Pastor Handel has 42 years of experience as a professional teacher and educational administrator. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education at the State University of New York at Oneonta with a Minor in Science in 1975 and his Master of Science in Education at Russell Sage College in 1991. He also received his Permanent Teaching Certification in 1991 from New York State for Spanish grades 7-12. He will be teaching Spanish in the high school.
During his professional teaching career, he has instructed children at every grade level from grades kindergarten-12, in one subject or another. He has 29 years of teaching experience as a New York State public school elementary school teacher and Spanish teacher, plus 9 years of teaching experience as a Christian school teacher in the USA and overseas in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Budapest, Hungary, and 3 years of experience as a Christian school principal.
He made a decision to trust Christ as his Savior at age 19 at a college Bible study in 1974 and has been teaching and preaching the Bible ever since. Pastor Handel most loves his incredible wife Bea (44+ together), his two adult children, Leah and John Eric, and children of all ages, especially his granddaughter. He truly enjoys teaching Bible college courses and español, preaching the gospel, creating multi-media biblical presentations. He has been running an after-school Good News Club program at GGCA. His hobbies include kayaking with Bea and eating gourmet health food (Bea’s home cooking).
Dawn Doorenbos returns to GGCA as the high school English teacher after spending time serving as a foreign missionary in South Korea. While there, she taught high school and middle school English at an International Christian school for ten years. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education English and Bible from Grace University and a Masters degree in Education in Teaching from Indiana Wesleyan University. Dawn loves writing and helping students to build their lives on a firm foundation so that they may be successful in life and learn to communicate truth effectively to others.
Miss Peters was born in Wisconsin, but her journey continued, first to New York City and then to various places around the world. She possesses over 30 years of teaching experience in art, drama, yoga, and more. She has taught in Brooklyn, New York, at GGCA and the Bryn Mawr school in Baltimore, as well as our sister school, GGIS, in Budapest, Hungary. Recently, while serving as a missionary to Belgrade, Serbia, she taught English. She taught our 4th grade for a couple of years, but will now use her many gifts to teach history and drama in the high school. 
