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March 2021 E-News
A mission project of the
Southern Illinois District - LCMS
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2020-2021 School Theme:
Walking Together In Christ
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As we enter the season of Lent, which is a time devoted to fasting, prayer, and reflection, our hearts are still filled with the joy of knowing we are saved by God’s grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This assurance in our hearts is something we daily pass on to the students here at Unity—letting them know that while we all sin every day, there is hope and forgiveness in Jesus. What a pleasure it is to fill their hearts and minds with this knowledge as we look forward to the Joy-filled Season of Easter in 40 days. Lots of exciting and wonderful things are going on here, and NONE of them could be possible without your continued prayers, gracious hours of volunteering and GENEROUS financial support! You continue to amaze us and God is blessing these students! THANK YOU!!!
Click here to see the mission and ministry of Unity School
(and feel free to pass this link along to friends and family)
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Chapel Speakers
Our students enjoy having guest speakers come in to lead our Wednesday Chapel Service each week. If you are an LCMS Pastor, we'd love to have you come and speak! Below is Pastor Terry Grebing from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Renault, IL, and our principal, Pastor Dickerson.
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Belong To Jesus Time
Every Thursday a different group of students leads the “Belong to Jesus” time.
It’s great to see our students improving in their leadership skills.
Here is Mr. Stock's 7th grade class leading us.
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SAVE THE DATE!
Share in the Miracle!
April 29
Virtual Event
from 7-8 p.m.
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Unfortunately, because of COVID restrictions, we cannot do our usual “Share in the Miracle” Dinners. ☹ We know this is disappointing to those of you who usually attend because the dinners are fun! They are a chance for you to hear what God is doing at Unity and visit with some old friends and other supporters. But we are NOT going to let COVID win! We are doing a SITM mailing campaign and we ask for your support. Also, we will be doing a virtual event on Thursday, April 29, from 7-8 p.m. We will be on Zoom (all you need to do is download the app on your computer or cell phone). We will soon give out the login code and password to attend. We will also be on Facebook Live through our Unity Facebook page.
When you log on, you will see all the other Unity supporters, and you can listen to our Principal, Pastor Dickerson, and me, the Development Director, share the MIRACLE that Unity school is! We will show a new video so you can see the latest happenings and hear from some of the students who have graduated from Unity during the past 10 years. It’s going to be a fun night! Why not gather a few friends in your living room, pop some popcorn, and do a “Watch Party” of this virtual event? The more the merrier.
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February was Black History Month |
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Each week every class did a short presentation on a famous person or event in Black History. They all did a splendid job and everyone learned
a lot from each presentation.
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We had our 2021 Spelling Bee and ALL the students did great! Here are all the 1st-4th grade competitors for our 2021 Spelling Bee. Our winner was Sylvester Sloan, who is in 3rd grade, and Malaysia Robinson came in second place and is in 2nd grade. Great job by everyone!! Thanks to Mrs. Venable, Mrs. Gould, Ms. Clay and Mr. Williams for running the Spelling Bee.
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1st-4th
Grade
Spelling Bee Champion
Sylvester Sloan and
2nd place
Malaysia Robinson
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Pictured below are all the competitors in 5th-8th grades. Our 1st Place winner was Erin Clay, who is in 6th grade. Coming in 2nd was Maurion Cooper, who is in 8th grade. Thanks to Mr. Williams, Mr. Wiesbrock, Mrs. Hardieway, and Mr. Stock for running the middle school Spelling Bee this year!
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1st Place winner - Erin Clay |
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2nd Place - Maurion Cooper |
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Congregation Visits
I know with COVID many churches are online, but if you ARE meeting in person and wish for me to come speak to your congregation, please let me know. I can also make a presentation via Zoom to your church or Bible Class or send you a DVD
to play our Promo Video. Call me, Nancy Stallard, at
618-874-6605 or email: Nstallard@unityesl.org
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On February 14, 3 students, Mr. Stock, and I went to Jerusalem Lutheran Church led by Dr. Doug Nicely in Collinsville to share about Unity School. I spoke and showed the Promo Video. Then Mr. Stock and our students each spoke about Unity and all the great things God is doing there and how great the teachers are. After the worship service, we got to load boxes and bags (a collection organized by Pastor’s lovely wife, Vicki Nicely) of school supplies, birthday snacks, hand sanitizer, lots of wipes and little gifts for the students into my van. Our students got to meet Mrs. Virginia, who is from Lithuania and had taught Jerusalem members how to make Lithuanian Christmas Ornaments. Their Christmas tree is so beautiful each year that they leave it up until Lent starts on Ash Wednesday! |
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Learning from Mrs. Virginia about Lithuanian Christmas Ornaments.
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Next we visited St Paul's in Columbia on February 21. We are so grateful to Pastor Krenz for allowing us to speak about Unity at all 3 services and the whole Bible Class hour. They have been a supportive congregation for years and at Christmas sponsored 7 students with gifts! They also loaded up my van with more school supplies. Such lovely people. God is good!!! |
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THREE CHEERS FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS! |
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I’m thankful for ALL our Unity volunteers but grateful today for Mrs. Knight. She has been volunteering here at Unity for about 9 years. She has helped teachers, hand written addresses on hundreds of envelopes for our Annual Fund campaign, and other tasks. This past year she has been VERY helpful on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings welcoming students in the door and taking their temperatures (per COVID protocol). This has been a HUGE help to our staff! She is such a friendly face for the students to see every morning, and we all just enjoy her company so much!! Thank you, Mrs. Knight!!! We could use a volunteer for Thursday and Friday mornings, so call me if you are able to volunteer.
Nancy Stallard, at
618-874-6605 or email: Nstallard@unityesl.org.
Like I always say … “Team-work makes the Dream-work” so thank you to ALL our volunteers....... YOU ROCK!!!!
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Hand Addressing Envelopes |
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Donors make the DIFFERENCE!!!
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We thank the Lifelight Bible Class from Concordia Kirkwood for making us Valentine’s Treat bags! Every student (and STAFF member too!) received a bag of candy and heart that showed John 3:16 in the word “Valentine” and a bracelet with John 3:16 printed on it. The students were thrilled! Thank you, ladies!!!!
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John 3:16 in the word "Valentine" |
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We are grateful for all the churches, Bible study groups, and individuals who have given to our Birthday Bag Project! Each month, we pick 1 day and celebrate everyone who has a birthday in that month. Students get a Birthday Bag with 5 fun items and also a New Testament Story Book! The Middle Schoolers get a birthday card with a $5 bill inside. Then everyone in the class gets a sweet treat off my Birthday Cart.
If you wish to donate, call me,
Nancy Stallard, at 618-874-6605 or email: Nstallard@unityesl.org
Thanks for keeping birthdays special at Unity!! Happy February
Birthday to these wonderful Unity Students! We are proud of you!
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Do you have any STOCK you wish to donate to Unity??
We'll take it!!! We have several safe and easy ways to transfer your stock to us, so just call me, Nancy Stallard, at
618-874-6605 or email: Nstallard@unityesl.org
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Thrivent is here to HELP!!!
If you are a Thrivent member, you can help us in 2 ways!!!
1. Apply for an Action Team Grant
to apply for an Action Team Grant. Every Thrivent member has TWO grants a year. If you don’t use them, you will LOSE them! Some ideas would be: books for our library, bookshelves for teachers' rooms, more outdoor playtime equipment (jump ropes, skip ropes, soccer goals, sidewalk chalk), a plan to beautify our playground asphalt top and paint “games” on it like 4 square, hop scotch, etc., beautify our garden area with picnic benches and landscaping.
2. Thrivent Choice Dollars
Remember, you can apply your Thrivent Choice Dollars to Unity! You need to do this by March 31. To do that, simply go to www.thrivent.com and scroll down and click on “Generosity”
Click on “Direct Choice Dollars” and find us at “Unity Lutheran Christian Elementary School.”
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Staff Spotlight
This month we have 2 Staff Spotlights.... the first falls on Mrs. Venable, our AMAZING 1st grade teacher. She has been teaching for 10 years and earned her degree at Murray State University. This is her 5th year at Unity. She says she loves so many things here… she is grateful for small classroom sizes that enable a strong connection with both her students and their families and for the chance to be able to talk about God every day and help her students develop a relationship with God. Her favorite Bible verse is the 23rd Psalm…. “The Lord is my Shepherd….” She feels that Unity is a bright light in a dark place. Especially since the world is now so full of uncertainty--Unity is a constant, positive, and uplifting environment where children can thrive and learn about Jesus.
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She feels that donations have never meant more to her and the staff than they have this year. She says, “COVID brought many unknowns to how our classrooms would even function. From the yoga mats, to face shields, to the daily need of hand sanitizer; knowing that our classroom needs are faithfully met each day is just such an overjoying feeling to have! Thank you, donors!
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Mrs. Gould is our WONDERFUL (and peppy!) 2nd grade teacher. This is her 13th year of teaching as she earned her Bachelors in Elementary Education in 2008 from McKendree University. This is her 5th year at Unity, where she taught the 7th grade before moving to 2nd grade. She loves that she can incorporate God into her teaching. She feels it is important to be able to know each and every student's name and make them feel important and that getting to know the students' interests on a personal level helps build lasting relationships. Her favorite Bible passage is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love is patient, love is kind….Love never fails.” Her class is ALWAYS doing fun projects or activities! She feels this mission school in
this community creates an
opportunity for students to receive a quality education and chance to
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know God that they may not otherwise get. She says that without our generous supporters, we would not be able to have the fun activities and supplies that we have. “My second graders this year are very grateful for our yoga mats and lap desks that give us the opportunity to go outside for learning or allow them to move around the classroom and not just sit in our desks ALL day.”
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To donate, please make checks out to "Unity Lutheran School"
and mail them to
Questions? Call us at 618-874-6605 or Email Nancy Stallard at Nstallard@unityesl.org
😊 All donations are TAX-DECUCTIBLE 😊
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We're Now on Facebook and Instagram!
For regular updates on activities at school.
Just click the links above for Instagram or Facebook.
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