As January came to a close, Immanuel Lutheran School students, teachers and families celebrated National Lutheran Schools Week (January 27 -February 2) alongside more than 2000 LCMS schools across the US. With a full week of activities, beginning with the school's annual Chili Cook-off, and concluding with an outstanding performance by the ILS MathCounts team at the Northern Virginia Regional competition, it was a wonderful time for the entire school community.
Throughout the week, students competed in a Penny Wars contest to raise funds for four different missions: former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, now serving as a missionary in Hong Kong, former ILS Upper School teacher, Mr. Aaron Schultz, now a student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Assist Pregnancy Center, and the ILS Tuition Assistance Fund. Students raised more than $1000 to support these projects.
Other highlights of the week included Drop Everything and Read Day, Teacher Swap Day, Literary Character Dress-up day, Biblical Character Dress-Up Day, the Upper School Peeps Diorama and engineering competitions, Lower School House Teams, and more. Friday evening, the community came together to appreciate the many talents of classmates and parents at the annual student-organized Talent Show.
On Saturday, February 2nd, ten ILS students concluded the busy week by competing at the Northern Virginia Regional MathCounts Competition held at George Mason University. ILS 8th Grade student, Jonah Cook, placed 1st in the George Washington Chapter competition, earning him the opportunity to compete at the state level competition in March. The ILS team, comprised of Cook, Kendall Brady (8th grade), Marie Hubbard (8th grade) and Spencer Wolf (7th grade), placed 2nd.
"We are so excited for Jonah's success at this year's Regional MathCounts competition, and we are so proud of all of our students who participated in this program," commented ILS Upper School Math Teacher, Miss Danielle Davis. "In only our third year of competition, to have one of our students place first, and our team achieve a 2nd place finish, it is a reflection of the hard work of these students and the true delight they have in mathematics. We are so very grateful also to our wonderful volunteer coaches, ILS parents Joshua and Cathy Cook. They've been so dedicated to helping and encouraging our students, and it is a real pleasure to work with them in engaging our students."
