Lutheran Schools Week - Learning Together

"And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him." (Luke 2:39-40 ESV)

Like the boy Jesus, ILS students are growing physically but also in wisdom. Students (and their teachers alongside them) learn language, mathematics, history, and science. They are also learning the words of Scripture as Jesus did. We pray that that the all of our learning might be to the Glory of God and in service to our neighbor. 

Enjoy this post on Learning Together by ILS 4th grade teacher, Miss Leithart. 

Lutheran Schools Week: Life Together in Christ

Although our full schedule of Lutheran Schools Week activities have been hampered by the snow, ILS and her families still join the nearly 2,300 LCMS preschools, elementary schools and high schools throughout the country celebrating this week. This year’s theme, Life Together in Christ, provides the opportunity to acknowledge that Christ is the creator of our life together and has sustained the our community for more than 70 years.

The theme verse for the week:

"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (I Cor. 1:9 ESV)

...focuses our attention on the joyful fellowship we have with one another, centered on Christ crucified. 

ILS Joins The Trinity Forum

Immanuel Lutheran School is excited to announce a new partnership with the Trinity Forum. From their website: "The Trinity Forum convenes leading thinkers and thinking leaders to consider and discuss life’s great questions in the context of faith. Trinity Forum Society members interact with some of the most distinguished thinkers on the arts, sciences, business, cultural engagement, and more, and will have the opportunity to connect with like-minded leaders from around the world." In other words, they help provide a classical education for grown-ups!

What books are you reading? What has captured your imagination?

Is fiction good for us?

Jonathan Gottschall, author of “The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human,” and teacher of English at Washington & Jefferson College, explores the question in a piece in the Boston Globe titled “Why Fiction is Good for You.

ILS Soccer Game


Upper School students at Immanuel study a new sport each month in Physical Education classes.  For the month of October, the Upper School students worked on their soccer skills, everything from dribbling the soccer ball, to passing, to shooting, to goal-keeping. To set a goal for our students, a game was scheduled with Alexandria Country Day School on October 29.  Needless to say, with an upcoming game against ACDS, the students’ motivation was high to push harder and learn intently in PE classes. The students knew as well as I did that they had to take advantage of every moment in PE to get ready for their opponent just a few blocks away on Russell Road.  

ILS Salute to Veterans

On Wednesday, November 11, Immanuel Lutheran School hosted a Salute to Veterans. In recognition and honor of all who have served our nation in our Armed Forces, including many within the Immanuel community, the school welcomed veterans and their families to the school for a Veterans Day program.

Beauty in Storytelling

By Miss Leithart

Once upon a time... What comes to mind upon the uttering of those words in that order? Perhaps you think of childhood enchantment that sweeps your weary mind to a distant land in a far off time, past or future, where there lives a protagonist who will eventually overcome hardship. “And they lived happily ever after,” the story will end. Granted, this formula is more prevalent in children’s literature, for not all stories and novels end happily despite our protestations and verbal opposition. Nevertheless, we all love a good story, and humans have since the beginning of time. For instance, the Genesis Creation is written poetically with a beginning middle and end. God rests on the last day because he saw his creation was good. Thus, from the start, our knowledge of who we are in the universe was given to us in a story like fashion.

Music Program Creates Unique Opportunities for Students

Immanuel Lutheran School students have begun the new school year enjoying a variety of musical opportunities, including live performances by local area musicians as well as the chance to travel off-campus to hear live professional performances.

On Friday, September 25, the entire school was treated to a special bagpipe performance by Frank Lucchetti. Mr. Lucchetti is a sophomore at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. In addition to sharing with students the history of the bagpipes and how the instrument is played, Mr. Lucchetti performed a variety of music, including both Amazing Grace and the theme song from Star Wars, much to the delight of the younger students.

Additionally, this is the fourth year in a row that ILS students have attended a performance of the Washington Bach Consort Noontime Cantata Series at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C.  On October 6, students enjoyed the featured Cantata, Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 95, along with a solo performance of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548, performed by J. Reilly Lewis on the recently restored Æolian-Skinner organ. Following the performance, students had an opportunity for Q&A with the musicians.

The music program is an important part of the classical curriculum at ILS. All students are taught music appreciation through the study of Compositions and Composers of the Week. Each week, the entire student body listens to and studies a classical composer, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonin Dvorak, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Students also learn singing and have the opportunity to perform in a number of programs throughout the year. Beginning in third grade, students also begin playing the recorder and hand chimes, and students in the upper grades have the opportunity to learn the hand bells. Additionally, ILS Upper School students are this year participating in a vocal masterclass with Ms. Stephanie Lange.

Students are looking forward to a harp demonstration from local musician Sarah Meirose on Friday, November 13th, as well as their own upcoming evening choral service in December.
 

Beauty in Discipline

Upper School Coffee Reflection
 

On the first Friday of the school year, after praying as a school community to begin our day, about 20 parents gathered for coffee in our school’s schole room.

Schole is a Greek term, meaning leisure or rest. Its meaning is very active however, not like we think of leisure today. In some ways, I feel that if I was truly leisurely this morning, I would have slept in, and certainly would not have walked the dog.  “Not necessarily!” Would say the classical Greeks. Schole is leisure or rest in contemplation and it largely comes through conversation and reflection. To a classical Greek, schole could very well be accomplished as I walked my dog and prayed and thought.  Why? It is what happens when a human focuses on higher matters, which can be done while the body is engaged in tasks or is sitting still. For example, schole is never my rattled and disjointed train of thought as I’m driving to work. However, if I was driving to work and truly reflecting on my morning Bible study, that’s different- that’s schole.