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

Welcome back to school! We are so thrilled to commence a new school year and welcome all of our new and returning ILS students and families back to campus! As you may imagine, though busy, things are much quieter on campus over the summer, and it is a great joy to see smiling faces, hear the return of beautiful singing and music, and experience the delightful buzz of learning happening all around us.

If you're joining us here for the first time, each month we  share a new edition of "What we're reading..." here on the ILS Blog. This feature includes a variety of articles or news stories that our faculty and staff have found to be interesting, intriguing or otherwise thought-provoking. We hope you enjoy the chance to read and explore them as well!

This month, we have a variety of articles, including a look at screen time - and the encouragement to look up from our screens, ideas on nurturing a love of reading in our kids, a piece on collecting a personal library, yet another look at the importance of play, another excellent feature from Miss Marie Landskroener, our ILS Music Teacher, as well as Pastor Christopher Esget's sermon for the wedding of ILS Teachers, Mr. Shawn Barnett and Mrs. Molly (Leithart) Barnett. We hope you enjoy this selection!

We also love to hear from you! Have you read something lately that you think we, or other ILS families, may enjoy? Please leave us a note in the comments!

Teachers as Students: Reflections from Summer Conferences

Excellent teachers should themselves embody a love for learning and be constantly seeking opportunities to grow and deepen their knowledge of the subjects they teach, pedagogy, how children learn and grow, theology, and the world around us. Immanuel teachers and staff are engaged formally and informally in continued professional development and learning opportunities, and for many, this includes participation in summer conferences. 

This summer, six ILS team members traveled to Plano, Texas, to participate in the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education's 18th annual summer conference. In addition to presenting three different sessions, faculty and staff were able to attend a variety of excellent sessions on a wide range of topics. Following the conference, teachers shared their reflections on these sessions and how they may be beneficial in their classrooms in the coming school year. 

Miss Marie Landskroener, ILS Music Teacher, shares with us one of her CCLE reflections. We hope you enjoy this insight into some of the learning that our teachers undertook this summer, and how this study translates into action within our classrooms. 

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

As we enter August, we hope that you have been enjoying a restful summer with time for intentional and meaningful leisure. For us at ILS, that has included plenty of time for reading and reflection, which we hope that you have had the opportunity to enjoy also. And so, we have for your enjoyment, our final summer edition of "What we're reading..." (But don't worry- we'll kick off the new school year in September with a new edition - so send us any interesting things you've read this summer so that we can take a read!)

This month, we contemplate voices in mythology, a look at what schools need to do if democracy is to work, the dangers of re-writing literature, a historic discovery, and more. As always, we hope you enjoy these articles as well!

Meet Us Monday - Miss Gabriel Fickenscher, Operations Assistant

Please join us in welcoming Miss Gabriel Fickenscher as our new ILS Operations Assistant! Miss Fickenscher will be working in the ILS office, and will usually be the first person you meet when you visit or speak with on the phone when you call the school She is looking forward to getting to know all of our ILS families and students!

We've given Miss Fickenscher a chance to respond to our questions for a "Meet Us Monday" feature so that you can better get to know her! We hope you enjoy, and if you're in the school neighborhood over the summer, please stop by the office and introduce yourself!

Meet Us Monday - ILS PTL Officers: Ms. Mildred Millien, Vice President

In our 4th, and final, installment of our PTL "Meet Us Monday" feature, please meet Ms. Mildren Millien, ILS PTL Vice President. Ms. Millien previously served for two years as PTL Treasurer. This summer, we've been introducing our new ILS PTL officers for the 2018-2019 school year to give you a chance to better know the parents who are going to be serving in the coming school year!

We our so grateful for this team of parents and for their willingness to serve the school community on the PTL. Please watch your emails and ILS social media over the summer months for additional communications from the PTL, including information on upcoming events such as Los Tios Night in July and a back-to-school picnic in August on Supply Drop-off Day!

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.

New Teacher Introduction: Meet Miss Danielle Davis!

Immanuel Lutheran School is pleased to announce the hiring of Miss Danielle Davis to join our Upper School faculty team. Miss Davis will serve as 8th grade homeroom teacher, as well as Math and Science teacher for 6th-8th grades. Her love for our mission and community, subject expertise, and faithfulness to our confession will be a great asset to our students, families, and staff. 

Miss Davis already knows many of our students and families through her work with the church and school, including teaching last year's Upper School DNA Elective and working as a tutor. She is looking forward to meeting and better getting to know all of you this summer and in the coming school year.

Please join us in extending a warm ILS welcome to Miss Davis, and enjoy getting to know a bit more about this newest addition to our ILS team in the questions and answers she shared for our Blog!

Meet Us Monday - ILS PTL Officers: Mr. Andray McCuien, President

This summer, we're running our "Meet Us Monday" series on our ILS blog featuring the newly elected ILS PTL officers for the 2018-2019 school year. These parents are looking forward to working with our school community during the upcoming year, and we are deeply grateful for their willingness to serve.

We hope you are able to attend the upcoming Los Tios Night on July 24th and a back-to-school picnic in August on Supply Drop-off Day, both generously hosted by the PTL! Please watch your emails for additional information on these, and other upcoming events. 

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.

This week, please meet Mr. Andray McCuien, who will be serving as PTL President. Mr. McCuien previously served as the PTL Vice President.

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

Are you enjoying a restful and relaxing summer? As the second month of the summer break begins, we present another edition of "What we're reading..." to share some of the articles and stories we're been checking out over the summer. What have you been reading lately? Please share any articles you've enjoyed of found intriguing so we can check those out this month!

Included this month: a look at the crisis of boredom in children - and what do about it, exploring reading as miracle, a look at studying Latin - and the notion that it may change your life, one parent's list of things he plans to teach his children, a look at whether classical education can tackle the challenge of fake news, an exploration of whether the memorization of hymns matters (from our own ILS Music Teacher, Miss Marie Landskroener), and more! 

Meet Us Monday - ILS PTL Officers: Mrs. Jennifer Dyck, Secretary

Our summer "Meet Us Monday" series features our new ILS PTL officers for the 2018-2019 school year to give you a chance to better know the parents who are going to be serving in the coming school year!

We are so grateful for this team of parents and for their willingness to serve the school community on the PTL. Please watch your emails and ILS social media over the summer months for additional communications from the PTL, including information on upcoming events such as Los Tios Night in July and a back-to-school picnic in August on Supply Drop-off Day!

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.

This week, please meet Mrs. Jennifer Dyck, who will be joining the PTL for her first term, serving as Secretary!

ILS Summer Reading Lists & Recommendations

Summer! How do you plan to spend your summer months? We know that for many students and their families, summer includes vacations, trips to the pool, spending time with family, summer camps, hitting the beach, playing outdoors, and a variety of other activities.

We also hope that reading will be a regular part of the summer routine and summer schole for both students and their families. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies, read individually or out loud together should inspire and fuel a sense of wonder and curiosity for both students and adults.

We asked our faculty if they would mind sharing what books are on their own personal summer reading lists and any recommendations they have for students or families to perhaps give you some ideas to consider as you think about what you may enjoy reading this summer.

Additionally, our ILS teachers have compiled a list of suggested readings for both Upper and Lower School students as a resource for families to help select books that students may enjoy, both reading books from their own grade level, or listening as parents read aloud from more challenging texts. Check out our blog post from last summer where teachers shared some of their own favorites from this list!

What is on your own summer reading list? Are you checking out something new, or re-visiting an old favorite? Let us know in the comments!