In Our Prayers: We are praying for our St. Peter boards, committees and organizations. Next week we will be praying for the St. Peter Lutheran Church Ushers.

Devotion of the Week: We will be entering into the season of Lent this Wednesday as it will be Ash Wednesday. During the holy Lenten season, we remember all that our Lord has done for us and especially consider His humanity-His real body, with real body parts that perform all the real functions of a human body. He lived in the same sinful world that we live in with flesh just like ours, though unspoiled by sin. He paid the penalty of our sins so that we can have the forgiveness of sins and life eternal with Him forever. We confess this Lent that Jesus, with His body, "has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death" (Luther's explanation of the Second Article of the Apostle's Creed). May God bless our Lenten journey as we focus on our crucified, resurrected and returning Savior, Jesus Christ our Cornerstone.

Lutheran Heritage Foundation: Our chapel offerings are going to support Lutheran Heritage Foundation in providing children in Indonesia with books that tell about Jesus. Indonesia is an amazing land of more than 268 million people. With our mission offerings, we can tell kids in Indonesia, "Come and see Jesus!" Thanks for encouraging your children to bring a chapel offering and to continue to fill their chapel offering baggies!

Ash Wednesday Service: This Wednesday, February 17 at 6:30pm, we will have our Ash Wednesday service with Holy Communion. Please note that there will not be a Thursday night service this upcoming week. The rest of the Lenten services will be on Thursdays at 6:30pm and these services will be different from our Sunday services. This year's Lenten theme is Return to the Lord.

Continuous Enrollment: Continuous enrollment means that once a student is enrolled at St. Peter, enrollment automatically renews each year until your child graduates from St. Peter. Re-enrollment is assumed unless your family notifies the school by March 12 that you choose not to re-enroll. This process is extremely beneficial to our school with staffing, planning, and budgeting. A letter detailing this will be sent home with all students today or you may click here to access the letter. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Eric Hagenow.

Glowing First Graders: First grade was "glowing" this week as they wrapped up their science unit on light and sound with a glow-in-the-dark party. 

Sitting in the sun in the hill country of Texas, I can't help but write my story for St. Peter Lutheran School. Each year we hope to see the migration of robins from south to north. It usually is a narrow band of migration only a couple miles wide, and we have seen it a couple years only. This year because of climate change or whatever, many have chosen to stay the winter. Each day we have seen thousands of robins flying aimlessly around. We also have huge wintering flocks of Western meadowlarks in our neighborhood and the usual pairs of mockingbirds, cardinals, Eastern bluebirds and the ore common birds. A real treat is in March when the sandhill cranes fly over by the hundreds on their way north.

The story, however, is where did my love of birds come from? We had a principal/teacher who taught me in grades 6-8 named Mr. Loesel. He required us to do a bird book (I think it was in eighth grade), and it was a big project taking weeks to put together. I still remember mine had a cardinal on the cover which was made of wood to impress my teacher. He used to take us on recess field trips to identify birds and also to a bird museum in Freeland. Many of his former students still remember those projects. It obviously left an impression on me (as I'm watching a titmouse in my bird bath).

Mr. Loesel, as I believe all our teachers at St. Peter have, believed in educating the whole student, mind, body and spirit. We have done a great job of turning out Christians ready to be examples to the rest of the world. But we also have turned out students ready to go on to be teammates, debaters, work collaborators or whatever our adult environment requires.

Thank you, Mr. Loesel, for birds, art, dancing, softball, singing and all the extra stuff that turns students into well rounded individuals. Thank you Mrs. Klemish and Mrs. Lyvere for those wonderful homemade buns at hot lunch. -Story submitted by Mr. Mike Wardin, Class of 1967.

We are always looking for additional stories to share. Please click here to send us your story to be published in the Panther Press.

No School: There is no school on Monday, February15. Child Care is available. Children that will be here through the lunch hour will need to bring a lunch from home. The cost is $20/child half day (five hours or less) or $35/child for all day (more than five hours).

No Bussing Days: If you utilize Hemlock Public Schools bussing, these are days that Hemlock will be virtual and there will be no bussing:

Spirit Day: The 7th-8th Grade Spirit Day is next Friday, February 19th. The students chose Jersey Day for the day’s theme. Their special lunch will include popcorn chicken bowl, fresh cucumbers, mandarin oranges, and Brookies.

Congratulations Brenner Family: Mrs. Brenner, Brooklyn's mom, had a baby girl last Friday, Everly Marie. We pray God's blessings on her and the Brenner family.

Thank you: Thank you to Mrs. Julie Ryan for the donation of dry erase markers for our teachers to use on their white boards.

Preschool Open House: Our Preschool Open House will take place on Monday, March 1 from 6:00-7:30pm by appointment only. Any parents interested in our preschool, should sign up at the link below. Returning preschool students to St. Peter do not have to attend the open house and will receive the packet of information the week before.

Sunday Morning at 9:30am and

Thursday Evenings at 6:30pm

Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6:30pm