This summer, The Lutheran Schools Partnership will again provide a fun, hands-on learning experience to students in grades three through eight during two STEAM camps at Suburban Bethlehem Lutheran School, 6318 West California Road.

Offered Monday through Friday, July 9-13, the STEAM camps are open to students from all area schools, but enrollment is limited. To register, go to www.cuw.edu/STEAM.

STEAM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Each STEAM camp is an exciting look at how things work from a scientific perspective. This year’s half-day camps will be ideal for fledgling entrepreneurs—an exploration of product development, testing, and marketing.

“Stuff for Sale” is this year’s STEAM camp for kids in grades three through five. Meeting from 8 a.m. until noon, the camp will answer questions such as: How do Band-Aids get to the store shelves? Who decides what gum will sell? How can toilet paper be tested? Campers will explore the science behind these products and more. They’ll choose products to test, create tests to conduct on those products, determine the best product, and design an ad to sell it.

During “Pushing the Limits” from 1 to 5 p.m., students in grades six through eight will learn the answers to: What makes a thirst-quenching sports drink, a high-performing diaper, and dependable electronics? Like the folks on MythBusters, students will conduct product testing to see what really works. They’ll learn how to achieve skyrocketing sales by conducting market analyses, forecasting sales, minimizing cost, and designing a sales campaign.

The STEAM camps at Suburban Bethlehem are a collaboration joining The Lutheran Schools Partnership and Concordia University–Wisconsin. The camps reflect the values shared by the university and The Lutheran Schools in northeast Indiana.

“We’ve developed a very productive relationship with Concordia University–Wisconsin, and our ability to provide these STEAM camps to area students is a wonderful product of that relationship,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “We’re really looking forward to this year’s camps. We know the kids will have a blast while gaining significant knowledge.”

Students at St. John–Emmanuel Lutheran School in Monroeville have raised more than $4,400 in cash and pledges to benefit God-Ndonyo Primary School in Kenya.

The money raised by St. John-Emmanuel students will be used for latrines, a hand-sanitizing station, and a well at God-Ndonyo School.

The fundraising was for H20 for Life, a nonprofit organization that connects schools in the United States with schools in developing countries to complete WASH (WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in Schools projects.

In addition to helping partner schools in developing countries, WASH in Schools projects help students here develop a better understanding of their counterparts in other nations through curriculum and experiential learning. All the money raised goes directly to the projects at partner schools.

The St. John–Emmanuel project was spearheaded by staff members Julie Goelz and Kim Priest and student committee members Emma Fifer, Ryan Gregory, Olivia Scott, and Jenna Niemeyer.

Much of the money raised came through chapel offerings at the school and from additional support from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Monroeville and Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Students also sold T-shirts, cookies, and popcorn. They solicited donations from businesses and from individuals during basketball games and other events, and they helped fill glass jugs with their own spare change.

“We want our students to know that by working together, we can make a difference in the world,” Goelz says. “What a blessing this project has been for our students!

“We start a new project that uses chapel donations every quarter,” Goelz adds. “With an original goal to raise $2,900, this was a very ambitious project for us. Our students really put their hearts into this project.”

St. John–Emmanuel has planned a water celebration event for Tuesday, May 15, at 12:15 p.m. May 16 is the weather-postponement date.

For more information on H2O for Life, go to www.h2oforlifeschools.org.

St. Peter’s in Fort Wayne and St. Peter–Immanuel in Decatur have joined the growing number of The Lutheran Schools participating in the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program.

Other schools participating include Concordia, Woodburn, Suburban Bethlehem, Lutheran South Unity, St. John in Kendallville, Emmaus, Ascension, St. Paul’s, and Concordia Lutheran High School.

Choice Scholarships—also known as vouchers—enable families that meet financial-eligibility guidelines to choose accredited nonpublic schools for their children. The scholarship amount represents the money allocated by the state to educate a student in a public school.

Families below the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Income Guidelines are eligible to receive a scholarship for 90 percent of state tuition support (based on the funding level in their school district of residence). This income level is around $40,000 for a family of four.

Families below 150 percent of the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Income Guidelines are eligible to receive a voucher for 50 percent of state tuition support. This income level is around $60,000 for a family of four.

Another stipulation is that a student was enrolled in a public school for the previous two semesters before he or she can receive a voucher to attend a nonpublic school. After 7,500 scholarships were available in the state for this school year, 15,000 will be available for 2012–13.

“Most of our schools took a wait-and-see approach to accepting vouchers for the 2011–2012 school year,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “Because there were legal challenges to overcome, the Choice Scholarship Program wasn’t actually a reality until we were well into our enrollment season.

“With the voucher program firmly in place for the 2012–2013 school year, however, we’re encouraging families to investigate this outstanding opportunity to provide their children with a high-quality, Christ-centered education at one of The Lutheran Schools,” Muehl adds.

For more information on how your child can benefit from the Choice Scholarship Program, contact Muehl at (260) 241-4845 or markm@tlspartnership.org.

From sending gifts to other children around the world, to sponsoring families in need, to entertaining older adults, students of The Lutheran Schools spread the spirit of Christmas in many ways in 2011.

Here are just a few examples.

One of the most ambitious projects took place at Central Lutheran School in New Haven, where students packed more than 400 shoeboxes with gifts for less fortunate children all over the globe. Central’s effort was part of Operation Christmas Child, a program of Samaritan’s Purse, an international nondenominational evangelical Christian organization.

Students at Emmanuel–St. Michael Lutheran School also participated in Operation Christmas Child, filling more than 100 shoeboxes with gifts.

Students from several schools entertained older adults. In fact, students from St. John Lutheran School in Kendallville presented a condensed version of their Christmas musical program to residents at a local retirement community.

Sponsoring children and families in need was also part of spreading Christmas cheer. For example, students at Concordia Lutheran High School sponsored 39 families through the Christmas Bureau, and Bethlehem Lutheran School in Ossian “adopted” 43 area children from families in need during Emmanuel Project 2011.

“Parents, teachers, administrators—everyone associated with our schools—can take great pride in the way our students give of their time, talent, and treasure to help others, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year,” says Mark Muehl, director of the The Lutheran Schools Partnership.

“But it comes as no surprise,” Muehl adds. “Serving others, being good citizens, making good decisions—these are qualities The Lutheran Schools strive to instill in all their students because of Jesus’ impact in our lives.”

The Lutheran Schools—17 elementary schools and Concordia Lutheran High School—will host open houses from noon until 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 19.

“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. “And because we have so many schools in the area, there’s probably one close by for parents who want to see how they can provide their children with better educational and extracurricular experiences.

“This is an excellent time for parents to look into Choice Scholarships, or school vouchers, as they’re often called,” Muehl adds. “Six of our schools accepted vouchers this year, and we anticipate that more will accept vouchers in 2012–2013.”

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 Partnership has received a grant from Mobile Beacon, a Rhode Island organization that provides fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband services exclusively to education and nonprofit entities across the United States.

Four Partnership schools—Ascension Lutheran School, Holy Cross Lutheran School, Lutheran South Unity School, and St. Paul’s Lutheran School—were selected to each receive 10 laptops and a mix of modem connections, including mobile hotspots, USB modems, and portable modems, and a year of Internet service with a total value of more than $40,000.

“We’re ecstatic that four of our Partnership schools will be benefitting from this grant,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Partnership. “Our schools emphasize the need for technology, but the current economic realities are limiting budgets. These computers are coming at a great time.

“The Lutheran Schools Partnership serves 17 northeast Indiana Lutheran elementary schools and Concordia Lutheran High School,” adds Muehl. “The Partnership does not exercise authority in the administration of the partner schools; instead, its fundamental purpose is to raise the profile of Partnership schools by developing a systematic approach to implementing best practices within three Strategic Imperatives: Communication, Academic Excellence, and Advancement. By applying to Mobile Beacon on behalf of our Partner schools, we were able to build a comprehensive request.”

As a bonus, Holy Cross was selected to receive a new school-security monitoring system. “After the regular school day, the Holy Cross campus is used for many activities when close supervision isn’t always there, and the addition of cameras will greatly enhance that supervision,” says Muehl.

“Broadband creates tremendous opportunities for schools and students alike,” says Katherine Messier, director of broadband services for Mobile Beacon. “In fact, the Federal Communications Commission noted that broadband has greater potential to transform education than any other technological innovation in our lifetime.

“Our grant donation programs were designed to help schools use broadband to meet targeted needs, such as increasing security and providing additional learning opportunities to disadvantaged or at-risk students who may not have access to computers or the Internet at home,” Messier adds. “Our hope is that this grant enables schools to immediately start using this technology to serve their most at-need students.”

For more information, contact The Lutheran Schools Partnership at (260) 241-4845 or info@tlspartnership.org, or visit the website at thelutheranschools.org.

For more information about Mobile Beacon, visit mobilebeacon.org.

The Lutheran Schools are enjoying an enrollment increase of 78 students during the 2011–12 school year.

“This enrollment growth is very encouraging,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “Attracting more students and families to our schools and all they have to offer is something we’ve put much effort into over the last several months.”

The largest increase is at Concordia Lutheran High School, where an additional 37 students have enrolled. Next comes Central Lutheran School in New Haven with 30 new students. The largest growth by percentage came at Bethlehem Lutheran School in Ossian, where there’s a 50-percent jump from 42 to 63 students.

“This is the first significant enrollment growth for our Lutheran schools since at least 2005–2006,” Muehl adds. “We actually had a decrease in 2010-2011, but this year’s increase brought us back to the previous level. Much of this year’s growth was through the new statewide voucher program. Many parents saw the voucher program as a way for their children to gain a quality private-school education—and they chose The Lutheran Schools for that.

“We hope that at this time next year, we’ll be celebrating further growth at all The Lutheran Schools,” Muehl adds.

The Indiana Choice Scholarship Program, enacted in May of 2011, provides scholarships to attend a school of choice, to Indiana families that meet financial eligibility guidelines. This program offers the opportunity for Indiana families to choose the school that best suits their children’s needs, including non-public schools like our 17 area Lutheran elementary schools and Concordia High School. With all of the recent headlines surrounding Vouchers, The Lutheran Schools Partnership would like to provide the following information points on the program.

Program Summary

The Choice Scholarship Program provides scholarships to eligible students by utilizing a portion of the state funds allocated for that child to follow them to the non-public school of their choice. There is a cap on the number of scholarships provided; this year 7,500 scholarships (that is, vouchers) are available and next year 15,000 will be available.

Student Eligibility and Scholarship Amounts

• Students must have been in a public school for the two semesters prior to the semester they receive the scholarship.
• Please note that Kindergarten cannot count as the prior two semesters, but students who have received a scholarship through a Scholarship Tax Credit Program (a.k.a. “SGO” or Scholarship Granting Organization-more on these in an article next month) in a prior year are also eligible for the Voucher program without being a public school the year prior.
• Families below the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Income Guidelines are eligible to receive a voucher/scholarship for 90% of state tuition support (based on the funding level in their school district of residence). This income level is around $40,000 for a family of four.
• Families below 150% of the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Income Guidelines are eligible to receive a voucher for 50% of state tuition support (based on the funding level in their school district of residence). This income level is around $60,000 for a family of four.
• The Scholarship amount will be the lesser of tuition and fees or (the applicable percentage of) the state tuition support in the district of residence. However the cap for grades 1-8 is $4,500.

Non-Public School Eligibility and Participation

• Participating non-public schools must be accredited by the state or another regional accreditation agency recognized by the state board and administer the ISTEP
• Participating non-public schools must not discriminate in admissions based on race, color, or national origin
• Participating non-public schools must conduct a lottery if the number of applicants meeting admissions criteria exceeds the number of slots available for students receiving scholarships
• PL 221 accountability (school grading system) applies and any school who is consistently in lowest categories will become ineligible to receive scholarship funds
• Participating non-public schools must meet certain curricular standards which are consistent with state-accreditation in addition to not advocating for any government overthrow
• Annual teacher performance evaluation plans must also be implemented.

What is the Level of Participation of Lutheran Schools this Year?

Most of our Lutheran schools are having a “wait and see” attitude toward the Voucher program this year. Two major stumbling blocks for many of our schools in choosing to be involved this year are the timing of the application processes for schools and families (applications were just completed on July 8th) and some anxiety of the amount of government intervention in the local school (reporting to the state).

This being said, some of our schools are seeing this law as an opportunity- an opportunity to reach out to a segment of the community that otherwise may have not considered enrollment in a Lutheran school. The fact is that Lutheran schools have a unique opportunity to proclaim the Gospel message and a family who has gone through the application process with a Lutheran school and would benefit from the school’s program can now get assistance through the state of Indiana.

Stay tuned to hear how this program will impact our schools and how families are utilizing the program! Should you have any other questions, please feel free to contact Mark Muehl, Director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership, at 260-241-4845, or email The Partnership at info@tlspartnership.org.

Updated 8/9/11: We are pleased to announce the following schools will participate in the voucher program: St John Kendallville, Emmaus, Woodburn, LSUS, CLHS

Lutheran elementary students provide a big boost to a ministry helping children in India.

Over the past year, students at the 18 elementary schools in northeast Indiana served by The Lutheran Schools Partnership joined forces to raise $13,841.30 to help support Bethania Kids, a Christian mission in India.

“This is just a small portion of the various ways students of our elementary schools and Concordia Lutheran High School flex their faith muscles in gratitude to Christ for His lavish love on us,” says Mark Muehl, director of The Lutheran Schools Partnership. “In Matthew 25:40, we’re told that whatever we do for those in need, for those most vulnerable, we do for Him.

“Jesus’ words to us are reminders that care for our neighbors—wherever they may be—is an outgrowth of the faith given to each of us,” Muehl says. “Important to the growth of each student within The Lutheran Schools Partnership are opportunities for them to express their faith and provide tangible means of service.”

Located in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh in southeastern India, Bethania Ministries is currently involved in three strategic interventions that benefit children:

• To provide loving, nourishing homes for orphans in Bethania Kids Homes. The goal is to educate children who are orphaned, abandoned, and abused; to give them a chance to better themselves in life; and to learn about the love of God.

• To care for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities in nonresidential and residential Bethania Rehabilitation Centers for the Disabled. C.S.I. Rehabilitation Centre in Kodaikanal ministers to children stricken with cerebral palsy, polio, and mental disabilities. Speech, hearing, and visual impairments are also addressed.

• To provide immunizations, basic care, and education through day care and after-school care for impoverished children in Bethania Kids Centers. All the children in these care centers come from poverty-stricken families with both parents working as day laborers. Without the centers, these kids would be roaming the streets with no adult supervision, getting into trouble and forming bad habits.

Although always sensitive to the beliefs and practices of the people in the region, Bethania Kids offers Christian discipleship and an opportunity to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you’d like to join the students of The Lutheran Schools Partnership in this important ministry, go to http://bethaniakids.org.