For David Cook '19, Concordia not only gave him wonderful memories of sharing the stage with his brother, Will '20, but also gave him a connection to meeting his future wife. While they were in college, Chloe Gille '19 introduced David and Ellissa. They have been happily married a little over two years. Ellissa is a NICU nurse at Methodist Women's Hospital.
David gives former teacher, Mr. Drew Oswald, credit for developing his love for God's Word during his junior year. To this day, he harbors a deep love of theology. Mr. Oswald was also the one who performed David's senior blessing. David made friends at Concordia with whom he is still very close. He credits Concordia for giving him a Christ-centered community lasting beyond graduation. When asked what he would say to a family considering enrolling their children at Concordia he responded, "You should absolutely send your children to Concordia. They will grow their faith, challenge themselves academically, and develop relationships that last a lifetime."
After graduating from Concordia, David attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he graduated with a Business Management degree. This was after a few changes in his major over those four years in Lincoln; "I've always struggled to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up and I continue to wrestle with that question to this day." He is working on his Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Management Information Systems degrees through UNO while working full-time as a product owner for Mutual of Omaha.
David will soon be adding the title of "Girl Dad" to his name. Ellissa is due with their first child this November. In his free time, David likes to play basketball and pickleball, lift weights, read books on theology, and spend time with friends and family. He loves to visit Concordia when he has the opportunity, encouraging the One Act team before a competition is one of those times he especially likes to come by.
David and Ellissa are both active in their church, Corum Deo, in Omaha as small group members and leaders in the three-year-old class on Sundays. He has also served at Concordia by coaching junior high basketball the past two seasons with other alumni friends. David's deepest desire is, " to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."
| | Alumni Business Directory | We will soon be adding a directory of businesses run by Concordia Alumni to our website. This is your chance to showcase your business to the Concordia community. We are often asked if we know of alumni with businesses such as plumbing, decorating, painting, woodwork, investing, accounting, and more. To have your business listed in this directory please complete the form linked below. | |
Matt Mueller '09, a current teacher at Concordia, was spotted with Greg and Jody Gesell, parents to Arianne (Gesell) Hollman '12 and Ian '14. | |
Sam Eesley '20 with Jennifer Handke, Concordia art teacher and alum parent to Pete '19 and Zachary '23, at Abide on Faith in Action day. Sam lives and works at Abide while in his senior year at UNO. He will graduate with a Communications degree. | |
Aaron Isaac '23 was spotted here at Concordia. Aaron is an MMC Contractor and part of the Steamfitters Union. | |
Mason '17 and Anna (Carrig) Paskevic '18 and Emma Latimer '17 visited during our Grand Opening to view the new spaces. | |
Michael Ersland '11 with his nephew Andrew Ersland, currently a 6th grade student at Concordia. Michael, his wife and 2 children were visiting from Ghana. | |
Julia Risko '23 with her parents, stopped by to see the newly constructed areas of the school during the Grand Opening. Her father, Joe, is on the Concordia School Board. | |
JJ Nigh '20 visited Mrs. Schwarting in her new office and located the cross he gave her from Israel. | |
Our teachers love to see former students when they visit. Pictured here is Mr. Nic Love and Rev. Staub with Calla Janke '16, Alyssum Janke '19 and Lily Janke '19. | |
Mr. Klemp was thrilled to catch up with Pavithra Galaska '22 when she visited Concordia with her aunt. | |
Hi alumni, friends, and families. My name is Trina McCollister and I started at Concordia as the Development Support Specialist over the summer. Since I am handling alumni connections, I thought I would introduce myself. I've worked in accounting for a large trading business, was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years, and before coming to Concordia I was on staff at King of Kings in children's ministry for the past 7 years. My husband, Scott, and I will be married for 23 years in December. We have five children, Aspen, Cadence, Hudson, Sawyer, and Bennett. Aspen is due with our first grandchild in April 2025 and is in management with HyVee, Cadence is a junior at UNL majoring in Advertising and Public Relations and minoring in Communication Studies, and all three boys attend Concordia. I am excited to meet you all. I love Jesus, I love my family, I love Concordia, and I love to meet new people.
Please feel free to reach out:
cell (402) 250-6670
trina.mccollister@concordiaomaha.org
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November 8 & 9
Showtime is 7:00 PM
Junior High Musical directed by Ethan '20 and Taylor (Srygley) Domsch '20
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"Love is On the Air"
Come cheer on One Act when they compete to defend their Champions title, which they have held the past 3 years in a row, on November 19 at Midland University in Fremont.
Another opportunity to see One Act will be November 23 at Central Community College in Columbus, NE, where they will defend their Conference Champions title.
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Our girls golf team qualified for State for the first time in school history!
State is held in North Platte Oct. 14-15.
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Quientan McCafferty, Teagen White and Ashley Schell, all 3 are '24 graduates | Raegan Emblad, Kyle Schneider and Nick Johannes, grad year '24 | Clay Hemphill '15 and Sarah (Holmes) Hemphill '15 with son Eli | Quientan McCafferty '24, Carter Sunde '24, Coach Ken Kulus, Nick Johannes '24, Kyle Schneider '24 and current Concordia students Jackson Shepherd and Elliotte McCafferty. | Ethan '20 and Taylor (Srygley) Domsch '20 | |
Joe '10 and Allison (Day) '19 Hawk with their daughter Skyler. | Jenny (DiGiorgio) Carlson '05 | Graduates from the Class of '24: Molly Thompson, Ashley Schell, and Jayden Olson. | |
Jared Hemphill '17 with son Bennett | Peter Handke '19, Reagan Neufind '23, Noah Jones '19 and Luke Cudly '20 | From the graduating class of '24, Morgan Prescher, Megan Sawall and Elizabeth Dennis | Zach Soliday '15, Tanner Schwarting '15, and Dakota Hendrickson '15 | |
The Homecoming game may not have ended with a Concordia win, but seeing many alumni return was a win. We counted at least 37 alumni who came to the Homecoming game. Thank you to those who stopped by the tent to check-in and say hello. To those we missed, we hope you had a great time and we'd love to see you the next time. | |
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Thrive
Deeper Roots • Wider Reach
Since 1996, Concordia Lutheran Schools of Omaha has been developing and deepening roots in the wider Omaha community, spreading the good news of God's boundless love for our students.
Please join us in the Thrive campaign as we grow Deeper Roots, and a Wider Reach throughout our school and community!
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Alumni, update us with your special news and events!
| Grandparents, parents, supporters, and others, if you would like to receive Concordia publications please share your contact info below. | |
Braden Olson '19 pictured with his mom and brother, Brock '22, is commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant serving at Camp Butler in Okinawa as a 5803 Military Police Officer. Thank you for serving our country! | Allison Wilson '20 recently graduated from UNO with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She received her white coat and has started her DPT program for physical therapy through UNMC. | Congratulations to Noah Jones '19 and Samantha (Clarkson) Jones '19 on their marriage this past summer. Many Concordia families and alumni were in attendance. Noah is an accountant working for DeBoer and Associates, while Sami is a nurse at Children's NE. | Carter Bautch '20 graduated this summer from UNL with a Bachelor's in Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations degree. He was hired on at Hudl, which is where he spent 16 months as intern while in school. | | |
Blessings to Abby Sharp '18 and Abel Rivera on their wedding that took place in June. Abby is in her second year of medical school at UNMC. Abel is a commercial pilot for Envoy, their parent company is American Airlines. | Blessings to Coleton Kanzmeier '19 and Sofia (Hess) '20 on their June 8 wedding. They bought a house in Northwest Omaha, where Coleton works remotely for Mutual of Omaha in Marketing Analytics. Sofia recently started her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Creighton University. | Congratulations to Claire (Lech) Mueller '18 and Mitchell Mueller on their May 4 wedding. The couple resides in Elkhorn. Claire is the Training and Development Manager at A Blessing of Hope Family Services, and Mitchell works at Hudl. | Madeline Hanson '21 and Taryn Hamill '21 are enjoying their senior year at UNL. Maddie was one of 20 students to be named homecoming royalty finalists, and is double majoring in Advertising/Public Relations and Journalism. She is a brand design intern at Hudl. Taryn is a university photographer at UNL. Fun fact: Not only are they great friends, but they were on homecoming court together at Concordia. | |
The Concordia website has past issues of the
Alumni Connection under the News & Updates tab:
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Concordia Lutheran Schools of Omaha
15656 Fort St.
Omaha, NE 68116
office: 402-445-4000
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Concordia Lutheran Schools of Omaha admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. | | | | |