September 17, 2021
St. Peter Lutheran School Hemlock, MI
Having fun in the sun!
Upcoming Events
Sept. 18: 10:00am Sawdust Days Parade

Sept. 18: 5:00pm Service

Sept. 19: 9:30am Service: Cherub Choir (Grades 2-4) Sings

Sept. 20: 4:30pm Home Volleyball Games vs Faith

Sept. 21: 4:30pm Home Soccer Game vs Peace

Sept. 22: 8:05am Chapel: Pastor Morris

Sept. 22: 4:30pm Away Volleyball Games @ Trinity Monitor

Sept. 23: 4:30pm Away soccer Games vs Immanuel/Trinity @ Immanuel, Frankentrost

Sept. 25: 5:00pm Communion Service

Sept. 26: 9:30am Communion Service

Sept. 27: 4:30pm Home Volleyball Games vs Bethlehem

Sept. 27: 4:45pm Away Soccer Game @ St. Lorenz (note the later time)

Sept. 28: 4:30pm Away Soccer Game vs St. Paul @ SSCX
Jesus said, "I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches."
In Our Prayers: This year we will be praying for our school families. These are the families we will be praying for this upcoming week: Lowell, Lindsey and Savannah Cramer; James, Krystina, Keirstyn and Brody Curnutt and Andrew, Leslie, Roland and Declan Denman.
Devotion of the Week: Last Sunday we celebrated Christian Education in our church. It is a time to highlight the importance of Christian education and our prayerful petition that Christian education is a lifelong pursuit. The Bible reading from Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

It is not difficult for us to see that the world we live in is filled with evil, destruction, and and a total disregard for God's Word. A life without Jesus is a life of darkness, despair, and eternal damnation. But thanks be to God that we are people of hope. We are people of the resurrection. We are people that cling to the Vine who saves us from sin, death, and the devil. Through our Savior Jesus, our darkness is turned to light, our despair is turned to joy and our eternal damnation is turned into eternal life living in perfection. May God continue to strengthen our families in the one true faith as we remain rooted in God's Word, firmly connected to Christ, our True Vine. Verses 3 and 5 of LSB hymn 862 Oh, Blest the House is our prayer for our St. Peter families:

Oh, blest the parents who give heed Unto their children's foremost need
And weary not of care or cost. May none to them and heav'n be lost!

Then here will I and mine today A solemn promise make and say:
Though all the world forsake His Word, I and my house will serve the Lord!
St. Peter Lutheran Church News
Update from Special Voters Meeting: At a special Voters' meeting on Monday, September 13, our congregation voted to move forward with a Capital Campaign to secure funding donations to implement the Master Plan. We will again hire The Timothy Group to help us in this campaign (they guided us through the pre-campaign study that was completed in June and July). There will be much more information in the coming weeks. Thank you for your prayers as our congregation moves forward with this campaign. We pray that God would continue to guide and bless our efforts as we begin this campaign.
National Lutheran Schools Accreditation
Your Help Is Needed: As we continue our work in our accreditation process, we are seeking input from all of our school families, all of our students, and our faculty. A survey will be taken in school for our students and teachers, and we are asking all parents take this survey as part of our accreditation process. The survey will be available until September 30. Please click on the link below to take this 10 minute survey. Your participation is greatly appreciated!
In the Classroom
Lift High the Cross: The Kindergarten and Young 5's class made visual art (pictured below) to show what they visualized when they sang Lift High the Cross (our September Hymn of the Month). They even sounded out sounds in the title when they wrote it. 
Mega Monster Cell Dissection: The 7th-8th graders dissected a model plant cell this week which was made of spaghetti (endoplasmic reticulum), peas (chloroplasts), two layers of plastic wrap (cell membrane), egg and egg yolk (nucleus and nucleolus), grapes (mitochondria), plastic grocery bag (cell wall), gelatin (cytoplasm), and rice (ribosomes).

Constitution Day: Today is designated as Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. The first graders celebrated this day by creating a class preamble and learning about the U.S. Constitution.
Updated Guidelines
Helpful Guidelines: As we have completed four weeks of school already, we are very thankful for our successful start to our 141st school year, guided by our theme reminding us that Jesus is the true Vine! We appreciate your help in following the guidelines below when your child is sick. Keeping children home when they are sick helps us reduce the spread of communicable diseases considerably. We also have COVID guidelines that we reference when children are exposed to COVID-19 or have a positive test. Click anywhere in this article to access the updated guidance that was sent out by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. When your child is exposed to COVID-19 or tests positive, we ask that you would contact Mr. Hagenow as he works with parents and the Saginaw County Health Department to determine the next steps. We all hope and pray that we can remain healthy and safe throughout this school year, but we also know that we live in a sinful world filled with sickness and disease. Thank you for your help in keeping our students as safe as possible.
SPLASH Important Update
SPLASH Update: SPLASH is our St. Peter Lutheran After School Help for our school aged children in grades K-8. We are experiencing some staffing shortages in our child care and are required to maintain ratios by the State of Michigan. Because of this, you will no longer be able to call and request SPLASH during the school day. In addition, Mrs. Fehn needs to have your SPLASH schedule for the week by Sunday afternoon via email or Fast Direct. Thank you for working together with us in order for us to plan properly.
News & Notes
Lunch Menu for September: 20-24:
  • Monday, September 20: Homemade Sloppy Joes, baked beans and diced peaches.
  • Tuesday, September 21: Homemade spaghetti w/meat sauce, broccoli and diced pears.
  • Wednesday, September 22: Pigs in a blanket, baked beans and applesauce.
  • Thursday, September 23: Hot ham & cheese sandwich, carrots and mandarin oranges.
  • Friday, September 24: Turkey & cheese sandwich, fresh fruit, fresh carrots & cucumbers and assorted chips.
Sawdust Days Parade: This Saturday, September 18 at 10:00am, the Hemlock Sawdust Days Parade will take place. Our PTL Float committee has constructed another great float for this year's parade and our students and other family members are encouraged to walk with our float. You are encouraged to wear our school colors, red and white, or St. Peter Panthers apparel. The beginning of the parade is by the Hemlock Middle School and that is where our float will be located. If you or your child is planning to walk with the float, please be there by 9:45.

Text Messages from School: If you are a parent/guardian and are not receiving text messages from school (all parents/guardians receive at least one each week with the link to the Panther Press), please contact Mr. Eric Hagenow. You may also dial 87569 and send 'yes' in the message. This will opt you in to receive text messages if you are not receiving them.
Golf Scramble: The St. Peter Karl & Betty Mueller Memorial Golf Scramble is scheduled for this Sunday, September 19, at Valley View Farms Golf Course. Registration begins at 12:00 p.m. and there is a shot-gun start at 1:00 p.m. Dinner and prizes will immediately follow. The cost is $60/person. To sign up, please call Valley View Farms, 989-781-1248.
Alumni News: Congratulations to alumnus, Drew Bauer (St. Peter Class of 2016), who was just promoted at Culver's on Gratiot in Saginaw. His new job title is Guest Ambassador, and his promotion is due to hard work and wonderful customer service. Congratulations Drew! Keep up the great work.
Valley Lutheran High School: VLHS is inviting all 7th & 8th graders and their families to the Fall Information Night on Thursday, October 7. You will tour the school and meet school leaders. There will be small groups starting at 6:00pm with the last group starting at 7:10pm Please choose your arrival time by going to www.vlhs.com/InfoNight.
LEAP News: On four occasions in recent years, members of our area Lutheran schools education boards have participated in LEAP education board member training “LEAP-Shops” at which board “best practices” were promoted, taught, and learned. A next LEAP-Shop is scheduled for Oct. 26 at Valley Lutheran High School (beginning at 5:30 pm). Included will be various 40-minute “education boardsmanship” training sessions, and optional guided tour opportunities through the VLHS new expanded facilities.
Athletics
Volleyball Results: The girls faced St. Paul at home on Monday. The B-team was able to win their last game of the match to secure the win 2-1. The A-team had a tough time against the Wildcats and lost their match 0-3. On Wednesday, the girls headed to St. Paul in a back-to-back match-up with the Wildcats. The B-team again had a tie going into the third game and they again were able to pull out the victory, 2-1. The A-team lost their first game, but then came roaring back in the last two games, defeating the Wildcats and capturing the victory 2-1. Great job girls. Both teams are back in action this Monday at home with the B-team starting at 4:30. Go Panthers!
Soccer Game Recap: The soccer team hosted Holy Cross yesterday afternoon in our second game of the season. It was a close game throughout as Charlie Hyatt's two goals kept it close and Aiden Grunow did a great job protecting the net as goalie, but we lost a close one to the Blue Jays 2-3. The soccer team is home again this Tuesday against the Peace Panthers, trying to reclaim the Panther Cup. Go St. Peter!

Soccer Game Rescheduled: The soccer game against St. Lorenz has been rescheduled for Monday, September 27 at 4:45 at St. Lorenz. This is also the day the team will have their pictures taken by Hicks. The team will have their pictures taken right after school and will be able to get out to St. Lorenz by 4:15.
School & Sports Pictures
School Picture Day: October 5 will be our school picture day. This year Hicks Studio will be taking our pictures. Order forms are going home today with your child.

Sports Pictures: Hicks studio will be taking pictures for our our volleyball and soccer teams on Monday, September 27, at 2:50 (soccer), 3:30 (B-VB) and 3:45 (A-VB). An order form was sent home last week. Contact Mr. Eric Hagenow if you have any questions.
10th Annual St. Peter Turkey Trot (5K/10K Walk/Run)
2021 Turkey Trot: Our 10th Annual 5K/10K Walk/Run Turkey Trot is scheduled for Saturday, November 6 beginning at 9:00am. To register go to the link below. All St. Peter church and school families can receive 10% off by using the STPETERFAM code at checkout.
Contact Information & Worship Times
St. Peter Lutheran School
(989) 642-5659
2440 N. Raucholz Rd.
Hemlock, MI 48626
WORSHIP TIMES:

Sunday Morning at 9:30am and
Saturday Evenings at 5:00pm
Bible Study on Sundays after Worship