Woman Honored as State’s Top Mother

Marilyn Joyce Van Schaack of Tarzana was singled out as the state’s top mom at a recent ceremony in Woodland Hills.

Van Schaack, 65, entered an application for the statewide competition and was chosen from more than 30 mothers in a competition held at the Warner Center Marriott. She will now represent California at the national convention of American Mother Inc. in April in Lincoln, Neb.

After her children married, Van Schaack, at the age of 40, returned to her alma mater, Cal State Northridge, for a master’s degree in education. She now teaches English as a second language at Pierce and Glendale community colleges.

She also serves on the San Fernando Valley Fair Board of Directors and as former President George Bush’s appointee to the Washington, D.C.-based Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, which awards grants to outstanding Americans.

Her husband, Jim, said his wife is involved in so many things, he’s never sure where to find her.

“The most important advice I can give to mothers is to teach their children early on about how to make decisions so they can be more responsible later in life,” Van Schaack said.