“Growing up here, I always felt I had a wide base of knowledge on what was going on in Sioux Center; however, Leadership Sioux Center has provided a vast and comprehensive view of the incredible things happening here,” Van Ruler said.
Monthly focus days included:
- Diversity;
- Education;
- City and county government;
- Agriculture;
- Industry;
- State government;
- History of Sioux Center.
Also as part of the program, Van Ruler and her classmates had a DiSC® leadership personality profile conducted. They received training from guest speakers on leadership topics. They participated in fun, engaging leadership challenges. They took tours of local businesses and a trip to Sioux Falls, SD. They helped out with community volunteer projects. They delved into and suggested solutions for community issues such as housing, day care and employment. They also broke up into smaller groups to conduct research projects on local businesses, such as Link Manufacturing, which was studied by Van Ruler’s group.
Van Ruler found every monthly session to be interesting, enjoyable and valuable.
A couple of highlights for her were the diversity day and tours of local businesses – noting the amazing range of businesses in Sioux Center “from cutting edge work of Exemplar Genetics to the precise, high-quality production of Link.”
“Learning about each of the business and how they play a part in Sioux Center’s past, present and future has been a tremendous experience,” she said.
PAST PARTICIPANTS:
Stephanie Van Ruler is the fourth person to represent Promise Community Health Center in the Leadership Sioux Center program.
The previous graduates were:
- Jessica Mora – 2015;
- Derrick Vander Waal – 2016;
- Amy McAlpine – 2017.
MORE ABOUT STEPHANIE:
Stephanie Van Ruler has served as a nurse health coach at Promise Community Health Center since May 2017. Previously, she served 10 years as a nurse and care coordinator at Sioux Center Health.
She grew up in Sioux Center and graduated from Unity Christian High School in Orange City in 2003. She earned her associate degree in nursing in 2007 from St. Luke’s College in Sioux City and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Dordt College in Sioux Center in 2008. She also took nearly six months off from college in 2004 to live with a family in Honduras.
Van Ruler and her husband, Dan, a fifth-grade social studies teacher at Sioux Center Middle School, have three children, Amayah, 7, Addisyn, 7, and Kadrian, 5. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, scrapbooking and camping.