This week we speak with Kristen Okabayashi and Sally Heit at Hope Lutheran in Seattle. We talk about working as a strong team to drive school enrollment. You can contact Kristen and Sally at:

[email protected]

[email protected]

This week we speak with Richard Rausch about his journey from public education to becoming a Lutheran school principal. 

This week we talk to Karen Merritt about supporting students emotionally.

Karen serves as the school counselor at St. Paul's in Fort Worth, TX

Serving in ministry is tough, and serving in ministry with your spouse is still tough. This week we speak with Ben and Meghan Vogel about how they support each other as they serve.

You can reach Ben at [email protected]

and Meghan at [email protected]

This week we talk with Dr. Julian Petzold about school safety.

Dr. Julian Petzold earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and conducted research on best practices in school safety.  Through his extensive research, he learned that there is a lack of school safety plans that are practical, and therefore useful.  His desire is to bring the practical side of safety to schools, early childhood centers, and churches in order to empower them to be confident when a crisis occurs. 

You can reach Julian at [email protected]

This week we speak with Dave Black from Lutheran High School in Parker, CO about the use of AI in his classroom.

Dave is the director of Lights Academy and a classroom teacher.

Dave has some great insights in this episode!

You can contact Dave with all your AI questions at: [email protected]

This week we speak with Jesus Peña, 8th grade teacher, math guru, and founder of RGVDADS, a nonprofit focused on equipping fathers.

RGVDADS creates opportunities for fathers in the Rio Grande Valley to network through meetups, blogs, and sharing information about fatherhood.

The work Jesse is doing at St. Pauls, and his larger work in the community through RGVDADS, is such a wonderful example of sharing God's love with others.

Listen to learn about how Jesse started a nonprofit, what drove him to start a father support group, and the work they are doing.

He's doing great things! Check out RGVDADS: https://www.rgvdads.com/about

https://www.instagram.com/rgvdads?igsh=eml1NzNoanNhdTBt

Mark Dressler is the Principal Pastor at St. Matthew in Stony Plain, Alberta. He joins the podcast to share his experience as a pastor who is now a principal. You can contact Mark at [email protected] with any questions you have about his unique role, and the great work he is doing in Stony Plain.

This week we speak with Daniel Weber, the athletic director at Central Lutheran School in New Haven, Indiana about the John Weber Memorial Basketball Tournament. This tournament is such a great witness to the power and impact God has in our lives through Lutheran education.

You can reach Daniel at [email protected]

He would love to answer any questions you have about starting a tournament! He had this piece of advice to add: "Don't be afraid to ask for help from others; you cannot put on a tournament like this by yourself, and reach out to businesses such as Thrivent.  Thrivent, as we all know, loves helping volunteer projects.  We used Thrivent action cards to help with purchasing food and other items to support our volunteers including the goodie bags and our hospitality room."

This week we speak with Chris Hathaway about teaching science in a Lutheran school and his book: 
No God? No Way!: A Science Teacher's Perspective on Naturalism and the Bible 
You can reach out to Chris at [email protected] and you can find his book for preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR5Q3Q1R?nodl=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_YHMNT84Y4DGDH796DZKD&language=en-US&dplnkId=e8526f6b-b6bd-4225-a0a2-a3bf62dc2db2

It was great speaking with Chris, and he has so much to share about this topic. Make sure you reach out to him!