Immanuel Lutheran School is pleased to announce the selection of seven students to serve as 2018-19 Student Ambassadors. Open to 6th through 8th grade students at ILS, the Student Ambassador program is a highly selective service opportunity for students to engage with visitors and guests to the school throughout the year. Students must apply for the program, and go through an in-person interview process. Student Ambassadors demonstrate an enthusiasm for the school, and the ability to clearly articulate the mission and vision of the school.
Walk-in-Wednesday: Kindergarten with Mrs. Grace Egger
We hope you’ve been enjoying our virtual “Walk-in-Wednesday” series on the ILS Blog! Each week, we are offering a peek from one of our teachers, highlighting what a visitor might observe when they walk into our classrooms. This series continue this week with a look into Mrs. Grace Egger’s classroom for a glimpse at some of the delightful things our Kindergarten students are doing.
Families interested in learning more about a classical, Christian education at Immanuel can join us for a Walk-in-Wednesday tour each week to observe our students and teachers in action and get a better feel for our school and our community. Upon stepping through our red doors, visitors are welcomed by the joyful sounds of learning, from poems and jingles in the lower school, to great discussions of literature and history with our upper school students. Singing and music ring out from the music room, and the wonderful sights and sounds of students and teachers engaged in learning can be witnessed throughout our campus.
Please enjoy, and join us here on our ILS Blog each week as we share additional “Walk-in-Wednesday” features! (Curious to learn more? Visit us at an upcoming ILS Admissions Open House!)
Meet Us Monday: ILS PE Teachers, Ms. Diane Curcio & Mr. Yonas Mekonen
An Immanuel education aims to nurture the minds, hearts and bodies of students, and as such, movement and physical education is an important part of our curriculum. In addition to incorporating play and intentional movement into our classrooms, especially for our youngest scholars, all students in Kindergarten through 8th grade participate in Physical Education classes twice weekly.
Our program focuses in the Lower School on helping students develop a beginning knowledge of sports and an understanding of their bodies in the context of their ability to perform basic athletic movements. As they move into the Upper School, students begin to go into more depth concerning physical activity and movement. Students will practice skills of a particular sport each month, including soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, and track & field.
Two outstanding teachers lead our Physical Education program at Immanuel, Ms. Diane Curcio for our Kindergarten through 5th grade students, and Mr. Yonas Mekonen, for our 6th through 8th grades. Both bring extensive experience and passion for health, physical fitness and wellness to their roles at ILS.
Walk-in-Wednesday: 8th Grade Logic with Ms. Katherine Kramer
Last week, launched our new “Walk-in-Wednesday” series here on the ILS Blog with a delightful look into 1st grade with Miss Kirstin Reistad. Join us each week as we share a sneak peek from one of our teachers, highlighting what a visitor might observe when stopping in one of our classrooms for a visit. Through this, we hope to create an image of just some of what a visitor may experience if they were to stop in 1st grade, or 7th grade Literature, or music, or any one of our classrooms at ILS.
This week, we move upstairs to our Upper School, where Ms. Katherine Kramer, our ILS Assistant Headmaster and 8th grade logic teacher, continues our series with a peek at the energy and delight you observe if you were to step into one of her 8th grade logic classes!
We also warmly welcome you to come by in person any week for a Walk-in-Wednesday tour to learn more about a classical Christian education at Immanuel by viewing our students and teachers in action. Stepping through our red doors, you will be welcomed by the joyful sounds of learning, from poems and jingles in the lower grades, to great discussions and debates in our older grades. Singing and music ring out from the music room, and the wonderful sights and sounds of students and teachers engaged in learning can be witnessed throughout our campus.
Please enjoy, and join us on the blog each week as we share additional “Walk-in-Wednesday” features!
Update from the Schultz Family
After 5 years teaching at Immanuel, Mr. Aaron Schultz and his family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, this past summer, where Mr. Schultz is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary in preparation for ordination in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Becoming a pastor is something that had been on Mr. Schultz’s heart and mind for more than a decade. After visiting CTS last fall, he felt confident it is the Lord’s will to pursue this vocation.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates, like the one today, from the Schultz family as they live, study and work in Fort Wayne.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Schultz, along with their children, Canon, Ben, Sam, and their baby boy due in November.
Walk-in-Wednesday: 1st Grade with Miss Kirstin Reistad
Each week, families interested in learning more about a classical, Christian education at Immanuel can join us for a Walk-in-Wednesday tour to see our students and teachers in action. When you step through our red doors, you will be welcomed by the joyful sounds of learning, from poems and jingles in the lower grades, to great discussions of literature and history in our older grades. Singing and music ring out from the music room, and the wonderful sights and sounds of students and teachers engaged in learning can be witnessed throughout our campus. If you haven’t yet had a chance to visit us in person and experience this for yourself, we would like to offer a virtual tour here on the ILS Blog.
Every Wednesday, we will be featuring a brief sneak peek from one of our teachers, highlighting what a visitor might observe when they walk into our classrooms. Through this, we hope to create an image of just some of what a visitor may experience if they were to stop in Jr. Kindergarten, or 3rd grade, or 8th grade Science, or 6th grade History, or any one of our classrooms at ILS.
We are kicking off our new “Walk-in-Wednesday” series this week with an inaugural post sharing a bit of the delightful teaching and learning you may observe if you were to step into our 1st grade classroom this week! Join us as we peek into Miss Kirstin Reistad’s classroom for a glimpse at some of the delightful things our 1st grade students are studying.
We hope you enjoy, and please visit the blog each week as we share additional “Walk-in-Wednesday” features!
Festina Lente: Make Haste Slowly
Educators at Immanuel Lutheran School (ILS) are noted for the ways they have been cultivated by the liberal arts Lutheran catechesis. These two cultivating forces have shaped their souls, mind and character so that they are fully-developed educators characterized by a Christian humanitas that is captivating and contagious. They continually pursue truth, goodness, and beauty, and recognize these as gifts from God. Students love them and naturally want to emulate them.
Faculty seek wisdom, eloquence, and virtue, and to cultivate these in their students. Teachers at ILS recognize that they are sinful and are hopeless without Christ crucified. They hold students accountable for this shared human state, direct them to repentance, and forgive them.
ILS educators display training in the liberal arts and are always learning. This year, ILS teachers are holding 8 all-faculty meetings to discuss and reflect upon the 8 Essential Principles. The topic for the first session was Festina Lente: make haste slowly.
A Stone's Throw: Update from Mr. & Mrs. Stone
Responding to a call from the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod, former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, along with her husband, Lyman, are now serving as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mrs. Stone serves as a missionary and English teaching assistant in a local Lutheran school, and she and Mr. Stone together volunteer their time to support school extracurriculars, church functions and Sunday school classes, Bible study, and evangelism with the Mission of Christ Network.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates from the Stones as they embark on their work in Hong Kong.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Stone as they live and serve in the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod, and especially the children, faculty, and parents in its’ associated school system.
What we're reading (October edition)...
We are almost a month into the new school year, and it is a delight to watch students and teachers settling into the joyful rhythms of learning. As we hear music and chants, jingles and poems, laughter and amazement filling our classrooms and our hallways, it is a wonderful reminder of the privilege and honor it is to partner with our families in the important and challenging work of teaching and nurturing children.
As we do each month, we’ve compiled a new edition of "What we're reading..." This is just a short collection of the many articles that our faculty and staff have read recently and found to be interesting, intriguing or otherwise thought-provoking, and that we hope our families will likewise enjoy reading.
This month, we a great line-up of articles, including pieces on artists and map making, encouraging reading through dinner time storytelling (as well as a few other great pieces on reading), human invisibility in the digital age, another look at the powerful benefits of learning to write in cursive, and more! We hope you enjoy this selection!
Have you read something lately that you think we, or other ILS families, may enjoy? As always, we love to discover new things to read and chances to learn!
What we're reading (September edition)...
Welcome back to school! We are so thrilled to commence a new school year and welcome all of our new and returning ILS students and families back to campus! As you may imagine, though busy, things are much quieter on campus over the summer, and it is a great joy to see smiling faces, hear the return of beautiful singing and music, and experience the delightful buzz of learning happening all around us.
If you're joining us here for the first time, each month we share a new edition of "What we're reading..." here on the ILS Blog. This feature includes a variety of articles or news stories that our faculty and staff have found to be interesting, intriguing or otherwise thought-provoking. We hope you enjoy the chance to read and explore them as well!
This month, we have a variety of articles, including a look at screen time - and the encouragement to look up from our screens, ideas on nurturing a love of reading in our kids, a piece on collecting a personal library, yet another look at the importance of play, another excellent feature from Miss Marie Landskroener, our ILS Music Teacher, as well as Pastor Christopher Esget's sermon for the wedding of ILS Teachers, Mr. Shawn Barnett and Mrs. Molly (Leithart) Barnett. We hope you enjoy this selection!
We also love to hear from you! Have you read something lately that you think we, or other ILS families, may enjoy? Please leave us a note in the comments!