ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
The Eagle Cry

FROM THE PRINCIPAL: 

The 146th school year at St. John has begun!  There are a few new faces (students, teacher/principal  and cooks) and a few changes (kitchen update, the altar area in church), however, our purpose, our desire, our goal as an organization remains the same. Our desire is to have soul saving faith planted in our heart and the hearts of everyone around us and then watered with gospel – DAILY!  And for the 146th year in a row St. John Lutheran church and school are using our grade school to plant and nurture this faith in hearts of children and their families.
How can you be a part of this wonderful mission?  Pray for students, pray for families, pray for teachers and pray for leaders who are working to grow and sustain your amazing school. Volunteer for an NLSA committee (school accreditation), volunteer to read to and/or listen to students read, or volunteer for events at school – Veterans day, parties, Christmas service, Lutheran School Weeks activities, etc. Donate money to support tuition assistance/scholarship funds, donate produce and/or meat for the lunch program, or donate money to underfunded projects – technology upgrades, science equipment, building updates and improvements.  Tell us who the students can pray for, tell us about service projects in our community and beyond that our students can adopt as they learn to give back to the people around us, and tell us about families who may be contemplating joining the St. John family. 
Thrivent: St. John Lutheran School was the recipient of $216 (for the month of July) through the “Choice Dollars” program sponsored by Thrivent. The following patrons directed their monies to St. John Lutheran School: Brad Becker, Darwin Diehl, Joyce Diehl, Mildred Herren, & Willis Herren. Thank you very much for remembering, helping with, and blessing the ministry of St. John.
Upcoming events:
NLSA committee work – starts in Sept./Oct.
School Workday – Sept.7
Teachers’ Conference – Oct. 9-11
Fall Harvest Parties – Oct. 18
Veterans’ Day chapel & luncheon –  Nov. 11

Mr. Harmon Butler


GRADES FOURTH – SEVENTH:

Well, here we are back in full swing. I hope everyone had time this summer to relax and enjoy some quality family time. During social studies we have been learning about how to be dynamic social citizens. In other words, we are discovering how each one of us can be an agent of positive change in our school, community, and the world.
Fourth grade has been exploring the essential question, "Where do good ideas come from?" At the same time they are honing the comprehension strategy of making predictions. Fifth grade is investigating how we get the things we need while practicing the reading strategy of rereading. Sixth grade is using the strategy of visualizing to discover how experiences influence our perspectives. Seventh grade is reading a collection of stories dealing with the theme "Facing Danger" while using the comprehension strategy of retelling. All grades will begin writing narrative short stories.

God be with you,
Mrs. Bonnema


GRADES SECOND – THIRD:

Greetings from 2nd and 3rd grade! We are off to a great start this year with very energetic students. We began the year with a lesson about author/illustrator Eric Carle. We then dove right into finding a routine and started racking up the AR points! This month we are focusing on reading fluency and complete sentences.
We are working with double digit addition in 2nd grade and 3 to 4 digit subtraction in 3rd grade.
The children are learning all about the water cycle and the importance of water in science. We can't wait to settle into our routine and keep learning! If you have free time and would like to come listen to the students read, they love to practice while getting to show off their skills to someone new! Please let me know if you are interested.

In Christ,
Miss Holle


GRADES KINDERGARTEN - FIRST:
   
Kindergarten and 1st grade have been studying creation in religion. We learned about how God created Earth and we made a video explaining what he did on each day. We posted it to our school Facebook page.
We have also been covering animal classification. Over the past week we have learned about the different characteristics of mammals. We will study birds and fish next. 
Kindergarten is reviewing letter identification, while 1st grade has been all a-buzz with Accelerated Reading. We have some ecstatic readers in this group!
    Blessings,
          Mrs. Murray


PTL HAPPENINGS

The School Year is in full swing, and so are the happenings of the PTL!  We are excited as we have lots of great events planned this year that we would like to share with you all:
Kitchen Remodeling Project Update: Project manager, Debbie Burch, and her crew: Kent & Wyatt Burch; John, Sheila, James, Jonathan & Rose Walton; Josh & Juliann Manka; Whitney Holle; Miriam Murray; Harmon & Julie Butler; Ashley Seematter; Randall & Erin Debler; and all the school families and supporters that came to help clean-out the kitchen did an amazing job on the kitchen this summer! Thanks to their combined efforts and your generous financial and prayerful support, the cabinets were sanded and  painted so they could be easily cleaned; walls, doors and trim were painted; new countertops were put in; a new roll-up serving window was installed; the old vent was removed, the ceiling was redone, and new vents were put in; tile backsplash was placed around the entire kitchen; new and improved lighting was added; plumbing was revamped thanks to Frank’s Plumbing; a brand-new full refrigerator was purchased; and the island was replaced with stainless steel tables.  New windows to match the school’s other new windows and compliment the school’s street-side view were installed thanks to a very special donor, the Amy Vossler Memorial Fund. This project was completed with S&S Contracting as general contractor with thanks to Paul Schutter, Byron Wenderott, Luke, Doug and their crew for helping us get it done yet this summer!  Finally, this undertaking would not have been possible without the countless hours and time Debbie Burch spent coordinating, organizing, and working on this project…thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  
1st Quarter PTL Meeting: Our first meeting of the year will be on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 6 p.m.  We will begin with a pizza supper with all the fixings followed by a meeting that will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.  Come learn about and be a part of a very important group to the school, the PTL!  
Kleinhenn Card Sales: The PTL will again be selling Kleinhenn products this year. They have lots of high-quality items and a great selection of cards for the holidays and all of your special events.  More details to follow soon, but if you are interested in ordering, please be sure to see a St. John student!
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. Thanks you!    
Box Tops: Save your Box Tops! Box Tops for Education helps teachers purchase supplies for their classrooms, art/music/science/PE supplies and much more! You can drop your Box Tops or receipts with eligible Box Top purchases on them off at the school, or contact a St. John PTL member and we would be happy to pick them up from you.  Or you may give them to your favorite SJLS student to bring to school.  Thank you for your support! 
Pork Chop Supper: Come check out our newly remodeled kitchen at our traditional pork chop supper in November!!! We enjoy hosting everyone and hope you all will make plans to attend on Saturday, November 2, 2019 from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.  We will be pre-selling tickets this year, so be sure to get yours from any St. John student, Erin Debler (620-363-2687) or Ashley Seematter (785-580-8319) after September 18th.  Tickets are $9 for adults and $7 for children. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door. 

SJLS LPTL SCRIP GIFT CARDS:  These make great gifts and there are usually several on hand. Contact Gayle Grimm to see what’s available.

In This Month's
St. John Witness
SEPTEMBER WITNESS
The Eagle Cry