St. Stephen’s Weekly News 1/19/2025

Call meeting:
There is a call meeting TODAY after the 10:00 service.  This meeting will be held in the church basement.  All voting members of the church are encouraged to attend.  We will be placing 2 calls.  The first call will be for a pastor to lead the congregation and the second will be for a third grade teacher as we will be splitting 3rd and 4th grade next school year into 2 classrooms.

Singing Schedule:
The next group to sing will grades 3-4 on January 26th at the 10:00 service.

Children’s Christmas Service Survey:
Last week a survey was sent to families of St. Stephen’s School.  As of Friday, 24 of 64 family contacts had responded.  We are trying to gather information and opinions on how this year’s service went.  The results of this survey help us shape our school years moving forward.
Please take some time to answer the 10 short questions listed.
Here is the link:  https://forms.gle/kzKLAjChr54CWWHFA

Mission Collection:
We are off to a great start with our mission collection this quarter.  We collected $71.20.  This puts at 26.5% of our goal of $500.00.  Please remember that your child does not have to have the envelope to give an offering.  The 3rd quarter mission collection will be for WELS Home Missions to support a new mission congregation in Bend, Oregon.  There is no chapel on January 20, but you can still send in an offering with the children on Tuesday.  We will have a presentation/chapel led by Pastor Paul Schupmann on Monday, January 27

Winter apparel:
Please remind students that it is cold out and that having coats, gloves, hats, and possibly even boots is important. We do go outside as long as the weather permits.  It is always easier to remove layers than to sit and wonder why they didn’t bring an article that keeps them warm.

Financial responsibilities:
Please stay current with your book fees for this school year. 
Send payments to school in an envelope marked “School Payments”  Thank you.

Kindergarten Round-Up:
On Monday, February 17, 2025,  we will be holding our annual Kindergarten Round-Up.  This will be from 6-7.  It is an opportunity for new Kindergarten parents and students to meet and greet the faculty of the school.  If you know of a family that has a child that would be in Kindergarten next year, please encourage them to be part of this Round-up and learn more about the importance of Christian elementary education.

LLHS Fine Arts Festival–Grades 5-8:
The time has come for us to begin preparations for Lakeside’s Fine Arts Festival. This annual event is a wonderful opportunity for our 5-8th graders to showcase their God-given musical talents. All 5-8th graders are REQUIRED to be present as our Junior Choir performs. Our band students will also perform as part of St. Stephen’s Band at the festival. All students will receive credit towards their music grade for participating since they put so much effort and preparation into their music.

The Fine Arts Festival is a two-day event. On Saturday, April 5, the choir and band will perform two pieces for the judges. On Sunday, April 6, the choir and band will perform in an afternoon concert with the other schools. The times for that concert and the Saturday performances are not set until March.
Along with the band and choir, some of our students also perform in individual/small group events for judges on Saturday, April 5th. These events can be performed as solos, duets, or ensembles. Students may perform in up to four individual/small group events:

-5-8th grade piano students are REQUIRED to perform a piano piece.

-5-8th grade band students are REQUIRED to perform an instrumental piece.

-All 5-8th graders are eligible to sing a vocal piece, but this is not required of anyone.

For the next few weeks, Mr. Barnett will work with the students to determine what events they will be a part of. Then, he will send home a final permission slip listing all events the student has signed up for.
If for some reason your child cannot be present for one or both days of the festival, please let Mr. Schulz know now. Since this is part of our music curriculum, also indicate the reason the child won’t be present.
More information will come on the permission slip, and the day schedules for the 5th and 6th will be released in March.

St. Stephen’s School Mission:

St. Stephen’s Lutheran School will offer a Christ-centered education to all students. We will instruct them in the Word of God, educate them in secular subjects, train them to become responsible citizens in our community, and prepare them for their eternal victory in heaven when they die. We will do this by holding Jesus and his love before them each day by appropriately using law and gospel as we instruct and discipline.   

Please remember that if you need assistance with anything that you can reach out to the teachers and leaders of St. Stephen’s.  You can also find answers to some questions on the website: www.ssbdwels.com

Blessings on your week.