Please join us in praying and thanking God for the following schools this week:

Zion Lutheran School & Early Childhood Education Center, Anaheim, CA

Concordia Christian Preschool, Barstow, CA

Christ Lutheran Creation School, Vail, AZ

Below are photos from Zion Lutheran School & Early Childhood Education Center, Anaheim, CA:

Outdoor fun

PreK and TK field trip to Pretend City

Two year olds exploring frozen blueberries

Kindergarten Field Trip to Mrs. Justice's Family Farm

Bollywood Dancer assembly during NLSW (promoting Mission India)

K-8 Teacher/Staff Parade

Below are photos from Christ Lutheran Creation School, Vail, AZ:

A study of the Sonoran Desert

A message from the Creation School teachers

A special moment between chicken and friends

Our May devotion is now up on our website. It is written by Pastor Jim Gwaltney from Light of Christ Lutheran Church, Irvine, CA , and titled An Imaginary Friend . You can read it here . Thank you, Pastor Gwaltney, for reminding us that Jesus brings us comfort and we can rely on Him.

Our Hearts for Jesus goal is to provide the funds for 1,500 children to attend Children’s Bible Clubs. To date, we will be able to support 615 children with the contributions received. Thank you to all who have supported this mission! It’s not too late to begin participating in the HEARTS FOR JESUS: Mission India project--even remotely! This is a great opportunity to help send children in India to Children's Bible Clubs!

Through the work of Mission India, children in India will get to hear the Gospel (many for the first time!) and share what they learn with their families. The ripple effect? Entire villages and communities hearing about Jesus and His saving grace.

There are still millions more children in India who haven't heard the opportunity to hear about Jesus. There's still time to help us reach them with the Gospel!  The cost for a student to attend the Children’s Bible Clubs is $24 for an entire year!

Here’s the link to all the information you need:  http://missionindia.org/hearts . The site is password protected because of the sensitive nature of sharing Jesus in India and persecution of Christians, which is on the rise.



 If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Klitzing at [email protected] or Ellen Pratt at [email protected] . Thank you for getting involved!

Please take some time to go through all of the resources that we have collected on the PSD COVID-19 website: psd-lcms.org/coronavirus . We are frequently updating this page with new and additional information, including details specifically for schools, so please check back often.

Secretary DeVos Launches New Grant Competition to Spark Student-Centered, Agile Learning Opportunities to Support Recovery from National Emergency

On Monday, the Secretary of Education announced a NEW K12 grant application release. You can read the press release  HERE .

 

Congress set aside 1% of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund through the CARES Act for grants to states with the highest coronavirus burden. The Department will make these grants available to states most affected by coronavirus through two separate grant competitions. The  Education Stabilization Fund-Rethink K12 Education Models Grants  (ESF-REM Grants) provide support to state educational agencies (SEAs) in states with the highest coronavirus burden to address specific educational needs of students, their parents, and teachers in public and non-public elementary and secondary schools in accordance with section 18001(a)(3) of the CARES Act.

 

Some additional documents for your review:

1)  Link to State application for the K12 Grant --- see multiple references to non-public schools and  equitable services , although no mention of tuition or scholarships.   https://oese.ed.gov/files/2020/04/ESF-REM-Notice-Inviting-Applications.pdf

Purpose of Program: The purpose of the ESF-REM Grants program is to provide support through discretionary grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) (as defined in this notice) in states with the highest coronavirus burden (as defined in this notice) to address specific educational needs of students, their parents, and teachers in public and  non-public  elementary and secondary schools in accordance with section 18001(a)(3) of the CARES Act.

 

NOTE: An applicant addressing any one of absolute priorities must  ensure equitable access  (as defined in this notice) for non-public school students.

 

 2) Link to State Tables --- each state is assigned a percentile --- 81-100% gets 20 points added to application, 61-80% gets 16 points added, etc..... this is not JUST based on coronavirus medical statistics but also poverty and access to broadband. Your state might be higher than you would anticipate.

https://oese.ed.gov/files/2020/04/ESF-REM-Coronavirus-Burden-Table.pdf

From Sally Lloyd-Jones… a poem and resource for fearful children.

From Betsy DeVos… Teach New Material Amid Coronavirus Turmoil (Andres Ujifusa in Education Week ).

A webinar with some good info on strategies for teachers who are feeling stressed as well as ways to help families who are showing signs of stress.

 

Stress management tips from the CDC

An article on supporting children's emotional well being during this time 

California's Roadmap to Modify the Stay-at-Home Order



Opening Up America Again Presentation and Press Release

During this crisis, one of the unforeseen blessings that emerged was the ease by which our PSD schools partnering with Bible REPLAY were able to instantly keep their 3rd-5th grade students in God’s Word at home in an exciting format. As LeAnna Christopher (Christ, La Mesa) shared, “In this transition, it was seriously SO MUCH help knowing that I didn’t even have to plan for the “God’s Word” part of my curriculum as our Bible REPLAY program was already done, ready, excellent, and is now going to bless the whole family of each of my students."

As a result, Dean-o and his team worked tirelessly to transform the online component into a national FREE TRIAL, so that every school could not only bless their families but also take a peek at the program for utilization in 2020-21. Over 1,000 families registered their students at home, and inquiring teachers and administrators are using the live “CHAT” feature on the site to instantly ask questions and explore the program.

With an uncertain future and the obvious need for both classroom and distance learning ahead, the PSD highly recommends that your school visit https://www.biblereplaycurriculum.com/product/free-trial/ to take advantage of this offer, which will be extended through the end of the school year. See why our current partner schools LOVE to augment our Biblical foundational Lutheran teaching with Bible REPLAY Curriculum!

We are very excited for our All Workers Conference (AWC) November 2020. The planning and hard work has already begun. We will be honoring Jubilarians at the AWC. Jubilarians are those educators on your staff who have completed 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 or 50 years of service at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. 

 

New this year… You will be submitting Jubilarian information using Google Forms. If you are an administrator, please identify those on your staff that will be a Jubilarian. Please click here to fill out the form. Submissions are due June 15, 2020.

God’s continued blessings on your ministry!

Lisa Rogers

Call season is underway 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.

 

Commissioned Ministers -- This is a great opportunity, while spending so much time at home, to spend a few minutes updating your Commissioned Minister Information Form (CMIF) on the Church Worker Update website.  Please review your forms to be sure all of your information is accurate to your current call. Complete all of the Ministry/Philosophy questions, provide three references, double check that you have start and end dates on all previous employment listings, and review any previously answered Ministry/Philosophy questions for possible updates. We appreciate your attention to this important request to annually keep and maintain accurate and professional records. 

With the cancellation of the face-to-face version of The Summit, PSD Youth and Family Ministry wanted to provide an online alternative. Like much of church ministry these days, the mission moves forward while the method of bringing the gospel has had to adapt. ​

The speakers, Matt & Angela Wingert, along with the band leader, Joël Held and his sons, joined us for a special video version of The Summit. Groups can use this together or share the video for use in the home. In either format, a good point for discussion might be how we can "Shine" the light of Christ in our neighborhoods during this unique time. ​

We hope that this helps offer some encouragement to the pre-teens in your church or school and that we will see many of them next year when The Summit returns.

The video can be accessed below or at  www.psd-youthandfamily.org/the-summit.

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 [email protected] by noon on Wednesday of each week. This week we pray for:

Schools we are praying for the week of May 3 :

Word of Life Christian Preschool, Surprise, AZ

North Valley Christian Academy and Preschool, Phoenix, AZ

St. Mark Christian Preschool, Phoenix, AZ