A Life of Learning and Growing
By Michaela Feldmann
Learning isn’t confined to just a classroom or books. Eve Ryan knows that first-hand. It’s taken her from Sioux City to the San Diego Zoo to mission trips around the world.
Through it all, her mindset has remained the same: keep learning, growing and showing up for those around you.
Eve’s known she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives since she was a young girl growing up in Sioux City’s Morningside area, before her family moved to Lawton during her high school years. But the age-old question, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ was asked and answered before she was 10 years old.
“I loved school so much, I decided to do it for my entire life. I would play school, write lesson plans, all that weird stuff,” she says laughing.
That philosophy has guided her throughout her 30-year teaching career. After graduating from Morningside University in 1997 with an elementary education degree, Eve moved to Moville to start a family and raise her four kids. “I have been so proud to call this community home for the last 30 years,” she says. “So many friendships have turned into family and it’s a gift to have their support.”
She began teaching at Woodrow Wilson Elementary but after the school closed, Eve, fondly known by her students as ‘Mrs. Sanford,’ landed where she was always meant to be: North Middle School in Sioux City. She started teaching special education before an opportunity to teach sixth grade science opened up.
“The teacher that I took over for was always just about finding cool things and getting kids excited. They showed me how exciting science could be.”
You can sense that when you step into her sixth-grade science classroom at North Middle. It’s the same one she’s been in for the last 23 years. Filled with the periodic table, magnifying glasses and cell structures, science gave Eve another way to reach students.
“Sixth grade is really a lot of kids’ first real experience with science,” she explains. “It’s not just notes, homework and tests. Science is everywhere. That’s why I love it.”
You’ll also sense something that is more important than just teaching what’s in the lesson plan: compassion and care.
“Sometimes I don’t even know if it’s about what I’m teaching. They just want somebody to care that they are there. They might not come from a great home. So just letting them know that you care and that they belong, that’s what matters. Support can come from anywhere and it’s sometimes in the place you least expect.”
That means noticing when a student is absent, asking where they were and how they are doing. For Eve, that care doesn’t stop with her students.
“You can tell a parent, ‘I just love your kids and they’re doing so great. They’re one of my favorites,’” Eve continues. “Even if they might not have heard great things, all of a sudden they light up and they think that’s so cool. It’s important for parents to know their child is cared about.”
In her 30 years of teaching, Eve has watched generations of students come through her classroom.
“Sometimes some of my former students bring their kids in and it reminds me how long I’ve been part of this community. I just love running into them again and hearing about their story. It’s really rewarding.”
It also makes her think of the impact she hopes to make in their lives.
“Learning doesn’t stop when the school day ends or when they finish sixth grade. I want them to keep learning and not just be done at 3 p.m. I hope they learn that from me.”
It’s a lesson she embodies herself and one that’s taken her far beyond her classroom walls in Sioux City. Last summer she had the opportunity to go to the San Diego Zoo.
“Our leadership will give us opportunities to keep learning, and they had a workshop there. I went with another teacher from East Middle. I was able to take some of the things I learned there and bring them back to the classroom.”
In 2008, she was also part of a NASA Explorer School group, flying on a zero-gravity flight in Houston and presenting experiments.
“The teachers from each middle school at the time went and did this trip. We got to video call back to our students and do their experiments,” Eve explains.
Florida also ended up being a part of her lifelong learning journey when she took a group of students to visit the Kennedy Space Center. All these experiences come back with her to her classroom.
“These trips are so important because it gives you this chance to talk about what we are doing in the classroom and how that relates to different things I’ve experienced,” Eve shares.
It also gives students the chance to know what else is out there.
“If you want to work in a zoo or go work for NASA you can be a part of that. But always know you have a place back home. My students kind of look at me in a different light. Like, ‘Oh you do leave the classroom. You don’t just live here,’ she says laughing.
Eve also knows that knowledge is beyond just borders. Her faith and the dream she had as a young girl to continue making a difference in people’s lives, came back to her once again, this time taking her on mission trips around the world with her husband, Steve. Two years ago, Eve joined him and members of Morningside University’s football team, which her husband serves as the head football coach, on a trip to Honduras.
“I worked in the schools there and in an orphanage, meeting children who were learning English because they saw education as a possible pathway toward a different future,” Eve recalls. “The way the people just embraced us was so beautiful and emotional.”
One story in particular still sits heavy on Eve’s heart.
“One young boy was not an orphan, but his mother brought him to the orphanage because she believed it was the safest place for him. Those stories were humbling, and they really put things into perspective. It changes the way you think about care, too, as an educator.”
In Uganda last year, Eve and Steve stayed with a family who had started a school. The organization focused on teaching skills that could help create sustainable lives for themselves, their families and their communities.
“The skills we take for granted, they’re teaching them. Things like sewing, planting gardens, learning to sell things and continuing to grow in their skillsets. My students were so excited to hear about everything I was able to learn.”
It’s another lesson Eve took back home herself as a lifelong learner and it eventually led to a second chapter in her career: Happy Creations, artfully crafted and perfectly delicious charcuterie boards.
“I was about to have two kids in college, and I was an empty nester, who wanted to do more. I wanted to learn more. So, I thought, ‘What could I do?’ I love gathering together. I love people and I love hosting. Happy Creations was created from that love.”
Eve says it started with family and friends that wanted a board for a party, but it quickly grew.
“I just jumped headfirst into it and people loved it,” Eve explains. “I realized there is this component of women that want to bring something exciting that’s not just chips and dip. But we are busy. We have ten minutes between work and the event. So, I wanted to give them something more.”
That was five years ago. From parties and celebrations to moments of loss, Eve’s beautiful board and grazing table creations have always found a way to bring people together.
“Hopefully it brings people to the table for more conversations, more learning and more growing. It feels like another calling in a way and it’s developed into something more than I ever thought.”
She couldn’t have gotten where she is today, she says, without her kids.
“My kids have always supported me through every journey. I couldn’t do it without them and while I am so proud of them, it feels so amazing to hear that they’re proud of me.”
Another one of her biggest support systems came during the pandemic in the version of a Facebook poke.
“I say Steve poked me first, but he says he doesn’t even know how to poke people,” Eve says with the biggest smile on her face.
Their first date brought a big conversation.
“I said, ‘I have four kids from a previous marriage,’ and he said, ‘I have six.’ It was just nice and easy. I love a full house. He would ask me to go on morning walks with him for our dates after, and it just naturally created this conversation as we walked next to each other. It was calming.”
When they married a year and a half ago at Christmas, they took all ten of their kids including Skylar, Alexandria, Brayden, Blase, Madison, Kali, Kelsi, Jenna, Gabby and Will, and their significant others to Mexico.
“It was the best idea we ever could have had. Steve just brings this peace. It’s so incredible to see how passionate he is for what he does and he’s so supportive and stable.”
It’s characteristics like this that Eve’s dad taught her were important.
“If it rained, my dad would run out and say, ‘I have to go pick up your mom. She doesn’t walk to her car in this.’ You don’t realize how impactful that is at the time.”
Eve says it’s also why her parents are her greatest influences. When she lost her dad to cancer, Eve learned another lesson.
“Grief is carried alongside gratitude,” Eve shares. “He always supported me and loved me. But we can be sad and thankful that we had such a great man in our lives: a father, grandfather, husband and friend.”
She carries that perspective and every lesson with her. It’s why Eve’s story isn’t just one of the 30 years she spent in the classroom. It’s about the thousands of people she’s met along the way – students both current and former, parents, colleagues, family members, friends and those halfway around the world. These relationships, these experiences all shaped her into who she is today.
“Everyone needs to learn. Sometimes life is about rediscovering your path. You have to find that love of learning in yourself. With that, anything is possible.”
More With Eve
Eve is a volunteer EMT for the Moville Ambulance, where she lives. She completed her certification in 2007 because she says she wanted to do something more in her community. She says it was completely out of her comfort zone and while it’s hard to get calls with her schedule, she’s learned so much from the squad.
Sports continue to be central to Eve’s life. She of course cheers on the Morningside Mustangs, alongside Notre Dame and the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field is one of her family’s favorite places.
Travel continues to be one way Eve keeps learning. She recently traveled to Europe, visiting Italy, France and Spain. “Travel opens your mind to so many things, cultures and perspectives.”
She loves to stay active and says her early morning walks with Steve have turned into runs. Eve also enjoys yoga and Pilates.
Eve is a member of two book clubs. The first is mostly made up of older, retired women, including former professors. The other brings together friends, and Eve says, doesn’t always spend much time discussing the book. “We just get together, eat a lot of unhealthy food like chocolate and wine and just talk. That’s how we stay connected.”