Principal’s Pen: A model for thanksgiving

He is mentioned in only one chapter of the Bible. Even then, he is overshadowed by the Christchild.

Luke reports, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” [Luke 2:25-26].

Simeon is described as “righteous and devout.” As such, he knew Scripture. He knew God’s anointed would be David’s descendent [2 Samuel 7], yet even greater than David [Psalm 110]. He knew the Chosen One would born of a virgin [Isaiah 7:14] in Bethlehem [Micah 5:2]. He knew a forerunner would precede God’s Promised One [Isaiah 40] and that the Savior himself would be a prophet like Moses [Deuteronomy 18]. He knew the Messiah would be forsaken and pierced [Psalm 22] and then rise from death [Psalm 16].

Simeon knew all this about his Savior.

Imagine Simeon’s joy as he held Jesus and exclaimed, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation” [Luke 2:29-30]. His joy was complete. He offered thanks to God that the
age-old promise of a Savior was fulfilled.

Simeon’s thanksgiving to God can also be our model for thanksgiving. He waited his entire life for the fulfillment of the promise of a Savior from sin. We share that same faith—only we don’t wait and wonder when it will happen. It has! God sent his Son to be our Savior so that all believers may have joy and thanksgiving.

At Thanksgiving, we tend to focus on God’s physical blessings. That’s good because God richly blesses us. Yet, we should also include his spiritual blessings in our Thanksgiving because they will last forever.

Like Simeon, may God “dismiss [us] in peace” knowing that his greatest blessing—a Savior—is ours every day by faith.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Jim Grasby is principal of Lakeside Lutheran.
Reach him at 920.648.2321 or jgrasby@llhs.org

Honor Roll announced for Q1, 2017-18

Lakeside Lutheran High School is pleased to announce its academic honor roll for Quarter 1 of the 2017-18 school year:

High Honors Honor Roll (3.75-4.0 GPA)

Grade 9

Ella Butzine, Oconomowoc; Lydia Buxa, Oconomowoc; Jack Egelseer, Lake Mills; Megan Grambsch, Columbus; Jada Gresens, Sun Prairie; Ashley Grundman, Waterloo; Austin Haley, Watertown; Graham Hatcher, Oconomowoc; Maya Heckmann, Middleton; Caitlin Heinrich, Madison; Emmilee Hillier, Sun Prairie; Joshua Hodkiewicz, DeForest; AnaCristina Iglesias, Watertown; Elizabeth Isham, Watertown; Jordyn Jaeger, Lake Mills; William Jorgensen, McFarland; Payton Kuepers, Madison; Sydney Langille, Lake Mills; Madison McGurk, Lake Mills; Brendan McKenna, Lake Mills; Emily Meiller, Madison; Haylee Meske, Jefferson; Hailey Miller, Sun Prairie; Isabella Mueller, Sun Prairie; Mia Murray, Middleton; Micah Nasett, Marshall; Julia Neuberger, Lake Mills; Kennedy Pugh, Watertown; Kaylee Raymond, Sun Prairie; Carter Roekle, Middleton; Payton Roth, Watertown; Lillian Runke, Sun Prairie; Evelyn Schauer, Watertown; Riley Schmidt, Janesville; Grace Seim, Beaver Dam; Morgan Slonaker, De Forest; Emma Strohm, Watertown; Claudia Stuebs, Lake Mills; Jennifer Taylor Evert, Beaver Dam; Evelyn Terry, Ixonia; Jada Teteak, Middleton; Joy Thompson-Wurz, Lake Mills; Sarah Ulsberger, Fort Atkinson; Kendra Wilson, Cottage Grove; Laura Zank, Juneau

Grade 10

Madeline Abel, Fort Atkinson; Emma Berg, Madison; Annika Bilitz, Cottage Grove; Ryann Burger, Lake Mills; Oliver Butler, Ixonia; Isabella Collins, Lake Mills; Matthew Davis, Lake Mills; Samantha Detert, Watertown; Kyle Doering, Lake Mills; Trevor Geerdts, Windsor; Gilbert Haw, Marshall; Janae Jensen, Juneau; Kendra Kasper, Helenville; Elijah Knapp, Ixonia; Hannah Koenig, Cambridge; Seth Lozano, Waterloo; Rachel Mayer, Fort Atkinson; Katelyn McGurk, Lake Mills; Elise Meier, Watertown; Alessandra Murray, Sun Prairie; Logan Pampel, Johnson Creek; Bronte Perkins, Madison; Breanna Preskar, Juneau; Megan Reinke, Watertown; Owen Schoenherr, Cottage Grove; Espen Storlie, Jefferson; Nathaniel Stout, Janesville; Katie Stuebs, Lake Mills; Lauren Thiele, Poynette; Kirsten Thundercloud, Jefferson; Grace Westrate, Sun Prairie

Grade 11

Samantha Anderson, Sun Prairie; Abigail Buxa, Oconomowoc; Will DeNoyer, Sun Prairie; Olivia Fregien, Madison; Benjamin Grambsch, Columbus; Katherine Guld, Lake Mills; Lukas Heckmann, Middleton; Brevin Jegerlehner, Sun Prairie; Jennica Jensen, Juneau; Olivia Kassulke, Watertown; Grace Krieser, Stoughton; Rebecca Lang, Lake Mills; Cole Lauersdorf, Oconomowoc; Grace Loescher, Watertown; Luke Marti, Oconomowoc; Jack Monis, Oconomowoc; Chad Nolte, Janesville; Lucas Schneider, Waterloo; Kaitlyn Shadoski, Janesville; Anna Swenson, Beaver Dam; Olivia Turke, Oconomowoc; Kira Tweit, Madison; Taylor Wolfram, Fort Atkinson; Peter Zambo, Lake Mills

Grade 12

Kalies Birkholz, Watertown; Skyler Christianson, Janesville; Zachary Cichanofsky, Watertown; Sophia Collins, Lake Mills; Kaitlyn Drewicz, Watertown; Jenna Gaal, Oconomowoc; Kaitlyn Gehler, Waterloo; Kayla Grundman, Waterloo; Gabrielle Grunewald, Bettendorf; Emma Guld, Lake Mills; Kelly Koch, Watertown; Kaitlin Main, Juneau; Ashley McLain, Juneau; James Neuberger, Lake Mills; Devon Perkins, Madison; Charles Pingel, Sun Prairie; Katharina Schleef, Watertown; Emelyn Schoeller, Helenville; Katrina Stratman, Beaver Dam; Sarah Taylor Evert, Beaver Dam; Morgan Thiele, Poynette; Matthias Winters, Watertown

Honors (3.25 – 3.749 GPA)

 Grade 9

Isaiah Andress, Oconomowoc; Elizabeth Brudos, Janesville; Nathan Chesterman, Sun Prairie; Cooper Clark, Lake Mills; Micah Cody, Juneau; Isabella Cook, Hartland; Kinsey Gade, Lake Mills; Adriana Genthe, Lake Mills; Kylee Gnabasik, Jefferson; Kristel Hafenstein, Beaver Dam; Julia Hallman, Fort Atkinson; Rachel Huebner, Madison; Samuel Ibeling, Cambridge; Megan Jones, Johnson Creek; Joel Kluz, Juneau; Anna Kreutz, Madison; Olivia Krieser, Stoughton; Elizabeth Loppnow, Lebanon; Remy Matthews, Sun Prairie; Hannah Meyer, Lake Mills; Isaiah Minning, Watertown; Benjamin Neumann, Oconomowoc; John O’Donnell, Madison; Olivia Odrich, Verona; Ian Olszewski, Johnson Creek; Alyssa Ratzow, Watertown; Stephanie Schafer, Fort Atkinson; Jack Schultz, Columbus; Caroline Schulz, DeForest; Devin Splinter, Ixonia; Anika Stone, Fitchburg; Lily Storlie, Jefferson; Gabriel Uttech, Fall River; Tersony Vater, Watertown; Seth Veers, Cross Plains; Amber Vertein, Watertown; Elijah Wohling, Beaver Dam; Nicholas Yaroch, Columbus

Grade 10

Jocelyn Asmus, Lake Mills; Anna Bilitz, Madison; Kaitlin Burk, Johnson Creek; Kaitlyn Buss, Watertown; Alicia Childs, Rio; Abbie DiGiovanni, Jefferson; Connor Dobson, Johnson Creek; Elli Duddeck, Ixonia; Jadyn Duddeck, Whitewater; Bryce Eckhardt, Watertown; Haakon Ellestad, Sun Prairie; Benjamin Ertman, Fort Atkinson; Daniel Faupl, Watertown; Emily Godwin, Madison; Calvin Grant, Sun Prairie; August Gresens, Sun Prairie; Cody Gumz, Marshall; Matthew Gunst, Hartford; Jacob Holmes, Fort Atkinson; Jacob Horta, Helenville; Kristin Karas, Milton; Karissa Kilian, Lake Mills; Abel Krauklis, Lake Mills; Lydia Krenke, Jefferson; Taylor Laures, Jefferson; Serena Leis, Wilton; Michael Martin, Watertown; Brynn McDermott, Poynette; Wesley McLain, Juneau; Micah Missall, Rio; Kobe Paske, Arlington; Madelyn Plitzuweit, Oconomowoc; Alex Ryan, Lake Mills; Maria Saavedra, Watertown; Carter Schneider, Jefferson; Collin Schulz, Fort Atkinson; Cole Schuster, Juneau; Emma Statz, Helenville; Molly Sturgill, Waterloo; Tyler Surges, Nashotah; Isaiah Terry, Ixonia; Keira Thurnbauer, Lake Mills; Ashley Valerio, Watertown; Amber Wardall, Waterloo; Christopher Yunck, Lake Mills

Grade 11

Olivia Andress, Oconomowoc; Janelle Arndt, Watertown; Caleb Bilitz, Lake Mills; Carter Buchta, Ixonia; William Bushie, Watertown; Margaret Cody, Juneau; Caitlin Condon, Watertown; Alyssa Fehrman, Juneau; Noelle Gates, Middleton; Alexis Genthe, Lake Mills; Sophia Griffin, Lodi; Joshua Groninger, Janesville; Gracie Hillier, Sun Prairie; Tyler Holzhueter, Waterloo; Paul Johnson, Janesville; Cannon Kerr, Watertown; Carter Kexel, Lake Mills; Madelynn Klug, Ixonia; Caleb Kuepers, Madison; Kayla Laures, Jefferson; Kyle Leis, Wilton; Emily Meske, Jefferson; Mariah Mortensen, Beaver Dam; Ethan Neumann, Oconomowoc; Timothy Nommensen, Deerfield; Hayden Oestreich, Watertown; Mira Parker, Deforest; Ryan Preskar, Juneau; Caleb Raymond, Sun Prairie; Logan Scheiber, Watertown; Dominic Schmidt, Watertown; Riley Schulz, Fort Atkinson; Johnathan Schuman, Beaver Dam; Christopher Schwantes, Madison; Amanda Seelman, Watertown; Jackson Stake, Stoughton; Luke Stauffacher, Madison; Maxwell Thiele, Oconomowoc; Max Thomas, Watertown; Madelaine Triebold, Oconomowoc; Hannah Tucek, Lake Mills; Isac Veers, Cross Plains; Hannah Willems, Johnson Creek

Grade 12

Sofia Asmus, Lake Mills; Kelsey Birschbach, Deforest; Alyssa Condon, Watertown; J Doyle, Deforest; Amber Fortney, Columbus; Ashley Fritz, Middleton; Isaac Heckmann, Middleton; Benjamin Hodel, Lake Mills; Shannon Jones, Johnson Creek; Samantha Kluever, Marshall; Samantha Kohls, Waterloo; Isaiah Lenz, Oconomowoc; Hannah Mayer, Fort Atkinson; Melissa Murack, Sullivan; Aaron Natvig, Cottage Grove; Ian Olson, Sun Prairie; Eric Pillard, Oconomowoc; Emily Raymond, Sun Prairie; Amber Rowoldt, Watertown; Mary Schallert, Cambridge; Griffin Torgerson, Watertown; Philip Treptow, Avalon; Elizabeth Valerio, Watertown; Emily Weber, Helenville; Gerald Weber, Sun Prairie; Ellie Westrate, Sun Prairie

Commendables (3.0 – 3.249 GPA)

Grade 9

Kendra Blake, Watertown; Damien Borchardt, Watertown; Stephanie Georgi, Sun Prairie; Bryan Guzman, Madison; Nathaniel Heins, Ixonia; Colin Johnson, Sun Prairie; Brandon Kilian, Lake Mills; Nicholas Klug, Oconomowoc; Raven Liska, Cambridge; Ryan Punzel, Watertown; Logan Reich, Jefferson; Christian Schmidt, Ixonia; Darren Schuster, Juneau; Olyvia Uecker, Watertown; Dakota Vogel, Fall River

Grade 10

Karleena Battist, Waterloo; Ashley Behnke, Watertown; Monica Bischoff, Juneau; Arthur Evangelist, Lake Mills; Jeremy Hathaway, Watertown; Dinesh Tadepalli, Sun Prairie; Grace Thomas, Watertown

Grade 11

Tyler Affeld, Watertown; Seth Bolin, Lake Mills; Megan Borth, Watertown; Carson Brumm, Lake Mills; Tyler Degner, Watertown; Maddison Fenner, Fort Atkinson; Seth Hackbarth, Lake Mills; Kaleigh Hatcher, Oconomowoc; Marilyn Klein, Watertown; Molly Lindloff, Lake Mills; Taylor Luetzow, Watertown; Sadie Matthews, Sun Prairie; Rachel Poyner, Madison; Anna Rue, Fort Atkinson; Jessica Scott, Janesville; Savannah Steffen, Watertown; Michael Stern, Hustisford; Jacob Ulrich, Lake Mills

Grade 12

Samantha DeNoyer, Fort Atkinson; Noah Gartner, Johnson Creek; Joseph Grambsch, Columbus; Timothy Grant, Sun Prairie; Emma Hans, Jefferson; Alexander Hoenecke, Waunakee; Ryane LeonPeralta, Madison; Maria Murray, Middleton; Cade Olszewski, Johnson Creek; Tyler Punzel, Watertown; Kailey Schoenherr, Sun Prairie; Brett Schwantes, Madison; Alyson Steffan, Johnson Creek; Maria Werre, Sun Prairie

Lakeside Lutheran fall athletes honored

 

Lakeside Lutheran High School recently held its fall sports awards night when coaches recognize efforts of the six fall sports teams as well as all-conference team honorees and athletes of the year. A total of 10 Lakeside Lutheran athletes received first team all-conference spots, 10 achieved second team all-conference, and 11 earned honorable mention. In addition, a Warrior received Capitol Conference North Athlete of the Year honors.

The 2017 Warrior volleyball team took its second straight sectional championship and earned another berth at the WIAA Division 2 State tournament last weekend. With victories over Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Luxembourg-Casco, the Warriors claimed the first D2 state volleyball championship in school history. The team also claimed a fifth straight Capitol Conference North championship this fall with a conference record of 10-0. Six players earned conference awards for their efforts. Senior hitter Amber Rowoldt of Watertown, senior setter Ellie Westrate of Sun Prairie and senior libero Kaitlyn Gehler of Waterloo were elected 1st team all-conference, while senior hitter Sophie Collins of Lake Mills, senior middle Kelsey Birschbach of DeForest and junior hitter Kaitlyn Shadoski of Janesville received honorable mention.

 

Senior volleyball players from Lakeside Lutheran High School hold the WIAA D2 State Volleyball trophy after winning the championship match in Green Bay, WI on Saturday, November 4, 2017. From left: Sophie Collins, Kelly Koch, Kaitlyn Gehler, Morgan Thiele, Amber Rowoldt, Kelsey Birschbach, Ellie Westrate.

 

 

Gehler, Rowoldt and Westrate were all voted to the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association (WVCA) All-Tournament Team at the WIAA state tournament Nov. 2-4. The WVCA also voted Rowoldt to 1^st team All-State, and awarded Gehler and Westrate All-State Honorable Mention. Gehler set a D2 state tournament record with 52 total digs, and most digs in a 5 set match with 27; she also tied the second place record with 5 aces in a 5-set match.

In addition to her All-Conference, All-State and All-Tournament accolades, Rowoldt was awarded Capitol Conference North Volleyball Player of the Year. While at State, she set a Division 2 record with 29 kills in the five sets of the championship match. She also set the Division 2 tournament record with 48 kills.  Over the season, Rowoldt recorded 504 kills (setting a new school record of 1,489 total career kills), 60 aces, 81 blocks, 451 digs in 108 sets played this year. Last fall, she committed to play for NCAA D2 Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2018.

Thirty Lakeside Lutheran athletes were recognized at the recent fall sports awards night as they were awarded spots on Capitol North All-Conference teams and more. Front, l-r: Chris Schwantes, honorable mention soccer; Skyler Christianson, honorable mention soccer; Brett Schwantes, honorable mention soccer; Griffin Torgerson, honorable mention soccer; Kailey Schoenherr, 2nd team cross country; Jacob Holmes, 2nd team cross country; August Gresens, 1st team cross country. Second row, L-R: Amber Rowoldt, 1st team volleyball, Capitol North Conference Player of the Year, WVCA State All-Tournament team, WVCA All-State 1st team; Maya Heckmann, 1st team golf; Matthias Winters, 2nd team football defense; Alex Hoenecke, honorable mention soccer; Ryan Leon Peralta, honorable mention soccer; Caleb Raymond, 1st team football offense; Will DeNoyer, 1st team football offense. Third row, L-R: Tyler Punzel, 1st team cross country; Kaitlyn Gehler, 1st team volleyball, WVCA State All-Tournament team, WVCA All-State Honorable Mention; Isaiah Coleman, honorable mention football offense; Dustin Pampel, 2nd team football defense; Tyler Holzhueter, 2nd team football offense; Jack Monis, 2nd team football offense; Casey Ponyicsanyi, 1st team football defense. Back row, L-R: Charlie Pingel, 2nd team cross country; Cade Olszewski, 1st team offense and 2nd team defense football; Ben Hodel, honorable mention football defense; Sophie Collins, honorable mention volleyball; Ellie Westrate, 1st team volleyball, WVCA State All-Tournament team, WVCA All-State Honorable Mention; Kelsey Birschbach, honorable mention volleyball; Kaitlyn Shadoski, honorable mention volleyball. Missing are Alexis Genthe and Jada Gresens, both 2nd team cross country.

The Lakeside Lutheran boys cross country team finished 2nd in conference this fall. Senior runner Tyler Punzel of Watertown and sophomore August Gresens of Sun Prairie earned 1st team all-conference honors. Punzel earned a berth at the 2017 WIAA State Meet. Senior Charlie Pingel, Sun Prairie, and sophomore Jacob Holmes, Fort Atkinson, earned 2nd team all-conference honors.

The girls’ cross country team took third place in conference this year. Three runners earned spots on the all-conference teams. Senior Kailey Schoenherr and freshman Jada Gresens, both of Sun Prairie, and junior Alexis Genthe, Lake Mills, each earned second team all-conference honors.

The Lakeside Lutheran boys soccer team saw six players receive honorable mention from the conference, including senior defender Skyler Christianson, Janesville; senior forward Brett Schwantes, Madison; senior midfielder Griffin Torgerson, Watertown; senior forward Alex Hoenecke, Waunakee; senior midfielder Ryane Leon Peralta, Madison; and junior defender Chris Schwantes, Madison. Torgerson was voted Most Valuable Player and Brett Schwantes was voted Honorary Team Captain by teammates.

The Warrior football team earned its first return to playoffs since 2012 with a 6-4 record. Ten players earned 11 spots on all-conference teams. Senior running back Cade Olszewski of Johnson Creek earned first team all-conference offense as a running back and 2nd team for his work on defense as inside linebacker. Three juniors—middle linebacker Casey Ponyicsanyi of Lake Mills, o-lineman Caleb Raymond and receiver Will DeNoyer, both of Sun Prairie—also earned 1st team honors. Earning 2nd team spots were senior tight end Dustin Pampel of Johnson Creek, senior defensive back Matthias Winters of Watertown, junior quarterback Jack Monis of Oconomowoc, and junior center Tyler Holzhueter of Waterloo. Receiving honorable mention were senior offensive lineman Isaiah Coleman of Watertown and senior outside linebacker Benjamin Hodel of Lake Mills.

Lakeside girls golf team saw marked progress in the program with a third-place finish in the Rock Valley Conference. Freshman Maya Heckmann of Middleton was awarded first team all-conference honors with her solid advance to and performance in sectional play. Senior golfer Ashley Fritz, also from Middleton, was awarded “High Honors” as an Academic All-State honoree by the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin as a result of her high GPA and participation as a varsity golfer this fall.

 

Lakeside Lutheran students make New Friends

Students at Lakeside Lutheran High School recently hosted an event called “New Friends,” where the high school teens and individuals from the community met on the high school campus to join in an afternoon of fun and new friendships.

Members of Lakeside’s Teens for Christ service group organized the day to connect teens with young people with special needs and their families in a fun-filled atmosphere and build relationships by focusing on abilities, not disabilities. On Sunday, October 22, 63 LLHS students greeted 13 guests in the Lakeside gym. Planned activities included face painting, cookie decorating and eating, pumpkin-painting, bean bag toss, basketball, manicures, slime-making, and card games.  Some unplanned activities—human bowling, the Chicken Dance, and line dancing—also took place.

Seth Loersch and new friend Will DeNoyer consulted during pumpkin painting.

New friends Samantha Kluever and Ben Olson enjoyed the results of their time spent decorating cookies.

Kaitlyn Shadoski, Maddy Weisensel and Jennica Jensen began a friendship as they enjoyed face-painting and glittery slime-making together.

A table of Uno players enjoyed each other’s company at the New Friends event held at Lakeside Lutheran in October.

The manicure table was a popular activity at the recent New Friends event in the Lakeside Lutheran gymnasium recently. Two more similar events are planned for 2018 on January 21 and March 11.

Spontaneous dancing to toe-tapping background music proved to be a popular unplanned activity during the recent “New Friends” event at LLHS.

Dozens of teens joined with more than a dozen individuals with special needs for an afternoon of fun and games recently at Lakeside Lutheran High School in the first of three “New Friends” events to be held on campus during the 2017-18 school year. New Friends is a program under the auspices of Jesus Cares Ministries.

Basketball with new friends was a popular pastime during the recent afternoon event at Lakeside Lutheran.

Lakeside Lutheran teens set themselves up as human bowling pins for an impromptu and entertaining game of bowling at the New Friends event recently held on campus.

Student teacher Josiah Nommensen shared a devotion, reminding everyone that while they made wonderful friends, they always have Jesus as their true friend.

New Friends events at Lakeside Lutheran are also planned for January 21 and March 11 from 1-3 p.m. Those interested in bringing someone are encouraged to contact LLHS Teens for Christ advisor Ruth Hirschfeld at rhirschf@llhs.org or call 920-648-2321 x2210.

New Friends is a program started by Jesus Cares Ministries, a national outreach ministry to people with developmental disabilities, their families, and their communities.

To see more photos from the day, visit our smugmug page.