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Hello! My name is Bill Vance and I am a Theology and English teacher at TG. I started working at the school in 1999. I have a BA in English with a Theology minor from St. John's University and a MA in Religious Education from the University of St. Thomas. My favorite part of working, serving, coaching, learning, teaching, and growing at TG is COMMUNITY. This place is special thanks to the students, families, staff, and all who choose to stay connected to TG! Our community is a collection of diverse and unique individuals who want to make our world better. The many and varied gifts each person brings truly creates an experience that is hard to capture in words. Relationship is the foundation, grace is the glue, an openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and a commitment to the mission all contribute to a secondary experience like none I have seen in my 30 years working with young people.
 
There are so many moments that I treasure. To be able to teach next door to my brother is a blessing. To hear students ask authentic faith questions is a blessing. To collaborate with teachers whose first priority to the growth, well-being, and learning of their students is a blessing. I also have enjoyed professional development experiences. Huether conferences feed the spirit and soul (and belly!) I went to a brain conference in the summer of 2012 that opened my eyes to the importance of recognizing how we learn, why we learn, and what questions we can ask to improve learning.
 
I pray for my classes each week. I have learned from so many of the pillars of our storied teaching and learning tradition that learning is dynamic, it is on-going, and it is rooted in experience and relationships. Students are curious and fueling their curiosity is a key to authentic learning. Creating environments where students can wonder, dream, imagine, and hope is essential. Helping students understand that life and learning require struggle is another important aspect to fostering a love of learning. While we often look for the path of least resistance, an authentic learner--an authentic life--is rooted in the reality that challenge fosters growth and growing helps us feel alive. Totino-Grace is a community that, while recognizing its imperfections, works hard to help each student who is open to it, to find a pathway of purpose and meaning and belonging. It is a special community.

I hated reading as a high school student and I did everything to earn the grade. It wasn't really until graduate school where I fell in love with learning and I strive to pass that love of learning on to everyone in our TG community. I treasure our Catholic Lasallian SSND charisms because we use the intellect and we use the heart. We want to help young people aspire to be amazing thinkers AND we want them to know they are loved by God. At TG, we want them to receive God's love and then go share God's love with our world in need. Grace is such a vital aspect of our community and we see grace in action each and every day.