Meet Us Monday: Miss Abby Leithart, Kindergarten Assistant Teacher

As we begin the new 2020-2021 school year, we have re-launched our Meet Us Monday Blog series to introduce you to our outstanding ILS teachers and staff. Check in each week to meet or better get to know one of our new or returning faculty members.

Today, we invite you go get to know ILS Kindergarten Assistant Teacher, Miss Abby Leithart, with her recent “Meet Us Monday” interview.

A member of Immanuel Lutheran Church for three years, this is Miss Leithart’s first year teaching at ILS.

What We're Reading - September 2020

It is a great joy to begin our 2020-21 school year and welcome all of our new and returning families to our ILS community. One of the cornerstones of our our Immanuel community is the strong partnership between parents and school, and we value the opportunities for conversation and dialogue as we work together to serve our students.

Each month, we share a "What we're reading..." Blog post with a variety of articles, sermons, or other materials that we have found inspiring or intriguing. It is our hope that you will find value in these and that they will help to shape our ongoing conversation about how we create and build our culture together at home and at school.

Another opportunity for engaging in these conversations is our monthly First Friday Coffee. Parents are invited to join us each month for informal conversation and discussion on different topics. Our first Coffee of the 2020-21 school year will be held on Friday, September 11th via Zoom. Join us to discuss the habit of prayer at home and school and the blessing we have in this community to pray with and for one another.

Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Meet Us Monday: Mr. Josh Pautz, 2nd Grade Teacher

In preparation for the 2020-2021 school year, we have re-launched our Meet Us Monday Blog series to introduce you to our outstanding ILS teachers and staff. Check in each week to meet or better get to know one of our new or returning faculty members.

Today, we invite you go get to know another new member of our new ILS faculty, 2nd Grade Teacher, Mr. Josh Pautz, with his recent “Meet Us Monday” interview.

Meet Us Monday: Mrs. Laurie Honig, Jr. Kindergarten Teacher

In preparation for the 2020-2021 school year, we’re re-launching our Meet Us Monday Blog series to introduce you to our outstanding ILS teachers and staff. Check in each week to meet or better get to know one of our new or returning faculty members.

Today, we invite you go get to know ILS Jr. Kindergarten Lead Teacher, Mrs. Laurie Honig, with her recent “Meet Us Monday” interview.

Mrs. Honig is beginning her 11th year teaching Jr. Kindergarten at ILS. She is also the parent of 4 ILS graduates.

History Portfolio Project: Seneca Falls Furthers Women’s Suffrage Movement

Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.

Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.

What We're Reading - August 2020

While we are definitely missing our students and families, we hope that summer break continues to be restful and a time of intentional leisure for each of you. Our ILS administrative team has remained busy as we plan for a safe and healthy return to school. We have enjoyed hearing from many of you over the summer, and we remain deeply grateful for your continued prayers, support and encouragement in these challenging times.

Our August edition of "What we're reading..." is now available, and as always, we hope that these articles will inspire and shape our ongoing conversation about how we create and build our culture together at home and at school.

Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Literature Portfolio Project: Frankenstein

Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.

Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.

Science Portfolio Project- Apples: The Study of Decay

Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.

Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.

Literature Portfolio Project: Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.

Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.

What We're Reading - July 2020

We hope that the summer break is continuing to be restful and a time of intentional leisure for our students and our families. It has been wonderful to hear from and see a number of you over the past few weeks as you have checked in and shared how summer is going. In June, we gave thanks as we were able to celebrate our Class of 2020 and hold our 2020 Graduation Vespers Service. At the end of the month, ILS faculty and Staff participated in the Society for Classical Learning’s virtual summer conference, hearing from a wide variety of educators and other speakers, and engaging with educators from across the country.

The July edition of "What we're reading..." is now available, and as always, we hope that these articles will continue our ongoing conversation about how we shape our culture together at home and at school.

If you are interested in learning more about classical, Lutheran education, the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education (CCLE) is making available online videos from their past summer conferences. Find links for that, as well as summer reading and other activities, at the bottom of this post.

Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!