The Beauty of Art at ILS

This is Miss Anastasiya Camp’s second year serving as ILS’ Art Teacher. She works with both Lower School and Upper School students to study Art History as well as develop their drawing and painting skills. ILS students can expand their studies and refine their skills by joining Miss Camp’s afterschool Art Club or by stopping in to visit her in her office in the Upper School Library.

Last May, Miss Camp founded Fine Arts Night at ILS, an exhibition of student artwork. It was one of the highlights of the school year and we look forward to the 2025 Fine Arts Night!

Miss Camp had this to share about the importance of her work as part of a classical education:

“We are very excited to see artistic progress of our ILS students in the Fine Arts. In just one year of implementing a new art curriculum students have grown to appreciate art and seek to recreate God’s beautiful creation using their creative God given talents and intelligence.

 In our program our ILS students not only learn the truth, goodness, and beauty that comes with art, they also learn to connect different famous art works to major historical eras.  The program is designed with each grade level in mind.  For instance, this year in the upper school, we are introducing the Early Christian art and the Renaissance periods on top of last year’s Baroque and French Impressionists.  As students learn about the different eras and mediums of art, we look to provide them the enrichment in imitating the many masterpieces in the same (or equivalent) techniques. The program is designed to equip our students to not only appreciate the works of the great historical masters of art, but also to develop their own skills with which they can then express their vision of God’s created World with all its beauty and wonder.”

Meet Us Monday: Mr. Anthony Kimbrough

Our Meet Us Monday blog series is back with another ILS faculty introduction!

We are delighted to welcome Mr. Anthony Kimbrough to the ILS faculty as our new substitute teacher. Mr. Kimbrough is a retired Air Force officer who started teaching after in Florida before his family returned to the Alexandria area. Mr. Kimbrough and his wife are parents to two daughters at ILS, one in 7th grade and one in Kindergarten, and were previously a part of the Immanuel community when they were last stationed in the area and their older daughter was in the Lower School.

Please join us in welcoming Mr. Kimbrough to the ILS faculty!

Meet Us Monday: Mrs. Karen Gorr

We are counting down to the start of the 2023-2024 school year, which means it is time to bring back our Meet Us Monday blog series to introduce you to the outstanding new and returning teachers and staff who will be working alongside you and your children each day this year.

Mrs. Karen Gorr will be joining the faculty as our 2nd grade teacher. Mrs. Gorr previously taught for 8 years at ILS. She and her husband are parents to two children attending ILS this year.

Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Gorr back to ILS!

Lutheran Schools Week, 2023

The Immanuel Lutheran School community joined more than 1800 Lutheran schools across the country in celebrating National Lutheran Schools Week from January 22nd through 28th to recognize and celebrate the work of Lutheran Schools in serving students, families, and communities.

Lutheran Schools Week week provides opportunities for ILS students, teachers, and families to participate in a variety of fun activities and favorite school traditions. The school week started with Literary Character Dress-Up Day and Drop Everything and Read Day on Monday. Favorite literary characters included Mary Poppins, Heidi, Madeline, Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, the Hardy Boys, the Cat in the Hat, and many characters from The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

Upper School students engaged in a variety of competitions throughout the week, including 3 engineering challenges, a Bible Bowl, and the annual Peeps Diorama Design contest. Lower School classes competed in a door decorating contest, and all classes participated in a contest to collect items for baby showers for Assist Pregnancy Center, and the family of former ILS teacher, Vicar Shawn Barnett, now attending Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.

Students and teachers also enjoyed a special Bible character dress up day, a Teacher Swap, a cross-grade game day, and a school spirit day. To celebrate the entire Immanuel community, the ILS Parent Teacher League also organized the return of the popular Chili Cook-off.

Lutheran Schools Week 2023

What We're Reading - December

Blessed Advent! Advent, meaning "coming," is a season during which Christians observe a time of repentance, waiting, and quiet prayer. We pray for the reappearing of Christ and anticipate the upcoming celebration of Christmas, when we recall Christ coming to earth to dwell among His people. We also give thanks for Christ's presence in His Word and Sacraments.

At ILS we follow the Church Year calendar as a way to teach the Good News of Christ. We give thanks for these intentional rhythms and the opportunity to be united with Christians from times past and in the future.

ILS parents are warmly invited to join us for our December First Friday Coffee, which will be held on Friday, December 9th at 8:30am. Join us as Upper School Literature teacher, Miss Carissa Davis, leads us through a discussion of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens as a glimpse into how our students engage with literature in the Upper School at Immanuel. Our ILS 8th grade students read A Christmas Carol each December as part of their year-long exploration of the theme of redemption.

If you would like to order a copy of The Trinity Forum's short reading selection of A Christmas Carol, please complete this form today! Limited selections of teacher recommended books for children and parents, perfect for Christmas gifts, will be available for purchase during the Coffee.

Thank you for the many ways you participated in our ILS Month of Service throughout November. Together we collected food for and prepared 62 Thanksgiving Meal Kits to share with neighbors in our community through Christ House. Additionally, you shared more than 2,000 non-perishable food items to refill the Christ House food pantry.

Please take a moment to enjoy our December"What we're reading..." blog. It is always our hope that these articles spark on-going conversation and engagement with our community as we work together shaping and nurturing our culture at school and at home.

Are there things that you have read that you think others in our community may enjoy? Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

What We're Reading - November

It’s November, which means it is once again time for our ILS Month of Service! Love and service toward our neighbor is an important part of our life together in Christ. This month is a time when our school community comes together to recommit to intentional actions to demonstrate this love and service. Learn more about our Month of Service activities and how you can participate throughout the month! We are also looking forward to welcoming parents, grandparents, and friends for our Salute to Veterans this month, as they share with students more lessons about service and sacrifice.

Please also take a moment to enjoy our November "What we're reading..." blog. It is always our hope that these articles spark on-going conversation and engagement with our community as we work together shaping and nurturing our culture at school and at home.

We are also excited that the PTL is working to engage families in more conversations with their Book Club. Please consider joining us in reading these selections and participating in some of the conversations throughout the year! The first book club discussion will be held on Thursday, November 17th. We hope you will join us!

Are there things that you have read that you think others in our community may enjoy? Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us!

What We're Reading - October

We’re one month into the school year, and it is delightful seeing the return of all the rhythms and routines of the school year! September was filled with many wonderful ILS traditions - our annual Constitution Day celebration, Oktoberfest, our First Friday coffees, fall parent socials, and more! We are looking forward to ongoing conversations with families during our fall Parent Teacher Conferences, welcoming guest for our first Lower School Showcase of the year, and planning ahead to our November Month of Service and our Salute to Veterans on Veterans Day next month.

Every month, we share our "What we're reading..." blog, filled with a variety of articles and news. This is one of the many ways we endeavor to spark on-going conversation and engage our community. As we think about and work together at shaping and nurturing our culture together at school and at home, we hope that these articles may be inspiring, intriguing, encouraging, or thought-provoking, and that hopefully they will spark further conversations and dialogue.

We are excited that the PTL is working to engage families in more conversations with their Book Club. Please consider joining us in reading these selections and participating in some of the conversations throughout the year!

Are there things that you have read that you think others in our community may enjoy? Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

What We're Reading - September

Our new year is underway! We’re so thrilled to welcome back all of our returning families, students, and staff, and to greet all of the new members of our Immanuel community! We’re delighted to begin this new year together, and we look forward to seeing you at all of the back to school events over the coming weeks.

One of the things we look forward to discussing as a faculty and with our families in the coming year is the idea of habit building. We enjoyed the conversation around this topic at our First Friday Coffee, and we look forward to building upon this throughout the year.

Our monthly "What we're reading..." blog series is one of the ways we engage in this on-going conversation as we share a selection of articles. As we think about and work together at shaping and nurturing our culture together at school and at home, we hope that these articles may be inspiring, intriguing, encouraging, or thought-provoking, and that hopefully they will spark further conversations and dialogue.

Are there things that you have read that you think others in our community may enjoy? Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us!