Hundreds of students from Lutheran schools in the Fort Wayne area will converge for an Easter-season concert at Concordia Lutheran High School on Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m. Free and open to the public, the concert will include combined bands, several choirs, orchestra, and a string ensemble.

Dianne Moellering, band director at Concordia Lutheran High School, and her colleagues instruct band and string programs at most of the schools in The Lutheran Schools Partnership, the organization promoting The Lutheran Schools in northeast Indiana. Intermediate and advanced band students from these partner schools will join forces for this concert.

“Although we have other performances throughout the year, this concert is a unique opportunity to share the good things happening in Lutheran schools music education with an even larger audience, and the concert gives students another opportunity to shine,” Moellering says.

Choirs from several Lutheran schools will also sing as part of the concert. Although a different venue and setting than as in the choirs’ usual role as musical leaders in their congregations’ worship services, the concert will provide students a valuable occasion to proclaim the Gospel.

“It’s appropriate that this concert is in the midst of the Easter season,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “As Lutherans, we confess Christ as our crucified and risen savior, and the music of the Church, celebrated and taught in Lutheran schools, does just that.”

For more information, contact The Lutheran Schools Partnership at (260) 241-4845.

Nick Webb from Holy Cross Lutheran School and the entire contingent representing St. Paul’s Lutheran School were lauded during the National Lutheran Basketball Association of America (LBAA) Tournament at Valparaiso University on March 22-24. Both schools are members of The Lutheran Schools in northeast Indiana.

Webb earned the Individual Player Sportsmanship Award, while the group from St. Paul’s received the Mel Doering Team Sportsmanship Award.

A great emphasis is placed on sportsmanship during the annual tourney. Sportsmanship is an imposition of a code of conduct on everyone that supersedes any competition or any consideration of winning or losing.

In 2006, the LBAA added the Mel Doering Team Sportsmanship Award, which can be presented to the team, cheerleaders, and fans of one church or school that best exemplify the qualities of sportsmanship. These teams recognize and acknowledge talents equal to, better than, or less than theirs. They’re teams that play and cheer with enthusiasm, yet appreciate their opponents’ abilities. It’s not an award to recognize a superstar team, but an award to distinguish a team that spiritually and morally sets the example of Christian sportsmanship and enthusiasm. The award is intended to honor teams that best demonstrate the qualities and conduct of fair play and cheering accompanied by the capacity to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. In the eight years since the award was created, it has been awarded just four times.

Congratulations to Nick Webb and everybody at St. Paul’s for their spirit of sportsmanship.

Jon Dize

Jon Dize, advancement director for The Lutheran Schools Partnership, received two prestigious honors—the Outstanding Chapter Leader Award and the Creativity Award—during the annual national conference of the Association of Lutheran Development Executives (ALDE) in Indianapolis in February.

ALDE is an international community of fundraising and communications professionals rooted in the Lutheran tradition of the Christian faith and dedicated to serving God’s people in the church and the world as it inspires, connects, and equips Christians for excellence in philanthropy.

The Outstanding Chapter Leader Award is designed to honor an ALDE member who has demonstrated an ongoing vision, a commitment to leadership, a desire to strengthen his or her local chapter, and a sincere appreciation to help other chapter members be successful. Dize earned the Creativity Award for leading the creation of the new Lutheran Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) of Indiana. The Lutheran SGO of Indiana exists to raise funds from individuals and businesses to provide scholarship funds to all eligible students wanting to attend an Indiana Lutheran school. Currently, 21 Lutheran schools in Indiana are a part of the new SGO.

Dize, a certified fundraising executive (CFRE), serves as president of the ALDE Indiana-Michigan Chapter. Nominated for the awards by other chapter members, Dize was lauded as a “‘Class A’ ALDE leader” and one who “has worked effortlessly to meet chapter goals, plan new programs, and exceed expectations. His enthusiasm for ALDE inspires others and is contagious. He is known to face any chapter challenge with a trusting Christian heart.”

Dize has been serving The Lutheran Schools Partnership for two years. “We’ve been greatly blessed by Jon’s expertise and service as advancement coordinator,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “And he’s gone above and beyond with his work on the Lutheran SGO of Indiana, an entity aimed at making a high-quality, Christ-centered education available to more students, not just in northeast Indiana, but throughout the state. He worked closely with The Nichols Company, a Fort Wayne marketing firm, on that project.”

The mission of The Lutheran Schools Partnership is to serve The Lutheran Schools by providing vital services that promote enrollment growth, secure third-source funding, achieve academic excellence, and develop teachers and administrators. The Lutheran Schools comprise preschools, 17 elementary schools, and Concordia Lutheran High School in northeast Indiana.

The Lutheran Schools in northeast Indiana will be well-represented during the 2013 Indiana Lutheran State Basketball Tournament, which runs from Friday through Sunday, February 22-24, in Indianapolis.

The St. Paul’s Lutheran School boys will be going after their third consecutive state title. Also vying in the boys bracket are Emmanuel–St. Michael, Central, Concordia Lutheran School, and Holy Cross. Concordia Lutheran School, St. John Emmanuel, Holy Cross, and Emmanuel–St. Michael will compete in the girls bracket.

The action starts Friday with boys games at 6:30 p.m. The girls play at 7:45. The tourney resumes at 8 a.m. on Saturday and continues throughout the day, with the last games scheduled for 5:15 p.m. All the teams will play on Sunday, with games starting at noon. The girls and boys championships are schedule for 5 and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

Too see the brackets and tournament sites, visit https://sites.google.com/site/indianalutheranbasketball.

From left to right, St. John–Emmanuel’s Connor Ray, Emmett Niemeyer, and Cal Springer took first, second, and third, respectively, in the 14th Annual Middle School Bridge Design Competition at Science Central on February 16.

Nine middle school students from St. John–Emmanuel Lutheran School participated in the 14th Middle School Bridge Design Competition at Science Central on February 16. This annual competition is part of the National Engineer’s Week celebration.

St. John–Emmanuel science teacher Sue Sipes challenged her students to reach beyond the normal curriculum by participating. The object of the competition was to “design the lightest possible ‘bridge’ to span a 24-inch gap with minimal deflection.” The only materials allowed were wooden popsicle sticks (200 or fewer) and Elmer’s yellow wood glue.

Eleven bridge designs were tested. St. John-Emmanuel students took the top five honors. Connor Ray finished first, Emmett Niemeyer took second, and Cal Springer earned third prize. Taking fourth place was a bridge built by Tori Richman and Alexis Miller. In fifth place was a design by Caroline Love and Libby Hetler. Also participating from St. John–Emmanuel Lutheran School were Travis Chrisman and Quin Schoof.

A total of seven bridge designs from St. John–Emmanuel Lutheran students were tested on the special IPFW bridge-testing machine. This was only the fourth year St. John-Emmanuel students participated in the event. In the 2008 competition, six students from St. John-Emmanuel submitted four bridge designs; in 2009, 11 students from SJE submitted eight bridge designs, gaining the “Top Scoring School” award; and in 2012, seven students from St. John–Emmanuel competed with four bridge designs.

[Letter-to-the-editor published in Fort Wayne's News-Sentinal Saturday, February 2.]

Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 is National Lutheran Schools Week, a time when students and their families, educators, and administrators around the country celebrate the rich tradition of Lutheran schools and the distinctive educational experience they offer.

In northeast Indiana, The Lutheran Schools comprise preschools, 17 elementary schools and Concordia Lutheran High School. Our schools are a valuable resource for the community, offering a high-quality, Christ-centered education in a safe, caring environment where faith and academic achievement are nurtured and celebrated. Learning in that kind of environment enables students to reach their greatest potential and instills a moral compass that will point them in the right direction as they go through life.

We also promote a sense of citizenship by making students aware of their responsibilities, not just to their local communities, but to people around the world. Our schools are academically strong. Our students consistently score above the state average in standardized testing. The educational foundation built by The Lutheran Schools puts students in good stead for higher education. For example, Concordia Lutheran High School graduates are readily accepted into top-tier colleges and universities, including Ivy League schools and military academies, and they often go on to remarkable careers that have a positive impact on the communities they call home. Lutheran schools tend to be smaller, and our low student-to-teacher ratio at all grade levels enables teachers to provide individualized attention. No student is lost in the shuffle.

Our smaller schools also give our students greater opportunities to shine in extracurricular activities — academic, artistic and athletic. Lutheran schools have been a constant in northeast Indiana for more than 175 years. In fact, when it was established in 1837 as a ministerial component of the church, St. Paul’s School in Fort Wayne was the first elementary school public or private in the state. Many of our other schools are more than 100 years old. And although we have a rich history and a proud tradition of excellence, we’ve also embraced the latest digital learning technology and consistently make use of it in our classrooms.

Our Lutheran schools also warmly welcome many students from non-Lutheran families. And today, Indiana’s Choice Scholarships, or vouchers, are providing families with an unprecedented opportunity to choose a faith-based private education for their children. If you’re looking for a distinctive educational experience for your child, we invite your family to see firsthand what our schools have to offer when all our schools host open houses on Sunday, Feb. 17, from noon until 3 p.m. Please stop by for a look. To find a Lutheran school near you, visit thelutheranschools.org.

Mark Muehl, Director, The Lutheran Schools Partnership

Lutheran Schools Partnership Director Mark Muehl spoke at a school-wide chapel at Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne on Monday, January 28, marking National Lutheran Schools Week.

Mark invoked this year’s theme for the week-long celebration of Lutheran education, “Baptized for This Moment,” and spoke of the Christian concept of the Communion of Saints.

Excerpts from Mark’s talk:

• “You attend a school within one of the largest parochial school systems in the world, with more than 1,300 early-childhood centers and preschools serving 122,000 children, ranging in age from infants to five-year-olds.

  “Additionally, Lutheran congregations operate 879 elementary schools serving 91,000 students. There are also 88 domestic and international Lutheran high schools, three of them in Indiana. There are also three international Lutheran High Schools.

  “So there are around 230,000 kids and young adults in Lutheran education throughout the world.

  “You might ask, ‘So what?’ We talk about Lutheran schools, their numbers, their global reach. So what? I’ll tell you. We’re all connected. We join with the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ around that which unites us—His gifts. Specifically, we join in celebrating the gift God gives us in Baptism.”
   

• “The Apostle’s Creed that we recited together is not just a statement of faith—it’s a creed that connects us to Baptism. In the creed, we say to each other that this is our God and that He created us, redeemed us, and keeps us in faith. And we say it to publicly link ourselves with the saints before us.”
   
• “The Communion of Saints—past, present and future—is all about Christ. It’s all about His unconditional love for a fallen world, His commitment and lavishness for each of us, as demonstrated by His outstretched arms on the cross. Be it the examples from the Bible, or those in our world today, or even the promises of the future, it’s about Christ and what He has done for all of us, and how He will continue to keep his promises.”
   
• “Our prayer today is to thank God for our Baptism and the rich gifts it provides, to thank God for this Communion of Saints, and to thank God for His lavishness—so that we can boldly go on to invite others to share in this love.”

The Lutheran Schools—17 elementary schools and Concordia Lutheran High School in northeast Indiana—will host open houses from noon until 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 17.

“We want to give the public the opportunity to discover what The Lutheran Schools have to offer—the highest-quality education in a caring, nurturing Christian environment,” says Mark Muehl, director of the The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “Just about everyone in our area lives near one of our many Lutheran schools. We urge families to stop by for a visit during these open houses so that they can see firsthand what we have to offer.

“This is also an excellent time for parents to look into Choice Scholarships—or school vouchers—as they’re often called,” Muehl adds. “Many of our schools accept vouchers. In addition, The Lutheran Schools Partnership was instrumental in the recent creation of The Lutheran Schools Scholarship Granting Organization of Indiana, another effort to help families enroll their children in Lutheran schools.”

To see a list of The Lutheran Schools and their locations, visit thelutheranschools.org. To learn more about The Lutheran Schools Scholarship Granting Organization of Indiana, visit lutheransgo.org.

Below is a link to a PDF of The Lutheran Schools Partnership’s 2012 Year-End Review newsletter. Just click on the link to download and read about our ongoing efforts on behalf of The Lutheran Schools.

Year-End Review