Greetings

Have you heard a friend say they are “working out”? This phrase is all the rage and when you think about it is the phrase is a serious misnomer. There is no work involved -- it is exercise. I’m not a huge exercise fan but I understand why it is important. But it is not work. Work is shoveling the snow, raking the leaves, building a deck, spending eight hours on an assembly line and stuff like that. Some of the work you get paid for, some of the work is just done to because it needs to be done, BY YOU!

I’m all for exercise. It is right that we should take care of our bodies. But exercise is a solitary thing. The result of exercise is a lower percentage of body fat, lower blood pressure and maybe a lower body weight. The result of work is that your neighbors can walk their dogs on a dry sidewalk. A family has a working heating system in their home. A new car gets better gas mileage things like that.
There are Christian alternatives to the exercise/work discussion. Each of us needs individual exercise, Bible Study, regular worship and constant prayer. But the rubber hits the road when we work to put our individual faith to work. When we work at extending the Kingdom people get fed, healing takes place, and people hear the message of salvation.

The workout schedule that a Christian needs to follow includes personal growth but it must also include the work we do to bring Christ to the nations. Work that is more effective when it is done by a community of believers…but work that must be done BY YOU!

So suit up and get after your workout.

School News

We are into the first week of our annual giving drive. When you make out your stewardship budget for the end of 2007 think about how you can impact the daily lives of the people walking the halls at Walther:

A gift of $30 dollars can buy 10 gallons of gas, which can take our girls Basketball team to Bloomington, Illinois, home of the IHSA State Championship Tournament.
A gift of $160 can purchase a new flat screen computer monitor.
A gift of $305 will give each of our employees at the High School and the Academy a $5 Christmas present.
A gift of $1,995 will provide our students with access to the MAS Online computer data base that will search over 500 different newspapers and journals.
You really can make a difference at Walther during this time of the year we all think of the gifts that have been given to us.

The blessings that your gifts provide include the resources that help to keep Walther a quality academic environment. Last week we told you that 25 of our seniors have qualified as Illinois State Scholars!!! Congratulations to those students on this accomplishment. The honored seniors are Mitch Berg, Julia Bjorklund, Cara Caliendo, K.C. Carter, Megan Childs, Katlyn Dean, Jenna Duff, Lydia Gallup, Jalisa Hinkle, Will Jenkins, Karla Keller, Jasmyne McDonald, Whitley Muskwe, Martina Powell, Trinidad Rodriguez, Giancarlo Segreti, Ashley Simon, Emily Simpson, Cassie Slechta, Caitlin Smith, Christiana Spink, Jamie Washington, Robert Watson, Korey Williams, and Shanelle Wright. [Be sure and read on through the Alumni News section for a funny story about Walther’s past Illinois State Scholars.]

Walther’s new Director of Curriculum Jim Craven is a veteran of 32 years of teaching, 22 of those years at Lutheran High Schools. He has begun to establish learning communities that facilitate our teachers in exploring ways to make Walther’s academic program a nationwide example of excellence. The focus of the first meeting of the first group was not the homemade spaghetti but defining and establishing the climate and culture most conducive to success for our students.

The National Safety Council selected Walther as a site for taping of a new educational DVD on the prevention of blood borne and airborne pathogens. Cool, huh? Thanks to Mrs. Ruth Nichols, a Walther parent who served as the hostess for the film crew.
We are now able to announce that the 3rd annual Walk-a-Thon for Phil’s Friends, a Christian cancer support foundation, will be held at Walther on Sunday, May 4, 2008. We will share more information as the date approaches.

And more in the good news announcement arena…the 2008 Karen’s Outing to raise monies to support Walther scholarships will again be held at the beautiful Royal Fox Country Club in St. Charles. We are finalizing the date and will keep you up to date. Thanks to the Weiss family for their wonderful support of our only annual scholarship fundraiser.

On the athletic front, a group of Walther administrators attended at meeting of the Mid Suburban Conference this week. While our commitment to remaining members of a Christian conference is strong, the Mid Suburban prospect is an encouraging sign that our athletes and coaches are held in high regard within our geographical area. The principals and athletic directors made the Walther contingent feel most welcome.
A meeting of Private School League principals and athletic directors will be held soon to discuss the talks between the Suburban Catholic conference and three of our PSL conference members and determine the options for affiliations that will serve the best interest of students and their families.

Here is a way you can help all kids enrolled in Christian Schools in Illinois. Thanks to Reed Sander, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s Northern Illinois District Executive for Education, for this note…

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT: Let’s have this phone ring off the hook. Get this information to your parents and everyone in the congregation willing to help. How does $32 a student to pay for health and safety measures in school sound? That is what is at stake! If the Governor signs the recently passed SB 783, which opens the School Safety Block Grant to nonpublic schools,each of our schools will receive roughly $32 a student annually to pay for health and safety measures -- this could include the costs of background checks, school nurses, fire safety equipment, etc. Please CALL, SENDTHE ATTACHED LETTER or USE THE LINK BELOW to express your concern to the Governor's office. Identify yourself and the school you are from and ask him to "sign Senate Bill 783 so that nonpublic schools can receive reimbursement for mandated health and safety measures. The health and safety of our children are as important as any!"

The Governor's office numbers are:
217-782-0244 in Springfield
312-814-2121 in Chicago
http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm

Alumni News

The world is an astounding techno place when communication is nearly instantaneous! Last week we told you about Dr. Mike Dannenberg ’83 being on an army base in Kuwait. Not more than 30 minutes after I received my copy of eNews & Notes, I received this note from George Mucher a ’85 grad:

Speaking of the Middle East, Richard Duzinkius ’03 will be home for Christmas and home for the annual Walther Christmas Concert TONIGHT -- Friday December 7! Richard is scheduled for a medical review of his war related injuries and is facing the likelihood of being permanently disabled by virtue of his interaction with an IED in Iraq. Richard is in good spirits and says he would enlist again, but now wants to become a high school Social Studies teacher.

On a happier note, we have grads going to the Rose Bowl. Bo Flowers “02 will go as a member of the University of Illinois football team. Dale Durfey ’67 will be in the Illini cheering section. Anyone else bowling this New Year’s season? Drop us a line and let us know.

Lt. Colonel Paul Grotelueschen, currently stationed in Alaska, keeps in touch with old buddies in Europe. The word is on the street that a team in Holland needs a starting pitcher. Who wants to go?

On the entertainment front, I had occasion to talk with Pastor Bruce Modahl of Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest. When I asked about his daughter Rachel, a 2002 Walther graduate, this is part of the response I got…

She is in LA. Liz Schroeder ’02 is there as well and slept on Rachel’s couch for a while until finding her own place. Rachel works as an assistant editor for Top Chef and Project Runway, two reality shows on the Bravo channel.

Liz is also looking for work “in the industry”.

Finally, in last week’s eNews & Notes, I mentioned that 25 of our seniors who have been designated Illinois State Scholars (we’ve named them for you this week in the School News section above). That note elicited this response…

God’s blessings

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