The reason that there was no school Nov 23-25 was not that we needed extra time to prepare our turkey, gear up for another Detroit Lions’ loss, or start our Christmas shopping prior to Black Friday.  We were off so that our entire faculty and administrative team could attend the LEC/CAPSO conference in Long Beach, California.  The Lutheran Educators Conference (LEC) was Sunday, November 23rd and included many Lutheran schools from California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona; 1300 Lutheran school educators were in attendance.  The day consisted of a worship service with communion and an awards ceremony.  Our very own English teacher extraordinaire, Mrs. Emily Ball, was honored with the High School Teacher of the Year award!!  The evening capped off with a dinner reception at the Long Beach Aquarium.  

Tourist tip:  if you have never laid eyes on one of the more amazing creations of God (The Leafy Sea Dragon), you need to see them at the Aquarium.  I am attaching a photo of one until you can get to Long Beach to see for yourself that I’m not making this up!  : )

On Monday and Tuesday, we attended the California Association of Private School Organizations (CAPSO) conference.  This included thousands of teachers from Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, Seventh Day Adventist, Episcopal, and non denominational Christian Schools from the SW United States.  I attended workshops entitled “Creating High Performing Employees,” “Enrollment by Branding,” “Professional Learning Communities,” ” Laughtership for Educational Leaders,” “The Five Levels of Leadership,” and “Passion + Practices + People = #1.”  I learned something valuable in each sectional, and I am confident each of us brought back some fantastic methods, insights, and strategies that we can use at Faith Lutheran to improve what we do each day.

I am thankful to Mr. Dunning and the Board for investing in our continual growth and development as teachers and leaders.  I would not want to see a doctor or dentist that had not kept up with current research, literature, or best practices, and I’m confident our Faith families do not want their children being taught and led by educators who have not continually sought out the latest and greatest in education.

The trip to Long Beach was a great way to “keep our swords sharp.”  The only bad news was I learned that the school van I was driving doesn’t enjoy going 70 mph…but other than a few fillings falling out from the rattling, we’re back safe and sound : )

Posted: November 30th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

A quick thought about Veteran’s Day…

Take some time to thank God for the many veterans – both alive and deceased – who have sacrificed in service to our great country throughout its proud history.  I’m humbled and impressed by those in the military who put themselves in harm’s way for folks like me that they don’t even know.  It’s so amazingly selfless…some even died so that we would be free. 

It reminds me of the Son of God who died so that we would be free.  That single, incredible, indescribable act of love saved us.  Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   

Thank you veterans!  Thank you Jesus!!

In the photo:  Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke, Jr., Iraq War Vet, Hugs Pearl Harbor Survivor/WWII Vet Houston James (Graunke Lost a Leg, Hand, and Eye Defusing a Bomb in Iraq)

Posted: November 10th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

My doctoral dissertation advisor, Dr. Michael Kurimay at Marquette University, told me at the beginning of my dissertation that the hardest words to write of one’s dissertation are the very first words.  I suppose the same can be said of a blog.  Once you start writing, thoughts should flow – or so I hope.  At least for me, it’s a little bit of a struggle to get those first words typed.  But here we go… 

Before the 2008-2009 school year started, the Faith Lutheran administrators had our annual retreat at the Casablanca hotel in Mesquite in early August.  As the newbie principal, I asked my fellow leaders what made Faith Lutheran special.  Here is a summary of their insights:

* There is a true Christian culture on campus.

* Faith has experienced an incredible amount of growth and success in a short period of time.

* Great students.

* Faculty and staff have a servant attitude and love kids.

* Athletic opportunities for middle school students.

* Number of students and parents baptized.

* Committed feeder schools.

* We do things the right way.

Now that we’re into the second quarter, I see the wisdom and accuracy of these opinions from my colleagues.  While I have not yet experienced baptisms (these happen in a January chapel), I have seen firsthand all of the above.

I am very impressed with the student body.  Their behavior, treatment of one another, attitude, gifts, and abilities are truly amazing.  Typically, great kids come from great families.  We are blessed to have a wonderful partnership with the supportive parents and guardians of our students.

When I met with each member of the high school faculty at the beginning of this school year, I heard two themes continue to emerge from those chats:  1) we have great kids here, and 2) it is a blessing to work here.  Again, after ten weeks of my first school year at Faith, I completely concur!

Faith has been uniquely blessed by God with a caring and committed faculty and staff, supportive families and constituents, excellent feeder schools, phenomenal growth, diverse opportunities for student involvement after school, great vision and execution of mission from the board and Mr. Dunning, and awesome students.  To God alone be the glory!  I am supremely confident that as we continue to “lift high the cross,” we can become one of the world’s premiere Christian schools.

For those of you familiar with the “Faith Family,” what do you think makes Faith special?  Comment away!

Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1