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December 11, 2017

Devotion
From LEA
Extended reading: 2 Peter 3:8–16
Heads Up!
“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief” (2 Peter 3:8, 10).

Heads up! It’s what you shout if you see something about to (unpleasantly) surprise someone. In golf, its equivalent is fore! unless you’re a lousy golfer, in which case it’s six! “Look out!” works too, though it’s better to be on the lookout rather than suffering the consequences of refusing to look out. Same thing with heads up. If you have a heads-up ahead of time, the next heads up will be less dire. But enough digression.

Heads up is a perfect phrase for today’s Bible reading. God, through Peter, wants the world to know essential information about Judgement Day. He gives us a heads-up to scare the liver out of us. No! That’s not right. God wants us to know what to expect even if He doesn’t tell us exactly when to expect it. And it’s often precisely the timing that we hanker to know. Wouldn’t it be good to know when He is coming so that we’re on our best behavior when the divine thunder begins?

The devil is in the details, right? Truly, Satan really is in the details if we’re plotting our good and not-so-good behavior to correspond to the Savior’s second coming. Such thinking bubbles up from fallacious fantasies about self-righteousness—that it is possible to please God when dressed in neatly pressed filthy rags rather than covered in Christ’s robe of righteousness. A heads-up here: It isn’t possible!

God’s gracious heads-up precludes any need for shouts of heads up that warns us to take cover because King Jesus is coming—as if you could hide anyway. On the other hand, maybe a few angels will command a heads up. After all, for us forgiven sinners, Judgment Day means that our future is looking up. Don’t you just look forward to hearing Jesus’ “welcome to heaven” greeting? So heads up. Look with a holy sparkle in your eyes. Take what’s coming to you.

Written by Edward Grube, LL.D.
Director of Publications & Communications

National Lutheran School Accreditation Visiting Team Information
From Terry Schmidt, Director of Lutheran Schools

Visiting Team Appointments
The minimum number of visiting team members for any visit is six. Exceptions to 6 team members must be approved by the NLSA director. To save expenses, team members within commuting distance of the school ordinarily will be appointed. Team members will be requested and enlisted by the school administrator, recommended by the District Accreditation Commission or by the District Education Executive if there is no commission, and appointed by the NLSA Director. All team members must be appointed by the NLSA Director at least four weeks before the site visit or the visit is to be delayed.

NLSA Resources
NLSA resources and materials used by schools and visiting teams have
been updated on the Luthed.org site and are ready for use.
I encourage you to visit Luthed.org to review the materials and all of the changes that have been undertaken on our school ministry hosting website. These newly updated materials include format and content changes and necessary edits. They are to be used, effective immediately, by our schools entering the NLSA process and for visiting teams conducting their visits.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

Missouri District Administrators' Conference 2018
A goal of the Missouri District is to have all school administrators receive Ambassadors of Reconciliation training so they may serve as a resource to schools and congregations when a need arises.

Topic: Ambassadors of Reconciliation training
Date: January 19, 2018
Location: Faith Lutheran Church 2027 Industrial Dr, Jefferson City, MO 65109
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Retiring Administrators
The Administrators’ Conference will honor and provide a gift for administrators who are retiring at the end of this school year. This gift and recognition will be given at our January 20, 2017 Mid-year Administrators’ Conference. Please inform Alan Freeman,
alan.freeman@mo.lcms.org of administrator retirements that are known at this time.

Early Childhood Educators Conference
March 3, 2018, at Zion Lutheran School 3866 S Old Highway 94 Harvester, MO. In addition, the main speaker will be livestreamed to a satellite conference site to be held at Timothy Lutheran School 425 NW R.D. Mize Rd. in Blue Springs, MO. Additional breakout sessions will also be held at Timothy Lutheran School.

The Keynote Speaker will be Deborah Stewart. KEYNOTE: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary Classroom

Deborah J, Stewart, M.Ed. owns her own part time preschool called the Children’s Studio. At her studio, Deborah observes and photographs early learning in action to share on her Teach Preschool Blog with teachers all around the world. Deborah has a Master Degree in Early Childhood Education and has been serving the field for over 30 years as a teacher, director, curriculum developer, author, and speaker.

Lutheran School Administrators Conference

The Lutheran School Administrators Conference is a combination of the LEA Administrator, ALSS and POLS conferences which would normally take place separately in the spring.

Online registration for the 2018 Lutheran School Administrators Conference is now open.

As you register, please note: Disney has provided a unique opportunity for LSAC administrators to experience the Disney parks and its Disney Youth Education Series. Each of the two experience options has a maximum of 150 registrants available on a first-come, first-served basis to administrators who register at the Basic Registration level (not spouses, emeriti, or exhibitors). Administrators who participate in the morning experience will also receive a complimentary pass to a Disney park for the evening. Additional tickets for spouses and others who wish to attend the evening outing will be available at a reduced rate.

Please be sure to read through all pages of the registration site. Use the Hotel Information page to reserve your hotel room.

Registration Link: Online registration

Missouri District Educators' Conference 2018

Theme: TBD
Dates: November 18-20, 2018
Location: The Lodge of the Four Seasons – Lake Ozark, MO

LEA 2019
December 1 marks the date when the call for proposals to speak at Opening Eyes, Minds, & Hearts will be ready online. Make the 2019 LEA convocation special by submitting a sectional proposal. AND … have you heard some really great sectionals at your local conferences? Encourage them to submit a proposal OR send their name (and contact info that you might have) to ed.grube@lea.org.

CUNE Lutheran School Ministry Program
New program for non-Lutheran educators in Lutheran schools: Concordia Nebraska is proud to introduce the Lutheran School Ministry program. The LSM program is primarily designed for the non-Lutheran working educators in our Lutheran schools who desire professional development to incorporate the Lutheran ethos into their classrooms. The program provides practical instruction on what makes a Lutheran school truly distinctive. For more information, visit the CUNE Lutheran School Ministry webpage or contact Ken Sankey.

National Lutheran Schools Week
Sunday, January 21, 2018 – Sunday, January 28, 2018

Webinars
December 13, 1:00 pm CST

Admissions Directors, plan to join Dan Krause, President, and Senior Consultant, Simone Frederick, as they provide strategic considerations for Christian school tuition as you head into 2018.

Registration Link: Strategic Considerations for Christian School Tuition

Early Childhood Investigations Webinar
Early Brain Development: 5 BIG Ideas for Every Early Care Professional Should Know by Laura, Bailet, Ph.D.

A session on some “big ideas” about early brain development that every parent and early childhood provider should know and use every day! For example, 700-1000 new neural connections form in a baby’s brain every second! What does that mean for the baby, and for your program? This session will combine a structured talk interspersed with short, interactive activities among audience members.

Participants will:
1. Know and apply key brain facts pertaining to language and early literacy development.
2. Understand connections between child development and the environment that enhances, or undermines, a foundation for future language and literacy success.
3. Employ brain-based concepts daily in your programs, starting in infancy.

All sessions are 1.5 hours long. 1:oo PM – 2:30 PM Central Time.

Registration Link: Early Brain Development Webinar

APP of The Week
Walden, a game
What’s It Like?
Walden, a game is a simulation of Thoreau’s grand experiment to live in solitude for a couple of years on Walden Pond. Students assume the role of Thoreau (in first person) and experience the seasons at Walden over about six hours of play, collecting bits and pieces (represented as arrowheads) of Thoreau’s writing as they go. It works for both those familiar with games and those not. For students more into games, there’s a working simulation in place that can be explored and understood akin to the popular “survival” genre of games. For students who might not play many games, these systems are relatively forgiving, and it’s possible to just focus on the writings and philosophies of Thoreau — often offered with voice-over narration.

Price: Free, Paid Grades: 8-12

GooseChase EDU
What’s It Like?
GooseChase EDU is a web-based platform that creates scavenger hunts for mobile (iOS and Android) devices. First, teachers go to the website to create a new game with a basic description. Teachers then add missions to their game. Each mission is a scavenger hunt clue, which comes in three types: photo/video, text, or location. Photo and video questions are the most popular, where students submit a picture or video (limited in length to 15 seconds). Text missions are completed by typing information. Location questions are interesting but less frequently used: The teacher can set it so that mobile devices fulfill a clue by being in a certain area, down to a 50-meter radius (though they recommend 100 meters).

Price: Free, Paid
Grades: 3-12
Rating: 4/5
Pros: Highly engaging and fosters collaboration in any subject area.
Cons: Video recordings are a maximum of 15 seconds, which limits the depth of learning.
Bottom line: Students and teachers will enjoy the powerful learning of a modern scavenger hunt.


Tips for Teachers: Protecting Students’ Privacy on Social Media
https://youtu.be/YEztyhevYlk

LUTHERAN RESOURCES

Chapel Talks
The 2017-2018 Chapel Talks (It’s Still All about Jesus) is available for free download or purchased as a hard copy. For more information please go to:

http://www.luthed.org/2017/05/12/chapel-talks-and-nlsw-materials-are-available/

CMIF Church Worker Update
(CWU) and Commissioned Minister Information Form (CMIF) sites are up and running. This new system has replaced the LEIF system. All Rostered workers will need to update their CWU information through the https://cwu.lcms.org. If you do not know your login information for the CWU site, please contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics at Rosters.Stats@lcms.org.

Lutheran Legal League
If you are an LCMS Church, School, Ministry, Worker or member in need of assistance please contact the League Administrator via email at RustyH@lutheranlegalleague.org. You can also check them out on their Facebook and Linkedin pages. You may also find the resources section of their website helpful: http://lutheranlegalleague.org/resources

LuthEd.org
The new LuthEd.org resource has replaced the Lutheran School Portal. Most of the resources previously found on the Portal are now available through this new site (https://LuthEd.org).

LEA 2019 Convocation - Save The Date!
Opening Eyes, Minds, & Heartsis the theme for Lutheran Education Association’s 2019 Convocation, October 10–12 at the St. Louis Americas Center in St. Louis, Mo.

LCMS Governing Board Resource for Lutheran Schools
(Updated 2017)

LCMS Governing Board Manual Updated 2017

Each week prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of intercession are listed for teachers, administrators, support staff, pastors, students, and families of Lutheran schools and early childhood centers of the Missouri District. To include names on the list, send information to the District Office by Wednesday noon of each week. This week we pray for:
  • Merv Dehning as he prayerfully considers a Call to serve as Principal at St. Mark’s Eureka
  • John Weber and his family as John discerns his Call to serve as Principal at Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville
  • Workers seeking Calls
  • Lutheran schools as they Call teachers and principals and are looking for candidates to fill positions
  • Lutheran schools and their ministries during the 2017-2018 school year
  • Positive relationships between boards and administrators
St. Luke's Preschool Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. staff and families at the death of their three year old Preschool Teacher, Cathy McNett who was killed in a car accident on Thanksgiving Day.
  • John Weber and his family as John discerns his Call to serve as Principal at Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville
  • Workers seeking Calls
  • Lutheran schools as they Call teachers and principals and are looking for candidates to fill positions
  • Lutheran schools and their ministries during the 2017-2018 school year
  • Positive relationships between boards and administrators

Thank you for serving in Lutheran education!

Alan Freeman
Director of Schools
The Missouri District – LCMS
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive, Suite 300
St. Louis, MO 63141
(P) 314-590-6209
(F) 314-590-6202
(M) 636-486-5200
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Website
This message was sent to alan.freeman@mo.lcms.org by alan.freeman@mo.lcms.org
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive #300, St. Louis, MO, 63141


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