Mrs. Faith Smit

Position:  2020–2021—Research and Debate, Speech and Public Speaking

Contact Information: (616) 901-3420; faithrsmit2017@gmail.com

Background: Married my best friend and beloved husband William Smit for 20 years. Blessed with our son Peter, who is 18 and graduating from GRACE this year, and our daughter, Anne who is 16 and a sophomore at GRACE. Peter is hoping to become an anesthesiologist, so he is enrolled at Davenport in their pre-med program.  Anne loves animals, particularly dogs, and would love to work as a dog trainer for Pause for Cause or own her own dog training business. Our church home is in Byron Center at Byron Center PRC. I grew up in California, where I attended a small private school from Kindergarten through grade 9. I then attended a public high school and finished up with a bachelor’s in education at the University of Redlands. Shortly after graduation, I moved with my husband from southern California to beautiful British Columbia, Canada, where I taught at a Netherlands Reformed School in Chilliwack. Shortly before our daughter Anne was born, we moved to Michigan. We didn’t start our homeschooling journey until our son Peter started high school. We’d prayed about it for a few years before making the leap. It’s been such a positive experience for us, and we are thankful to God for the welcoming homeschooling community! We have three dogs, one cat, and several fish. We enjoy hiking and kayaking as a family. Our dogs, whom we adore, happily join us. The Lord opened the door for me to teach Research and Debate at GRACE for the past five years and I was excited to add Speech a year later. It’s such a joy to work with teenagers and interact with them in this positive atmosphere. They thrive on communicating with each other, so being able to enrich that experience is a complete joy!