Meet Us Monday - ILS PTL Officers: Mrs. Cathy Cook, Treasurer

We're bringing back our "Meet Us Monday" series over the summer to introduce you to our new ILS PTL officers for the 2018-2019 school year! 

The Parent Teacher League (PTL) supports classical Lutheran education at ILS and helps to provide opportunities for parents to engage in the life of the school. Through a variety of events and activities throughout the year, the PTL helps to strengthen our sense of community as a school.

We thank each of these parents for their willingness to serve in this capacity and for taking the time to share a bit more about themselves! Please watch for additional communications from the PTL over the summer about some upcoming events, including Los Tios Night and a back-to-school picnic!

This week, please meet Mrs. Cathy Cook, who will be joining the PTL for her first term, serving as Treasurer!

What we're reading (June edition)...

Summer has started! We hope that you're like us and that your summer plans include lots of time for reading, so we're getting things started with a new edition of "What we're reading..." As we do throughout the school year, we'll continue our series this summer each month with a new selection of articles and stories that we have found to be interesting, inspiring, or otherwise thought-provoking.

We hope that you enjoy taking a look at some of the things that have caught our eye of late, and as always, we want to hear what you're reading as well! Please share any links in the comments below so that we can take a look at what you've been reading as well.

This month's review includes another reflection from our own Miss Marie Landskroener on the importance of teaching hymns to children, an interesting look at the idea that all stories follow one of just 6 basic plots, some examinations of technology and social media in relation to children and young teens, an article making the case students should learn cursive first, a look into the famous painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring," and more! 

A look back at the 2017-18 school year...

What have been your favorite memories from the 2017-2018 school year?

Moving into the new building. Science & Adventure Camps. The Talent Show. Grandparents Day. Class projects. House Team Competitions. Field Trips. The parent versus student basketball game. The Chili Cook-off. New teachers. 2nd grade Library Trips. Jr. Kindergarten's Medieval Feast. Off-uniform days. National Latin Exam. Soccer games. The Mother-Daughter Tea. New friends. Visit from the Virginia Opera Company. Oktoberfest. Class parties. Field Day. Teacher weddings and engagements. National Lutheran Schools Week. Music. 4th grade architecture projects. First Friday Coffees. Classroom recitals. Reading buddies. The Hymn of the Year. Lower School Showcases. Veterans Day. Lower School Fort Building. Teacher Swap Day. MathCounts. Reptiles Alive! Parent lunch readers. Day of Service projects. End of year party. 

There have been so many great memories we have shared together as a school community over the past year, it is hard to pick just one, but we asked some of our students and teachers to share some of the things they will remember most from this year! We'd love to hear from you, too! Share more of your favorites below in the comments section.

8th Grade Meet Us Mondays: Eliana T.

We have finally reached our final 8th Grade "Meet Us Monday" feature of the year! Graduation week has arrived, and we still cannot believe that we will be celebrating our Graduation Vespers for our Class of 2018 this Wednesday evening. We hope that you will join us as we recognize this class and celebrate another wonderful school year. It has been fun spending time reminiscing and reflecting with our 8th graders on their time they have spent at ILS, the friendships they have made, and the many experiences they have shared both in and out of the classroom along the way, and we hope you enjoy these glimpses into their ILS experiences!  See you at Graduation Vespers!

8th Grade Meet Us Mondays: Gage H.

We have just two Mondays to go before Graduation 2018, and that means we have just two more reflections from the members of this year's 8th grade class and our "Meet Us Monday" series! It has been fun spending time with our 8th grade students as they reminisce and reflect on their years at ILS, the friendships they have made, and the many experiences they have shared both in and out of the classroom along the way. From favorite House competitions, to highlights of their 8th grade year, to memorable experiences with their teachers, we hope you enjoy reading these features and enjoying the ILS experience along with our soon-to-be graduates!

8th Grade Meet Us Mondays: Marina D.

Our 8th Grade "Meet Us Monday" series continues as we approach graduation and the end of the school year. Our 8th graders are continuing their reminiscing and reflecting on their time they have spent at ILS, the friendships they have made, and the many experiences they have shared both in and out of the classroom along the way. We hope you enjoy these glimpses into the ILS experience!

8th Grade Meet Us Mondays: Matthew G.

The countdown continues to our 2018 graduation, and we have asked each of the members of the ILS Class of 2018 to reflect on their time at Immanuel for our "Meet Us Monday" blog series. Each week, we're introducing you to another member of our 8th grade class, letting them share in their own words some of their favorite memories, highlights from their years at ILS, as well as their plans for high school. We appreciate them taking the time to reflect and share these memories with us, and we hope you enjoy the series!

What we're reading (May edition)...

We still aren't quite sure how it is already May, and how we are already entering the final month of the school year, but a new month means a new edition of "What we're reading..."with a new selection of articles and stories that we have found to be interesting, inspiring, or otherwise thought-provoking. Some are new, and others have previously made the rounds, but we still found them to be worth re-visiting, and we do hope you enjoy spending some time reading these also. 

In this month's review, we include an article on J.S. Bach, an interesting look at the myth of "learning styles," the academic benefits for religiously engaged adolescents, a few looks into parenting and raising children, and another great Easter music reflection from our own ILS Music Teacher, Miss Marie Landskroener! We hope that you again find these interesting or thought-provoking, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these pieces, or any other news or articles you've found interesting lately. Let us know, and we might include them in our June edition!

8th Grade Meet Us Mondays: Bemnet S.

We've launched our 8th grade "Meet Us Mondays" series so that you can better get to know the outstanding members of the ILS Class of 2018! Students have responded to a series of questions about their time at ILS, their favorite memories, and about their plans for high school, and we'll be sharing those with you each week. We hope you enjoy meeting our wonderful 8th graders, and we again thank them for taking the time to respond and share more about themselves!

Sermon for Grandparents Day Matins, Friday, April 27, 2018

Rev. Peter J. Eckardt, Associate Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are blessed to have you grandparents here with us today. You are a blessing to your children and to your grandchildren. And I’m sure that the grandchildren who have grandparents here with them today feel that way as well. It’s such a blast to have Grandma and Grandpa come by. It’s fun and exciting to spend time with them. And grandparents are a blessing to you grandkids not just because they’re the ones who spoil you and maybe give you treats that your parents wouldn’t give, and play games with you, and spend extra time with you, but even more importantly, because they are examples and models for you. They model virtue and character, the wisdom that they have gained over many years. You children, should be watching and learning from your grandparents. And we ought to honor our grandparents; just as, God says, we ought to honor our father and mother, so also we honor the fathers and mothers of our father and mother.

God says in Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” You grandparents have been a part of this training up, not only of your own children but of your grandchildren, in many and various ways, and by your examples and have thus blessed them.