The ELCA Department for Schools – Division for Higher Education and Schools has selected the following as recipients of the 2001 Founders Grant.

Rachael Rennegarbe
Christ’s Lutheran School
Odessa TX

Jennifer Vogler
St. Paul’s Lutheran School
East Northport NY

Jamie Wade
Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church and School
West Hills CA

Stacy Hart
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and School, 
San Clemente CA

We are particularly excited as this is the first year the Founders Grants are being awarded by the ELCA Department for Schools.

Founders Grant recipient nominations distinguish these teachers in the vital areas of teaching effectiveness, Christian influence in the spiritual formation of students and a positive witness in the school community. Their schools and the students are blessed by the presence of their teaching ministry.

The Founders Grant is intended to encourage teachers to continue to serve in schools affiliated with the ELCA by offering financial relief from educational loans. The program has been named to pay special tribute to the national school leaders who established this endowment fund for elementary and secondary teachers when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American was formed in 1988. The Lutheran School Endowment Fund is a living fund which may accept funds at any time so that as it grows a greater number of deserving teachers may be selected to receive the Founders Grant.

These teachers touch eternity in their vocation as teacher. We give God thanks they have been called to a Lutheran school. Join us in the prayer that Jesus will always be in their hearts directing their teaching to benefit the children of God.

—John J. Scibilia
Director for Schools

Teaching in a Lutheran school has allowed me to create a positive, caring environment for children. Whether a child is in my class for two years, one year, or only a couple of months, the child leaves knowing that people care about them and respect their opinions and feelings. The child knows that God loves him, will always be there for him, and that before anything else, he is a child of God. These ideas are the basis of my teaching. When a child knows this, he will have the confidence he needs to succeed in school, will be proud of who his is, and have a caring attitude toward other people. Teaching is very important to me. It is what God has called me to do, and with His help, I teach to the best of my ability. I enjoy teaching and feel blessed that I can work at a place where I can teach about God's love along with everything else.

Rachael L. Rennegarbe

I knew right away that I would love teaching at St. Paul’s. The teachers and staff were extremely welcoming, caring, and always offered their assistance. If I fell in love with the faculty that quickly, I knew I would fall in love with children just as quickly, if not faster. Because it was those models that were teaching the children. I had heard from people who sent their children there, that they absolutely loved it. When I started, I had the same feelings I absolutely loved it, and still love it. "Teachers, students, and children are the heart of a school.” This statement could not be any closer to the truth about St. Paul's.

Although our days are packed with academics, specials, presentations, and activities, there is always time for religion, The entire school attends Chapel once a week and the children love it. We sing, pray, learn, and sing some more, and the children get very into it. I also bring religion into my classroom as well. I read stories, do activities, and art projects just to name a few. The children really enjoy this part of the day. They ask me questions, I ask them questions, and together we learn from each other.

Jennifer Vogler

I knew I was in for a fun year when one of my boys decided to lie on the floor under his chair while I was lecturing; or when one of my dramatic girls held her breath for several seconds to stop herself from crying; or when another one of my girls walked up to me before the bell had rung and burst into tears for forgetting her homework. Nothing though could have prepared me for the feeling of gratification when I made an abstract concept understandable, or when I turned a dreaded, hated subject into a loved one. Teaching is so much more than a job, it is my life! I not only wear the hat of educator, but mother, counselor, protector, friend, administrator, and witness. In this world and in this generation, kids are very rarely listening to what is said, they are concerned with how one lives. That is why it has been my pursuit and goal to be a godly woman who pursues a relationship with God, always striving to set an example in speech, faith, life, love and purity, as well as obtaining excellence in my teaching career.

At our school, every year each class is required to put on a production for the school. Our class had done an in depth study of Job's life in religion, so over Christmas I wrote a script from the book of Job. The hardest part was deciding who should play each part. In prayer one day, I felt like I was to ask Kevin (my ADHD student) to play Job. I knew as a teacher I was taking a huge risk asking a child who had a difficult time sitting still and concentrating, but I took the chance. I'll never forget pulling him aside asking him to play the part. His eyes became huge with surprise and said; "That's a big part!" I told him that I thought he'd be perfect for it if he would put his whole heart into it. He sat back and thought about it for a couple of seconds and said., "ok" hesitantly "if you think I can do it." The day of the play was amazing. Kevin did a fabulous job enacting the character of Job and even went the extra mile insisting on memorizing parts that he could have read from the script. When I got back to my classroom I thought, "This was why I chose to be a teacher."

Jamie Wade

I love teaching here. I was exhilarated at the opportunity to continue in Lutheran education out of college and each year has been rich in blessings. I am in my third year now and I hope to have many more.

As teachers at a Lutheran school, we are given the platform to model what many children do not have modeled often enough to them in their lives. We are able to model what it is like to be a Christian. While we may not be able to help every child as much as we would like, we are able to provide a positive form of leadership which is sadly also often lacking in the environment around us. I am reminded of the story of a boy who discovered thousands of starfish on the beach and began to throw them back in one by one. A passerby scoffed at the boy and suggested that he'd never be able to save them all, and the child responded with amazing maturity that at least he'd make a difference to all those he did save. We too must try to make that difference. That story is a reminder to us to be persistent in our ministry and to view every child we teach as the blessing that they truly are.

It can be said that leaders are not born, they are made. There appears only one exception to that rule and that is Jesus Christ himself. In essence, the same goes for us as Christians. We are given the opportunity each day to make choices. We create our own lives from what is given to us. We can see clearly through the Bible what God would like us to do but God allows us the freedom to decide. It is not always easy, and the path is not always clear, but God is always there. That is one certainty in life. He will never let us go. Just as we turn to Him, we can teach the children to take everything to Him. He is always listening. He always has time reserved especially for each of us.

That can be so reassuring to children. I have seen the power of those teachings in the eyes of many of the children I have taught. What a privilege it is to be the one telling those stories to them. By providing Biblical lessons and a Christianity based atmosphere for our children to learn in, we give them all the more opportunity to make the right choices for their own lives. That is one of the incredible benefits of teaching in a Lutheran school. I am blessed to have an incredible Christian administrator and staff to work with. Together we do the best each day to model the love that God so unselfishly gave, and willingly continues to give to us.

Stacy Hart

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