PSD School Ministries
Connections
April 21, 2021
“I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” Psalm 146:2
 
Victory. The reason one cheers! Victory. The reason we sing, “Hallelujah!”
 
Psalm 146 is the perfect psalm for Easter. It’s the first of five consecutive hallelujah psalms, with hallelujah meaning, “Praise the Lord!” It’s a practice of many to “put away” the hallelujah during Lent, acknowledging our sin that separates us from God. Then, come Easter, the hallelujah returns. At Christmas, the hallelujah of the angels proclaimed Christ’s birth. On Easter, our hallelujahs proclaim His resurrection—His once-for-all victory over sin, death and the power of the devil.
 
To sing hallelujah is to burst forth in joy and exuberance because, through baptism, Christ’s victory is our victory. To sing hallelujah is to call upon God’s name because it is He who intervened and saved us. To sing hallelujah is to put an exclamation mark on praise because we are forgiven and redeemed, claimed and reclaimed, by God himself. How can we keep from singing?! Come on now, let’s raise a hallelujah!
Spotlight on Our Schools
Please join us in praying and thanking God for the following schools this week:

 Emmaus Lutheran School and Preschool, Alhambra, CA
Hephatha Lutheran School and Preschool, Anaheim, CA
Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Simi Valley, CA
Trinity Lutheran Preschool, Simi Valley, CA
Below are photos from Prince of Peace Lutheran School, Anaheim, CA (from last week's prayer list):
Lutheran Schools Week Favorite Sports Team
Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Salazar, with her daughter, Camille
Principal Mrs. Smallwood with Student of the Month Andrea 
Below are photos from Hephatha Lutheran School and Preschool, Anaheim, CA:
EC teacher Mrs. Hadley attending her student's baptism. This student is one of six total students baptized this Spring at Hephatha (three middle schoolers, two EC students, and one 1st grader). To God be the glory! 
A Hephatha student at the outdoor classroom's "Last Supper" table. 
Early Childhood students painting with leaves.
Block printing class taught by Mrs. Fisher (8th grade) and Mrs. Fitzgerald (7th grade).
A member of the Hephatha Praise Band, back to leading the school in Chapel.
Easter artwork by Hephatha 5th graders, where their favorite verse is featured.
Below are photos from Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Simi Valley, CA:
The Kindergarten flag salute
4/5 virtual learning
Middle school hatching project
Below are photos from Trinity Lutheran Preschool, Simi Valley, CA:
Babies and a mirror
Easter joy
Pre-K making a rainbow
Educator of the Year 2021
Administrators, please take the time to forward this information to your entire staff. Thank you!     
  
Each year, we wish to honor exemplary educators in the Pacific Southwest District who exhibit exceptional leadership, teaching skills, and total commitment to Christ and the ministry of our Lutheran schools. We are asking for your help in identifying those who represent this spirit of dedication, commitment, and excellence. The 2021 Educators of the Year will be recognized at the Lutheran Educators Conference (LEC) in Palm Desert, CA, in November.
 
Below are the links to the nomination forms for the 2021 PSD Educators of the Year. This is an open nomination system. You may nominate in any or all of these four categories. The deadline for submitting nominations is August 31, 2021. 

Process:
April - August 31: Nomination period
September: Educator of the Year committees meet to determine finalists in each of the four categories
September/October: Evaluations/interviews completed regarding the finalists
Late October/Early November: Committees select winners
Sunday, November 21: Honorees are recognized at LEC

Nomination Forms:
 
Thank you for your participation in honoring our outstanding educators in the PSD!
Free Legal Workshop - Register by Tomorrow!
Registration for this Friday's “The Equality Act and the Expansion of Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity (SOGI) Laws” Legal Workshop will close tomorrow, Thursday, April 22, at noon.  Click here to register if you haven’t already. An email will be sent to all registered attendees with the information to access the Zoom workshop. Please don’t miss this important opportunity!
EC Equipping Conference Recap
We had a wonderful day of praise and fellowship at our annual PSD Early Childhood Equipping Conference this past Saturday. We were blessed to have Jennie Williamson of Arison Records as our featured presenter. A big thank you to Salem, Orange, CA; Christ Greenfield, Gilbert, AZ; and Mountain View, Las Vegas, NV, for hosting. God is great!
PSD Accreditation
Thank you to all of our schools who have completed their annual reports. We appreciate your focus on continued excellence in education! Our annual meeting of PSD Accreditation Commissioners is on May 3 at the District Office. At this meeting we will review the PSD schools who had self-study visits this year for confirmation and recommendation of continuing accreditation to the NLSA Commission. We will also work on providing support for the nearly 30 visits scheduled for the 2021-22 school year. 

We thank God for our district commissioners and the work they do on behalf and in support of our accredited schools! 

ECE Commissioners – Emily Martinez, St. John’s, Orange; Jaci Gloss, Christ Greenfield, Gilbert; Kristie Flohra, Christ, Costa Mesa; Maggie Payne, Emeritus; Mary Wolfinbarger, Abiding Savior, Lake Forest; Sheryl Grobelch, Light of Christ, Irvine. 

K-12 Commissioners – Ben Elliott, Grace, Escondido; Carol Smallwood, Prince of Peace, Anaheim; Dan Moyer, Crean Lutheran, Irvine; Elinor Courvoisier, Emeritus; Kris Schneider, Mountain View, Las Vegas; Marci Nuoffer, Faith Middle School & High School, Las Vegas; Mike Grasz, Orange Lutheran, Orange; Leah Tornow, Christ, Costa Mesa. 
Hearts for Jesus
We are still collecting contributions for LeadaChild, our PSD Hearts for Jesus unified mission project for this school year. Thank you so much to all schools who have contributed so far! To date, $9,520.24 has been contributed toward our district goal of $35,000. This includes a generous offering that was taken at Saturday’s ECE Equipping Conferences that will be directed to the “Teachers Helping Teachers” contribution. If you were not able to contribute at the Equipping Conferences this weekend, you can send your contribution payable to the Pacific Southwest District attn: School Ministries. Please put Hearts for Jesus on the memo line. Thank you for your continued generous support!
Important Call/Retirement Information
Call season is in full swing in the PSD!
 
The following are reminders that help the district office keep track of educator changes, especially called workers. We appreciate knowing the changes of all workers, but especially if workers are on the LCMS roster of commissioned ministers.
 
  • Please advise when a call to your school is accepted so we can prepare installation authorization paperwork and the needed paperwork is processed for the worker.
 
  • Please advise the district office of called workers who are leaving your staff. If a called worker is retiring, please advise the effective date and if special recognition is planned. Lutheran educator retirements are a special event. 
 
LCMS Youth Gathering Update
The 2022 National Youth Gathering registration fee is set as $395 per youth. This fee does not include hotel, travel, and meal costs. Registration will open in October 2021.
 
For information regarding registrations, the Gathering's COVID response, and more please visit lcmsgathering.com/faq.
 
We know this is a very different season of life and ministry. If the District can be of any help as you plan for your youth to attend the Gathering (or if you have any prayer requests), please contact the PSD District Coordinator, Laura Bredehoft at lbredehoft@stpaulspb.com.
Equipped 2021 Jr. High Camp
The theme for this year’s PSD Junior High Camp is Equipped. At camp this year, we will explore and respond to God’s Word by feeling fully, thinking critically, and doing justly. Jesus is far and away our best example of this: he felt with his heart when he had compassion; he reasoned with his head when he confronted evil, apathy, and pride; he used his hands to heal people and extend mercy to them.
 
JH Camp will be held May 27-30 at Tonto Rim Christian Camp in Payson, AZ. Registration information is available at psd-youthandfamily.org/camp. Our goal at JH Camp is for all of us to be much more equipped to feel, think, and do like Jesus did. We’ll do this through lots of experiential learning, meaningful messages, and intentional processing of ideas with peers and adult leaders. For more information, please contact DCE Dave Minster at dminster@gctempe.org. 
A Resource from Dr. Tim Elmore
Click here to read The Importance of Laughter for Your Student's Stress Management by Dr. Tim Elmore.
Prayer Requests
  • A prayer request from Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Simi Valley, CA: Prayers of thanksgiving for receiving a waiver for in-person learning. Prayers of thanksgiving for our teachers and staff who have dedicated themselves to being on campus and working virtually with students and parents. And prayers of thanksgiving for increased enrollment which provided increased opportunities for witnessing to new families. 
  • Join us in praying for congregations, high schools, elementary schools, and early childhood centers searching for administrators, directors, teachers, and staff for the 2021-22 school year.

Schools we are praying for the week of April 25:
 Zion Lutheran School and Early Childhood Education Center, Anaheim, CA Concordia Christian Preschool, Barstow, CA
Creation School, Vail, AZ 

Each week, prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for teachers, administrators, support staff, pastors, students, and families of the Lutheran schools, early childhood centers, and churches of the Pacific Southwest District are listed. To include names on the list, please send information to anna.preus@psd-lcms.org by noon on Tuesday of each week.
School Ministries, Pacific Southwest District-LCMS
1540 Concordia Drive East, Irvine, CA 92612
Phone 949-854-3232 | Fax 949-854-8140

Rachel Klitzing, Executive Director of School Ministries