St. John Church

JOY – This season has been a journey of growth and new learning. K-3rd grade scientists hatched chicks in our chick embryology unit. They observed different stages of growth and monitored their incubation. Mrs. Greene’s class started a Shakespeare unit in English Language Arts. Students in 3rd-8th grade completed their Kansas state math and reading assessments at the end of April. We celebrated our many accomplishments with a root beer float party courtesy of Stockgrowers Bank.

JOY – Please join us on May 3rd (April 27th-May 2nd) for an opportunity to spruce up the playground and the green house during our “Faith At Work” project. We invite everyone to join St. John Lutheran School in a Kansas District LCMS sponsored “Faith At Work” project. This year, we will be working on the playground (replacing boards, scooping rocks, pulling weeds) and the green house (scooping gravel, planning our planting, and starting our veggies in raised beds). To do this work, we’ll need lots of hands. Please watch our church/school website, social media, and our church bulletins for more information.

JOY – What a year it has been! Our last day of school for 2025-26 is Wednesday, May 20th. We will celebrate the many accomplishments of our students, and our 8th grade graduate, that same evening. Please join us! We will break for the summer in June and July and the 2026-27 school year will start on Tuesday, August 18th. School enrollment for next school year is OPEN. Please reach out if you would like to know more about our school and how we, “…provide a foundation in Jesus Christ and develop the God given talents of learning.”

It is a JOY to share with you three financial gifts we have received for our school. In March, We received a $3,000 Alma Community Foundation grant for much needed equipment upgrades in our school kitchen. The Lutheran Parent Teacher League (LPTL) committed to covering the remaining cost of upgrades at their April meeting. Thank you to Jim McGregor, Gayle Grimm, and Becky Manka for their hard work to prepare the grant application. Thank you to our LPTL for their continued support. In addition, SJLS is the recipient of a LWML God’s Gracious Gifts grant in the amount of $2,000 to expand our outreach through the greenhouse. The funds will be used to purchase items needed for our garden to thrive and for outreach with the support of the Wabaunsee County K-State Extension Office. Thanks again to Jim McGregor and Gayle Grimm for their work in securing these funds.

It is a joy to share these accomplishments with you. Thank you for your support.

Blessings,

Mrs. Mindy Miller

mmillerstjohnalma@gmail.com

(785) 787-0388

DEAR FRIENDS IN CHRIST:

The month of May is a wonderful time for reflection! Our K/1 students have grown into strong scholars. They know more than they thought they were capable of learning. We have kindergarten readers, forst grade double-digit mathematicians, and scientists that are hypothesizing about the world around them. Most importantly, we have explored the richness of Christ's love in our lives. His salvation plan continues to excite our minds and tug at our hearts. As we ding in the selection, Jesus Strong and Kind; ". . .Jesus said that if I'm weak, I should come to Him.

Mrs. Kraus visited our classroom in Friday, April 17th. She was able to stay the entire day. We were folled with JOY at her visit. The students asked lots of questions and welcomed her with open arms. We are excited to invite Mrs. Kraus back this month to meet parents. Please pray for Mrs. Kraus and our students as they learn to love each other like a family.

On May 11th, we will host our yearly field day at the Wabaunsee High School track and the Alma Community Center. We are in need of many helpers. Please contact myself or the school office (schoolofficest johnalma@gmail.com) if you are able to help us at any time during that day. We have many different jobs for everyone.

Thank you again for a wonderful year. Next year, I will be writing to you from the 6th8th grade room. Please pray that the students and I learn to work with each other as a team.

Blessings,

Mrs. Miller

END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR GREETINGS FROM MRS. GREENE’S CLASS:

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is almost here!

We have been busy with some end of the year projects and field trips. The 7th and 8th grade classes are looking forward to their trip to Lock, Manhattan’s Escape Room and eating lunch out as a class.

In English Language Arts, students are working on the parts of speech through tree diagramming, and students will be finishing the year practicing sentence combining and reviewing punctuation rules.

In reading, the 4th-5th grade students are working on test taking strategies and improving comprehension skills, while the 6th-8th grade students are progressing through The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank.

In writing classes, the students have been learning about different types of poetry. The 4th and 5th grade students will be working on informative writing, while the 6th-8th grades will be writing sonnets for their poetry reading in May.

In social study classes, the 4th-5th grade classes are finishing up their Revolutionary War Unit while the 6th-8th grade students will finish the year with a final unit over World War I.

All of the students have been working hard in music class to learn some songs to perform at this year’s Spring Fling. The 4th-8th grade classes will take some of their string performances to Heritage House to play music for the residents in May.

We are finishing out the school year strong with lots of activities, fun, and learning.

In all things trust the Lord,

Mrs. Greene

PRE-ENROLLMENT AT ST. JOHN LUTHERAN SCHOOL FOR 2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

St. John Lutheran School, Alma is celebrating 153 years of education

in Alma and Wabaunsee county!

St. John Lutheran School of Alma is conducting a pre-enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year. Parents interested in sending their child(ren) to St. John Lutheran School are being asked to fill out and return a pre-registration form by May 29. Forms may be obtained by contacting the school office at 765-3914 or schoolofficestjohnalma@gmail.com.

St. John Lutheran School is a nationally and state accredited school for children in grades K - 8. The school offers a holistic approach to education; that is, our curriculum is designed to meet the complete mental, social, physical, and spiritual developmental needs of children. In addition to all subjects normally taught in the public school, the children also have the advantage of Bible courses each day, Christian discipline, and subjects which are integrated with Biblical truth and taught from a Biblical perspective. The education of children, both academically and spiritually, is a responsibility shared by parents and staff. We strive to create a family atmosphere within the school building and in our connection to individual families.

The Lutheran Day School offers a hot lunch program and a music program. The children at the school also participate in the public school’s special reading, special education, speech, and sports programs. Students ride the public school buses when they reside along a regular bus route. The school has a low pupil teacher ratio, so it can offer its students a large amount of individualized instruction. The Kindergarten program operates full-time, five days a week.

Because the school receives no tax money for its support, St. John Lutheran Church charges an offsetting amount of tuition to offset some of the costs of providing a quality Christian education. The remainder of the school expenses our covered by the church offerings. Tuition payments are collected on a ten-month basis from August to May.

Families, who pre-enroll by May 29 and make a nonrefundable deposit equal to 50% of one month’s tuition by May 29, will be exempt from the tuition payment in August.

If you desire more information about the school or would like to talk to one of the staff members to obtain particular information about a classroom, please feel free to contact the school at 765-3914 or email us at schoolofficestjohnalma@gmail.com. St. John Lutheran School wants to be your school of choice. Visit us on the web at https://stjohnalma.eduk12.net or in person at 206 West Second Street in Alma.

THRIVENT CHOICE DOLLARS: St. John Lutheran School has received Thrivent Choice Dollars from the following people. They are Connie Evans, Elizabeth Flach, Larry Frederick, John Fries, Jennifer Gehrt, Brenda Meseke, Kip Meseke, Earl Moege, Paula Moege, Sarah Schurle, Jacob Simon, Amy Summervill, Phillip Theel, John Wertzberger, Sandra Wertzberger, and Susan Wolf. The monetary support helps us further our mission of, “. . . providing a foundation in Jesus Christ and developing the God-given talents of learning.”

LUTHERANS FOR LIFE OF KANSAS ESSAY CONTEST: We had a total of 50 entries in the essay contest this year. Of the four senior participants, two were from Zion Lutheran, in Independence; one was from Hope, Shawnee; and one was from St. Paul Lutheran in Leavenworth. The junior participants came from the following schools: St. John, Alma (8); Linn Lutheran School (23); Hope Lutheran School, Shawnee (14), and one homeschooled student from Wichita. Thanks to Bethany Stoever, Rev. Koterba, Aretta Gordish, Bruce Schultz, and Kathy Schultz for reading and judging the essays.

Winners from the Senior division were Kale’a Achong, a 10th grader from Zion Lutheran, Independence, with the first place award, and Sybella Burmingham, a 10thgrade student at St. Paul Lutheran, Leavenworth, with the second place award. Tyler Jacob, a 6th grade student from Hope, Shawnee, received first place at the junior level and Elsie Bergman, an 8th grade student in Melanchthon Academy Homeschool in Wichita, received the second place award. The board reviewed and approved the monetary awards as $150 for first place awards and $100 for second place awards. The board also agreed to continue with a $50 award to each of our Honorable mentions: Grace Meier (7th grade), Linn; Nolan Meier (8th grade), Linn, Lane Duitsman (8th grade), Linn; Jamie Schkade (9th grade), Hope, Shawnee; and Kristina Achong (10th grade), Zion, Independence.

Students that participated in the contest from St. John Lutheran School were:

Brynn Anderson (6th grade)

Samuel Hurla (6th grade)

Kade Mayer (6th grade)

Kooper Runnebaum (6th grade)

Baylee Howard (7th grade)

Allison Hurla, (7th grade)

Haley Shannon (7th grade)

Theodore Walton (8th grade)

ST. JOHN LUTHERAN LPTL

There was no written information reported.

STOP TO SHOP: St. John Lutheran School now has a Kickback Card at Stop 2 Shop! When you check out, just tell them you would like to use the SJLS Kickback card and then key in 7-8-5-7-6-5-3-9-1-4 (the school’s phone number). It’s so easy…be sure to participate all year long!

DILLON’S COMMUNITY REWARDS: We encourage anyone who is a Dillon’s PLUS card shopper to please take a couple of minutes to sign up for the rewards program. This is a program offered by Dillon’s to give back to local schools. Each time you make a purchase using your PLUS card, a percentage of your sales is donated back to SJLS in the form of cash. There is no extra charge to you, it is simply a donation by the Dillon’s company. Please use the following link to add your PLUS card to the rewards program: www.dillons.com/communityrewards and use the code AU093 to support SJLS.

In This Month's

St. John Witness

MAY WITNESS

The Eagle Cry