Current Status: Alumni
Graduation Year: 1974
Linda Foote (B.A. '74) has been described as someone who has a passion to touch the souls of every student she meets and provide them with a safe place to learn, grow, and become the best they can be. Foote is currently an Instructional Technology Specialist for the Poway Unified School District. In 1998 she was nominated as both the Poway Unified and the San Diego County Teacher of the Year.
Her career began as a student teacher in the Placentia School District after which she began substitute teaching in the Long Beach and Bellflower Unified School districts. After the birth of their first of three children, Foote took time off to raise her kids. During the sixteen years that she was home, Foote continued to teach at church and to write curriculum for various programs in the district. In 1992 she earned an elementary (Multiple Subject) credential in addition to her secondary one. In 1999 she moved to the district office as an Instructional Technology Specialist and began teaching teachers on how to integrate technology into their classrooms. She also assists teachers in assessing student performance and setting class goals through the use of technology.
After graduating from high school as the valedictorian, Foote's teachers were apprehensive about her attending a small Christian college but later relented saying that they were amazed at the quality of education she had received.
Foote used her time at Hope to grow and mature academically, spiritually, and emotionally because of the professors who opened their homes to show an example of a healthy family and how God's principles are lived out. Many of those professors are still impacting her life and still teaching her lessons all these years later. Professors like John Koekkoek, Paul McReynolds, and Gary Tiffin came along beside Foote and mentored her through her schooling. Now she provides a safe and loving classroom for her students to find encouragement and hope. She daily prays for her students and shows Christ's love through her actions. She reminds future teachers that, "teaching is a lot of hard work, but it is one of the greatest opportunities in the world to serve God and pour His love into the lives of hundreds of students and their families."
Foote has an excellent rapport with the parent community. She is able to relate to the many challenges that parents face each day and is frequently asked to be a guest speaker at various schools for parent education meetings. The last two years she has also been a presenter at District workshops to share her ideas on increasing parent involvement in our schools.
BA 1974
