis Holland’s Executive Team.

When asked about how he might contribute to the Board’s efforts, Matt shared, “My work over the last 15 years has required me to wrestle with Scripture in an attempt to understand its theological vision for our lives, so I think I would be able to contribute to the Board’s practice of reflecting theologically on matters related to Christian education.”

Megan Westlund is a 2004 graduate of Holland Christian. She and her husband, John, have three children–two boys in Holland Christian’s Forest School (a 3rd grader and a 1st grader) and they have a three-year-old daughter as well. The Westlunds are actively engaged at BLVD Church in Holland. Megan is an experienced educator, and currently works as the Director of Learning at Jenison Christian Schools.

After graduating from Calvin College, she spent two years in Teach for America in a rural town in Mississippi. She then taught at a charter school in Gary, Indiana, before they made a move back to West Michigan for Megan to work as a 4th grade teacher at Jenison Christian. She also has her Master’s Degree in Literacy Studies with a focus on coaching from GVSU.

Megan writes that, “At HC, faith and learning should be inseparable. I am committed to Christian education both in my profession and as a parent.” She also shared that her various teaching experiences “at both rural and urban public schools as well as many different Christian schools have allowed me to witness first hand a variety of models, methods, and approaches to issues schools face and those experiences are strengths I can bring to the HC board.”