HOLLAND, Mich. — When Lillian Snoeyink heard about the new Teachers Live Here program and that it awarded $25,000 in housing assistance to Holland Public Schools teachers who qualified for it, she put her house-hunting plans on hold. She decided to apply to the new program even though she had been pre-approved for a home a few weeks ago, she said.
Then, late last week, Snoeyink learned that she was selected to win the money. Tuesday morning, she was presented with a big check during a press conference about the new program at the school’s administration building.
“It feels amazing and so exciting,” Snoeyink said during an interview with FOX 17 on Tuesday. “I couldn’t have dreamed of an opportunity like this. I’m so excited.”
HPS Superintendent Nick Cassidy said the program was started after an anonymous donor, who’s a community member, wanted to keep teachers around in the Holland area. So, he offered to pay up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for teachers who stick around for an additional five years.
“Lillian is the first recipient and I can’t think of someone who’d be a better fit for that,” Cassidy said. “I mean in an area of desired need and also someone who’s really passionate about education in Holland.”
Snoeyink loves teaching at Holland Language Academy, she said, where she gets to speak Spanish, a language she’s been studying since middle school.
Moreover, she met the program’s other requirements: the home has to be within 15 miles of the district boundaries, the teacher must be a first-time buyer, family income has to be under $100,000, and the teacher has to have received satisfactory evaluation scores.
The goal of the program is to attract and retain some of the best educators in the area, Cassidy said.
“I think we’ve been weathering the storm pretty good but we also know that this is just the beginning of a really tough time in education to find teachers,” Cassidy said. “We’ll be doing a lot of different things to try recruit and retain the best teachers out there. This is a big step in that direction.”
Snoeyink said the national and local teacher shortage impacted her while studying at Aquinas. People constantly asked her why she chose to study education in an industry that’s struggling. However, she student-taught at Holland Language Academy and loved the kids and the profession.
Receiving the award, she said, re-solidified her decision to become a teacher full time and to do it at Holland Public Schools.
Now, her house hunting resumes.
“It is still tough,” Snoeyink said about the housing market. “It’s a little easier in comparison to the previous years. It's dropped a little bit. But still I mean with how high interest rates are, it is still a tougher market. So this helps immensely.”
