In an interview with Yui Ohn ’27, High School English Teacher Amy Vander Heiden, who joined TASIS in 2023, shared insights into her role and background. Beyond teaching AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, and British Literature, Vander Heiden coaches JV volleyball, serves as lead advisor for grade 12, and has been a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee. Originally from Wisconsin, she earned a degree in English and Secondary Education with a minor in Spanish from the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University in Minnesota, later completing a master's in English Literature at the University of St. Thomas. Her teaching career began in a small rural K–12 school in Minnesota, followed by eight years at a large high school near the Twin Cities before relocating to Switzerland. Vander Heiden describes her teaching philosophy as helping students discover something on their own—about themselves, the text, or the world—through literature, with the goal of shaping critical readers and thinkers. She notes that her approach has evolved at TASIS, partly because students keep the books they annotate, which encourages deeper engagement with the text, and because smaller class sizes allow for more frequent discussions and practice writings ahead of AP exams. What she values most about teaching at TASIS is the student body: a diverse, international community that enriches classroom discussions and broadens perspectives on identity and other topics.
Looking ahead, Vander Heiden aims to guide her four AP classes toward success in May and is excited to direct The Tempest with the junior class. She is also considering teaching The Tempest in British Literature to allow more time for 1984, and hopes to introduce Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry into the AP Language curriculum. If she could sit in on any other class, she would choose Art History—whether AP with Mr. Dalton or Mr. Altman—or any art class, since her US high school schedule left little room for such subjects. She finds TASIS students notably open-minded, adaptable, and well-traveled, qualities that foster lively discussions. A memorable moment for Vander Heiden was her first year, when Mr. Dalton recruited her to play Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Seeing students memorize Shakespearean lines and perform alongside teachers, including non-theater students who embraced new challenges, reminded her why she loves teaching at TASIS. She hopes students leave her class with the lesson to take safe risks, step out of their comfort zones, and try new things—whether a new food, an unfamiliar place, or a conversation with someone different—because that is where true growth happens.
