A Prayer for Today

Throughout the day, may I continue to pray and thank You for the kindness and mercy of Your unexplainable and unexpected ways.

Make me more aware of Your goodness and give me words to praise You for Your faithfulness and forgiveness.

As I step into the world, give me the grace to receive what You have for me and the wisdom to understand all things are in Your hands.

Anna and Jen McDaniel from Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School in Las Vegas, NV, brought Salome (LCC Comfort Dog) to our Administrators’ Leadership Conference last week, then went on to Los Angeles to be interviewed on Access Daily for their work with the Comfort Dogs. Jennifer Polluck, K-9 Comfort Dog Lois, K-9 Comfort Dog Salome, and Anna will be on Access Daily TODAY, Wednesday, July 27. So cool!

Pictured: Jennifer Polluck, Lois Comfort Dog, Kit, Zuri, Salome Comfort Dog, and Anna

Thank you to the many administrators and administrative teams who attended the PSD Administrators Leadership Conference! We were blessed with worship and daily Bible Study led by Pastor Travis Ferguson from Christ Lutheran, La Mesa, CA. Our featured presenter, Dr. Kent Schlichtemeier from Concordia University Irvine, spoke to us about servant leadership. We heard from Linda Kurtz about Hope and Care Outreach, our new Hearts for Jesus unified mission project; from Jill Dodge on caring for ourselves to prevent burn out; from Ryan Ermeling on communication and keeping in touch with parents and families; and from Rebecca Kindreich and Darcy Greene about SEEDs and keeping an eye on our students and co-workers regarding social and emotional concerns. PSD President Mike Gibson and Rachel Klitzing also provided data regarding our schools, highlights of the District Convention, and wonderful opportunities and challenges for us as leaders in the PSD.

As always, we had wonderful fellowship and networking opportunities! For those in attendance, please watch for a conference evaluation to be emailed to you soon. If you weren’t there this year, PLEASE mark your 2023 calendar for our next Administrators Leadership Conference – July 19-21, 2023! 

Attention: Administrators

The website, username and password has changed for downloading a new Commissioned Call Document. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] for the new information. If your church or school already has version 4.9.3 downloaded, you may continue to use that version at this time. This update is not changing the version which is still 4.9.3, but only the access to the website and sign-in information. Please share with anyone who prepares Commissioned Call Documents at your church or school. Thank you!

Our first Admissions Director Network meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 20^th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Pacific Southwest District Office. More details will be shared soon, but please make plans to attend now! If you are a new Admissions Director this year or if your contact information has changed from last year, please email [email protected] to be sure you are on our distribution list.

Our first School Counselor Network meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 7^th. This will be a Zoom meeting from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. We are excited to welcome Jill Dodge as our guest speaker. Jill is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been a therapist for over 40 years. She has worked in a variety of settings, including a Mental Health Clinic and Psychiatric Hospital. She has been in private practice in San Diego for the past 30 years. Jill has a heart for missionaries and church professionals, having led multiple retreats and trainings both nationally and internationally on various topics such as Forgiveness, Burnout, Anxiety, Boundaries, Prayer Therapy and Personality Disorders. If you are a new School Counselor this year or if your contact information has changed from last year, please email [email protected] to be sure you are on our distribution list.

Our first LARS (Lutheran Area Resource Specialists) meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13^th, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Pacific Southwest District Office. Dr. Cari Chittick from Concordia University Irvine will be our featured presenter. If you are a new resource teacher this year or if your contact information has changed from last year, please email [email protected] to be sure you are on our distribution list.

Are you reading any great books on leadership, education, innovation, or a great devotional book this summer? If so, please submit your book title(s) and a two-three sentence synopsis of the book to enter into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 gift card! Each book review is an entry. Email [email protected] to enter. The deadline for entry is NEXT FRIDAY, August 5. Thank you to those who have submitted already!

Thank you to those who have already nominated outstanding educators! You have just over a month left to nominate!

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 2022 Educators of the Year will be recognized at the Lutheran Educators Conference (LEC) in San Diego, CA, in November.

Below are the links to the nomination forms for the 2022 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, 2022. 

Process:

May- 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

Monday, November 21: Honorees are recognized at LEC

Nomination Forms:

Administrator

ECE Educator/Director

Elementary (K-8) Educator

Jr/Sr High School Educator      

Thank you for your participation in honoring our outstanding educators in the PSD!

• We pray for our schools that have reported for meetings this week or soon will. We pray for a great 2022-23 for all of our educators, students, and families!
• We pray a prayer of thanksgiving after a successful surgery for Chris Wend, husband of Valorie Wend, principal at Loving Savior, Chino Hills, CA. Chris is home recuperating. He’s in a lot of pain, but healing well. Please join us in praying for no infection, that the reconnection heals well, and for no complications. 
• We pray for students to enroll at LuTEC (Lutheran Technology, Education and Career High Schools) a cutting edge, technology-based, Lutheran high school network, providing an individualized and flexible education to all learners, focusing on relevant knowledge and skills for work or advanced studies in preparation for a career and life in service to their communities.

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 Tuesdays.