Archive for category: News & Notes

As the school year comes to a close, the following individuals conclude their service to the college:

• Professor Joyce Diels enters retirement after serving the Mathematics-Science Division of the college since 2008. She plans to move to West Bend, WI, early this summer.
• Dr. James Grunwald will retire after 19 years of service as director of academic computing at the college. He and his wife Karen will continue to make their home in New Ulm.
• Prof. Earl Heidtke will retire as a member of the History-Social Sciences Division, having served the college since 1992. Recent service also included a role as academic dean for Educational Studies. He and his wife Pam will also continue to reside in New Ulm.
• Dr. Kermit Moldenhauer is retiring after service in our Music Division since the inception of Martin Luther College in 1995. He and his wife Laura will move to rural Waupaca, WI, in the near future (see below for details).
• Dr. Kenneth “Chip” Rupnow has served as a member of our Mathematics-Science Division since 2000. He and his wife Judy will retire to North Carolina with the exact location to be determined as their search for a new home progresses.
• Mrs. Tarah Beduze has served the past year as a lead teacher at our Early Childhood Learning Center. She and her husband Jarred will move to the Wausau, WI, area where she will teach at Key of Life Christian Childcare and Community Center, Weston, WI, and Jarred will teach Spanish at Northland Lutheran High School of Kronenwetter, WI.
• Tutor Isaac Crass has served the college as a dormitory supervisor and instructor for the past two years. Isaac returns to the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary assignment committee for reassignment this week and will marry Sarah Frost later this summer.
• Mr. David Roekle has served MLC the past two years as an admissions counselor. He and his wife Hannah will move to the Downers Grove, IL, area where he was recently assigned to serve as teacher of grades 7-8 and principal apprentice at Good Shepherd Lutheran School.
• Seminarian Julius Buelow served as instructor of Hebrew this past school year. Julius, his wife Nicole, and newborn daughter Eliana return to Mequon where he will attend Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for his senior year.
• Director of Women’s Service Wendy Ristow has retired after 9 years at the college and is moving out of Augustana Hall. She will continue to reside in the New Ulm area.
• George Schimmele will retire on June 30 after 37 years in our Environmental Services department, serving as its director for most of the past 10 years. He will continue in a part time, advisory role through the end of December. George and his wife Margaret will continue to make their home in New Ulm.

A grateful campus family joins to say “thank you” for the faithful service of these valued colleagues. May God richly bless them as they move on to the next phase of their lives.

MLC’s online blog presents provocative issues in education. Read. Be inspired. Add to the discussion.

Here’s a sample of recent blogs. Read the full articles and the discussions that ensue at blogs.mlc-wels.edu.

• Lutheran Principals Can Strengthen Schools by Listening by Eric Ziel
• The Principal’s Critical Role with New School Families by Allen Labitzky
• Words Printed on a . . . Screen? by Andrea Van Sice
• Do You Value Physical Education? by Professor Dan Gawrisch
• Improving Instructional Coaching and Evaluation by Seth Fitzsimmons
• Assisting Disruptive Students in Our Classrooms by Dr. Tracey Enser
• The Benefits of Digital Badges by Angela Hanson

By Dr. James Grunwald DMLC ’76

MLC Director of Academic Computing & Online Learning

Imagine high school and middle school students being able to attend a course taught from a Christian perspective no matter where they live. With ALHS Online, students can do just that.

ALHS Online is an online course service provider that allows WELS high schools to expand their own curricular offerings in a cost-effective manner. For example, if a school has only one or two students who desire a particular course, it’s not cost effective for the school to offer that course. If several students can be pooled together from several different schools, however, the course suddenly becomes feasible. The creation, teaching, and facilitation of these courses is the purpose of ALHS Online.

Here’s how it works. The schools pay a small per-student fee. Students access a course by logging onto a website with their own username and password. The instructor breaks the course down into a series of weekly or daily lessons and provides a “lesson guide sheet” to lead the students through each lesson. A typical lesson might include reading a textbook excerpt or an online article, or viewing a recorded lecture. Students participate in written class discussions through a discussion board tool, and they submit their assignments to the instructor for grading. Although students do have deadlines for the various lesson activities, they don’t need to access the course at the same time as other students; they can log on whenever it fits their schedule.

ALHS Online began in 2011-12 with two courses the first semester and three the second. About 30 students enrolled each semester, representing eight WELS high schools. Today, enrollment is about 250 student seats spread across 24 courses each semester. Students in 2016-17 come from 21 WELS high schools, 12 Lutheran elementary schools, and several home schools and public schools.

A gracious God has truly blessed ALHS Online. Enrollment has increased by about 60% each year. Nearly 90% of WELS high schools have had students participating. A dedicated core of nearly 20 qualified WELS teachers teach the courses. Some teachers also teach in WELS schools; others are retired teachers, professors, pastors, or stay-at-home parents. And recently, ALHS Online has also begun offering high school Spanish and algebra to qualified middle school students.

Schools, parents, and students are appreciative of ALHS Online, as evidenced by comments like these:

• Please send the word of appreciation to your board of directors and online teachers who continually develop this online source of education from the Christian education perspective!
• ALHSO is a wonderful blessing to our students!
• Class was awesome!
• It was a fun class, and I learned a lot!
• I just really enjoyed this class. 10 for 10!

Although ALHS Online is an independent, tax-exempt, non-profit corporation, it does have some ties to MLC. MLC hosts and maintains the hardware and software. Many of the ALHS Online instructors completed their teaching degrees and online training through MLC. Three MLC professors (Peter Baganz DMLC ’87, Dan Fenske DMLC ’87, Tingting Schwartz), as well as several retired MLC professors, currently teach an ALHS Online course. As MLC’s director of academic computing and online learning, I am blessed to serve as superintendent for ALHS Online, overseeing its day-to-day operations.

ALHS Online is another way that MLC partners with Lutheran high schools to nurture students academically and also spiritually. When any student, from anywhere in the world, can enroll in a high-quality course taught from a Christian perspective—that is truly a blessing.

To learn more, go to ALHSO.org or contact me at grunwajr@mlc-wels.edu.