October 14, 2011 - Shepherd of The Lakes Lutheran School

School News
“Faith, Knowledge, Discipleship”
(810) 227-6473 October 14, 2011
Let’s Get to Know Mrs. Annas!
By Kim Etheridge
As you walk through the hallways of SOTL, you will see
many new faces to the school. One of those faces is
Mrs. Michelle Annas, our new kindergarten teacher.
We are very blessed to have her join the staff of
SOTL!
Mrs. Annas was born in Detroit, Michigan. She has
two younger sisters that are both educators, and an
older brother who lives in Traverse City, Michigan.
Mrs. Annas has lived in Brighton for the past 18 years,
with her family of five. Her husband Craig of 26 years,
is an Administrator Lieutenant for the Ypsilanti Police
Department. Derrick, her oldest, is a Second Lieutenant
in the United States Army, and is stationed at Fort
Drum, New York. Her daughters, Alexandrea and Elisabeth
both attend Oakland Community College. Alexandrea
is studying to be a teacher, while Elisabeth is
pursuing a career in journalism. When her children
were younger, the family loved attending their sporting
events, which included football games, wrestling
matches, and basketball games. They also lived on a
lake, so they enjoyed fishing and swimming. Now that
the children are young adults, when they have the opportunity
to be together, they enjoy vacationing and
just spending quality time together as a family.
Being a kindergarten teacher brings back some memories
of when she herself was in kindergarten as a
child. Mrs. Annas enjoyed having peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches in her lunchbox. She also remembers
that her favorite part of the kindergarten day was the
dramatic play center, and being able to use her imagination
and play dress up. Also, when Mrs. Annas was
in kindergarten, her mother was the secretary at her
school. She remembers the comfort she felt knowing
her mom was there and the feeling of community that
embraced the school she attended as a child.
Mrs. Annas felt God led her into the path of teaching
because of her love for children and sharing God’s
Word. She likes teaching at SOTL because, “It is a
wonderful, spirited, and Christ-centered school.” We
at SOTL are blessed that the Lord led her to SOTL this
year.
Lead Our Children Not Into Temptation
I write this as I am heading back from a Pastor’s
Conference in which the topic of choice was
“temptation”. Just like every other human being,
pastors have a great many temptations to be on constant
guard against. Pastors need God’s help to resist
Satan’s assault on their ministry! However, the
topic of this conference also reminded me of the
scary world in which we are raising our children.
You can be the best parent in the world and you will
never be able to completely shield your children
from the temptations that are constantly assaulting
them. Many parents are likely completely unaware
of the ways in which their children are tempted. A
perfect example is the increasing use of technology
in our homes. While technology can be a wonderful
tool, it is also providing more and more opportunities
for both parents and children to fall into sinful
habits!
At chapel, I have talked to the children about the
importance of forgiving others as God has forgiven
us through Jesus. However, this weekend I was once
again reminded of the importance of prayer. It is
important for our children to pray to God and ask
Him for help! “Lord, lead us NOT into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.” In the midst of our daily
temptations, these words take on a whole new
meaning. I thank God for a Christian school that
helps teach our children of the importance of prayer
and the power of God to turn us away from sin and
toward the cross of Christ.
Peace!
Upcoming School Events
October 14 King’s Yomen yo-yo show
October 17 Scrip Order Due
October 28 Trunk-R-Treat
October 31 Scrip Order Due
Our Mission
Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran School nurtures
children with Jesus’ love to grow spiritually, thrive
academically, and mature socially
Visit our website at www.sotlschool.com for more information about Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran School

Classroom News
Mrs. Tatterson’s 3 year old students have been learning
about the season of autumn. When the class is outside
on the playground, the children are checking the
trees to see if the leaves have changed colors. The students
will be reviewing the sounds to letters A through
D, and learning the sounds to letters E through G. They
are also learning the words to the Pledge of Allegiance.
During Jesus Time, the students are hearing stories
about God creating the world, and about Adam and Eve.
Mrs. Hawker’s Pre-K students will take a trip in October
to Chambers Farm to visit their pumpkin patch and
animals. The theme for the month will be farm animal
families. In Jesus Time, the students will focus on
God's Creation. Each child will compile a book about
God's Creation.
Mrs. Annas’ kindergarten students are really into the
groove of school and are such responsible, joyful students!
They know their routines and expectations.
Each day they come to school eager to learn new things
and share their experiences. In reading, they are focusing
on their letters and their sounds and how words form
sentences and give meaning. The kindergarteners also
love books and each week, they shop in the classroom and
select books for their own book baskets that are of interest
to them and have some kind of connection. In science,
they have observed frogs and worms and created a
habitat for both. They have thanked God for His wonderful
creation and desire to take very good care of His
world. In math, our concentration has been on shapes,
graphing, color words, and counting. The students are
making such progress and daily look forward to being
mathematicians and explorers!
Mrs. Wilkin’s 3rd grade students just enjoyed their
first get-together with their pre-k buddies. The students
started their "Bible Buddies" groups and will continue
to meet throughout the year. In religion, they have
finished up their unit on the Holy Spirit and have begun a
unit on Martin Luther. The class also enjoyed their first
Field Trip to the Parshallville Mill. They toured the historic
building, had cider and a donut, and picked out a
pumpkin. The class is looking forward to their return trip
in early November to bake their own apple pie! In language
arts, they have completed their poetry unit. The
students have written couplets, limericks, haiku, cinquains,
and quatrains. You are invited to stop by and read
their fabulous poems. In math, they are working on regrouping,
money and fractions. In science, the class is
doing activities to better understand friction, force,
mass, and gravity.
Mrs. Gaertner’s Spanish students in grade 1 began a
(continued)
Classroom News
unit on the earth and sang a song in Spanish about turtles
and fish. They will be able to say where they are from.
Students in grade 2 finished their unit on animals and daily
activities. They are now working on body parts and verbs
like swimming, drawing and studying. Students in grades 3
through 5 are practicing saying where they are from and
their telephone number. Each day students are listening,
reading, speaking, and writing in Spanish.
Thank you to all of our “Storm Run” Supporters!
Sponsors
Absopure
Asea
Divine Doors
Duncan Chiropractic
Lashbrook Enterprises
Michigan Office Supply (a Xerox Company)
Nibbe Small Group
Robenault Family
Rosedale Products
Shepherd of the Lakes Church and School
Thrivent Financial
Meijer, VG’s, Kroger, GFS and Costco
Our student supporters
Carter Burnett Mitchell McCall
Lucy Burnett Aidan Weaver
Sienna Dietze Rory Weaver
Jill McCall Hunter Yeakey
Mallory McCall Zachary Yeates
Our Volunteers
Tim Arrick, Sue Betke, Roger Betke, Katie Boggs, Brighton Fire
Department, Annette Burnett, Cade Colley, Deb Colley, Tim
Colley, Deb Douglas, Keith Dwyer, Mike Ebel, Brian Fink, Christian
Gatien, Ethan Gatien, Mike Gatien, Stefanie Gatien, Ian
Green, Chuck Henderson, Lynn Henderson, Rick Holman, Caitlin
Jolly, Blake Jones, Andy Kraft, Terrye Kraft, Al Landershier,
Dr. Andrea Lautenschlager, Florian Lautenschlager, Alex
McLaren, Gail Milatz, Pastor Mark Milatz, Kathy Philbin, Pat
Philbin, Bill Sorensen, SOTL Cub Scouts, SOTL PTO, Lester
Stafford, Meghan Vogel, Guy Weaver, Bill Wilkin, Bridget Wilkin,
and Jeff Yeakey
Thank you to all of you who made monetary donations:
Roger and Sue Betke, Dan Beurkens, Roger and Edith Boyer,
Cindi and Rick Holman, Ron and Lynn McCarty, Rob Morris,
Jim Racine, Janet Simpson, Mr. and Mrs. Steiger, Nancy
Vanderwall, Lyle Verrill, Sherry Urbanczyk, Kasey Wilson
We could not have done this without you!
Storm Run Committee
Janna Yeakey, Lisa Dietze, Sue Wilkin, Cindi Holman, Shelli
Borich and Nancy Weaver
*We sincerely apologize if we have left anyone out.
Visit our website at www.sotlschool.com for more information about Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran School