Pacific Southwest District School Ministries E-Connect "...speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." -Ephesians 4:15-16 December 17, 2014 E-CONNECT TO GO ON CHRISTMAS VACATION This is the last issue of E-Connect for 2014. We will not send EConnect on December 24th or 31st. It will resume in 2015 on Wednesday, January 7th. Have a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! PRESIDENT STOTERAU'S ADVENT DEVOTION Click here to read PSD President Stoterau's 2014 Advent devotion. Contact Us 1540 Concordia Drive E. Irvine, CA 92612 Website: www.pswcic.org Phone 949-854-3232 Fax 949-854-8140 "Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'" -Jeremiah 31:10 ESV PSD 2014 EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR Rachel Klitzing Executive Director of School Ministries ext. 223 [email protected] Kim Violette Administrative Assistant ext. 226 [email protected] Ellen Pratt Staff Assistant, part-time ext. 224 [email protected] Tyler Fewins Congratulations to the four PSD Educators of the Year for 2014! They were honored at LEC last month. Pictured, from left to right, are: Randy Einem, St. John's Lutheran School, Orange, CA Administrator of the Year Janell Cox, Christ's Greenfield Lutheran Preschool, Gilbert, AZ Early Childhood Educator of the Year Jenny Miklos, Orange Lutheran High School, Orange, CA Raving Fans Coordinator for Marketing, Branding and Sustainability ext. 216 [email protected] Anna Preus Staff Assistant, part-time [email protected] Lynne Rose High School Educator of the Year Yvette Stuewe, St. John's Lutheran School, Orange, CA Elementary Educator of the Year PRINCIPALS OF LARGE SCHOOLS CONFERENCE--REGISTER TODAY! Early Childhood Consultant, part-time (949) 433-2042 [email protected] Quick Links PSD School Ministries Pacific Southwest District LCMS Many thanks to those administrators who have already registered for the POLS (Principals of Large Schools) Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. We are certainly looking forward to welcoming and hosting you for an outstanding conference and time of professional growth and networking with other administrators from around the country! Register today for the POLS conference Wednesday-Friday, January 14-16, 2015, at Christ Lutheran, Phoenix, AZ. All administrators in the PSD are welcome and encouraged to attend regardless of school size. Please note that hotel registration is limited. If you are planning on attending, you must book your hotel room by December 21st. The city of Phoenix has several large events happening in January and February so hotels are anticipating sell outs. We have secured a great rate for the conference, but once December 22nd has arrived, that rate will be gone. All details can be found on the POLS registration website. Don't wait - register today! HEARTS FOR JESUS NEWS Pastor Hi and the children who will attend the Garuna Christian School that your Hearts for Jesus offerings will build are eagerly awaiting the day their school will open. This school will be located in Kampong Chnnang Province in Cambodia and is the 4th Garuna Christian School in this region. They have been praying for a school for several years and now, with your help, their prayers are becoming a reality. Thanks so much for your support! AZ EARLY CHILDHOOD EQUIPPING CONFERENCE REGISTRATION The Arizona Early Childhood Equipping Conference registration information is here! It will be held on Saturday, January 31st, at Shepherd of the Desert's Mountain View campus in Scottsdale! The theme for the conference is "TRAIN UP A CHILD" and our keynote speaker is Bonnie Bruce, founder and director of Chancy and Bruce Educational Services. Join us for a day filled with insights into the 'Pathways to Learning', curriculum development and developmentally-appropriate, hands-on learning activities. The registration deadline is January 15th! Click here to register! Preschools in Nevada are welcome to join either this AZ conference or the one below in CA--or both! SAVE THE DATE: CA EARLY CHILDHOOD EQUIPPING CONFERENCE The California Early Childhood Equipping Conference date has been changed due to a scheduling conflict. The NEW date is Saturday, March 14, 2015. The location remains St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School in Orange, California. Watch for registration information in mid-January! ADVENT VIDEO FROM CPH Advent is a time of waiting, hope, and anticipation. We pray that this video will help your students understand the meaning of Advent as they celebrate Jesus' birth--and look forward to a second advent, when Jesus comes again. May you have a blessed Advent as you wait for Him. DISTRICT ART GALLERY Thank you to Principal Bonnie Sanchez, teachers and students at Pilgrim Lutheran School in Chula Vista, CA, for sharing artwork for our District Art Gallery. The festive Christmas trees on a watercolor background have been enjoyed by visitors and staff alike. Make a reservation to share artwork from you school--contact Ellen Pratt in the district office at 949-854-3232, ext. 224 or [email protected]. 2015 NATIONAL LUTHERAN SCHOOLS WEEK RESOURCES The 2015 National Lutheran Schools Week resources are posted! Go to: http://lcms.org/lutheranschoolsweek to download the manual, images, and other resources! GROUP PURCHASING FOR 2015 MICROSOFT LICENSING We are pleased to be able to once again offer you a group purchasing agreement with Microsoft that allows schools to purchase Microsoft Office products at a reduced license fee based on Full Time Equivalent employees instead of the number of students or computers. You may find this will give you a significant savings! Please click here to view the ordering information. Please note the ordering deadline this Friday, December 19th! MERCY IN ACTION TRAINING School Ministries of the Pacific Southwest District is pleased to be able to offer a Mercy In Action Training at Christ Lutheran Church and School, Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, January 22, 2015. We will be welcoming our special guest presenter Rev. Ross Johnson, director of the LCMS Disaster Response. Pastor Johnson will give a three-hour presentation about responding in times of disaster. Responding to disasters with mercy is a vital part of who we are as members of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Responding to disasters allows all involved in school and church ministry to confess Christ to their students, parents, congregation, and community in ways they may have never considered before. Together, we will address the nature of disasters and explore what our response should be to a disaster as ministry leaders within the LCMS. We will explore how Christ has shown mercy to us, and how we can show our children, their parents, our congregations, and our community the same Christ-like mercy as we have seen. The goal is to become better prepared for when a disaster strikes and know how to respond with both Word and deed within the greater community. Cost for this training will be $15 for partner schools and $25 for non-partner schools per attendee. Included in the cost of training will be the workbook "Mercy in Action: A Guide for Educators in the Midst of Disaster". Partner schools are schools that have contributed to School Services for the 2014-15 school year. We look forward to your participation in this important and informative workshop! To register your attendance, please click here to be directed to the registration website. STAYING HEALTHY WORKSHOP Kick off National Lutheran Schools Week by attending the Staying Healthy Workshop. This year's workshop, titled Staying Healthy in a Frenzied World: The Importance of Prayer, Humor and Exercise, is being held Saturday, January 24, 2015, at Christ the Cornerstone Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA, from 9am-noon. Please join Rev. Ron Rehrer, Executive Staff member of the Pacific Southwest District, as he shares insights from his new book on how to stay healthy, through a variety of avenues. You will learn:        healthy benefits of prayer prayer forms music as prayer how humor strengthens the auto-immune system why to add humor to your diet easy exercises for the lazy why teachers don't exercise and why they should The cost is $15.00 per person or $50.00 for groups of four or more. Registration is available online, through January 18, 2015. Click here for a workshop flyer with all the details. LCEF'S "JESUS LOVES YOU' CAMPAIGN The objective of the "Jesus Loves You" campaign is to share the love of Jesus with the students of our LCMS preschools and elementary schools. We know that many of our students come from families that do not know the love of Jesus and that our schools are a mission field. With that in mind, the LCEF Pacific Southwest District Office would like to offer FREE valentines to our teachers. Ordering these "Jesus Loves You" valentines is easy. Follow these steps:  Place your order no later than January 9, 2015, by emailing Gail Kanneg at [email protected].  Include in your email the following: Teacher Name; School Name; Mailing Address; Number of valentines needed Valentines will be mailed to you no later than February 6, 2015. In exchange for these FREE valentines, we ask that you share with your parents information about LCEF's Young Investors (Y.I.) Club. Information brochures will be sent with your valentine order. If you have questions about the "Jesus Loves You" campaign, please contact Gail Kanneg at [email protected] or at 949-854-3232 ext. 205. SURVEY INSTRUMENT FOR TEACHER NEEDS ASSESSMENT For California administrators: Dear Nonprofit, Private School Administrator: Title II-A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides funding for state-level professional development programs for teachers and administrators in nonprofit, private schools. The information you provide through this survey will ensure that the upcoming professional learning opportunities are responsive to actual needs, while improving skills and competencies needed to produce outstanding educational results for students. The Title II-A Professional Development survey was created in collaboration with California Department of Education (CDE) staff and the California Private School Advisory Committee (CPSAC). The survey link is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CPSAC14. Prior to completing the online survey, please consult with your instructional staff to determine their professional learning priorities. Click here to download a .pdf version of the survey that you can use as a reference when speaking to your instructional staff. In most cases, only one "needs assessment" should be submitted per school. Schools providing instruction in any grades from transitional kindergarten/kindergarten through grade 12, may submit two assessments, one representing the needs of the elementary grades instructional staff and a second representing the needs of secondary grades instructional staff. Likewise, multicampus systems may submit separate assessments representing individual campuses. Please submit the survey no later than Monday, December 22, 2014. It should take about 15 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your time. We look forward to your responses. If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected]. Paula Lovo, PhD Private School Liaison 510-574-7074 or 888-479-9544 PRAYER REQUESTS 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 Wednesday of each week. This week we pray for:    A blessed Christmas for you, your family, your students and their families. He's the reason for the season! Pat Davis, principal/director at Redeemer Lutheran School and ABC Preschool, Las Vegas, NV. Pat has been in the hospital since August. Please hold her up in your prayers. Rachel Klitzing. We pray for rest and pain relief for her dystonia and TMJ. We are all connected in Christ!