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.

Dr. Carl Schalk, noted Lutheran composer, author, and lecturer, gave a lecture in the Wittenberg Auditorium before the MLC Christmas concert December 3. In honor of the Reformation anniversary, Schalk presented “Luther on Music After 500 Years: Paradigms of Praise Revisited.”

Dr. Schalk taught church music at Concordia-River Forest (now Concordia University Chicago, or CUC) from 1965 to 2004, guiding the development of the university’s Master of Church Music degree program and helping establish the Center for Church Music, which holds many manuscripts of 20th-century composers of Lutheran church music.

He is well known for his own numerous choral compositions, several books, and more than 100 hymn tunes and carols published in Christian hymnals. The MLC choirs sang three Schalk compositions as part of their Christmas concert program that weekend.

• “Where Shepherds Lately Knelt” (text: Jaroslav Vajda)
• “There Is No Rose of Such Virtue” (text: anonymous)
• “Before the Marvel of This Night” (text: Jaroslav Vajda)

Dr. Schalk has had a major influence on WELS worship in many ways. The director of the WELS Commission on Worship, Bryan Gerlach WLS ’83, studied with him while earning his master’s degree in church music at Concordia, and seven MLC music professors can claim the same honor: Professors David Bauer DMLC ’78, Grace Hennig DMLC ’88, Edward Meyer (emeritus) DMLC ’58, Kermit Moldenhauer DMLC ’71, John Nolte (emeritus) DMLC ’68, Joyce Schubkegel (emeritus), and Ronald Shilling (emeritus) DMLC ’64.

Professor Joyce Schubkegel taught with Schalk at Concordia, and Professors Hennig and Moldenhauer were Dr. Schalk’s advisees.

Professor Hennig, who arranged the talk, spoke about the centrality of Christ in Schalk’s music and ministry: “At the heart of everything Dr. Schalk teaches about Lutheran worship is the phrase Viva vox evangelii—the living voice of the gospel. For Luther, this is the message that must be beautifully proclaimed and beautifully received.”

Hennig mused that perhaps a young MLC student in the audience would have heard Dr. Schalk for the first time that day and then been motivated “to take up the torch, and do the digging and thinking and asking about Martin Luther and music.”

MLC music professors were proud to host the renowned Dr. Carl Schalk for a lecture before their Christmas concert December 3. From left: Professor Craig Hirschmann DMLC ’84, Professor Adrian Smith ’03, Dr. Schalk, Instructor Erin Meissner, Professor Grace Hennig DMLC ’88, Dr. Wayne Wagner DMLC ’72, and Dr. Kermit Moldenhauer DMLC ’71.

11th Annual Thalassa Prize: Martin Luther College has now begun accepting submissions for the 11th annual Thalassa Prize. This $1000 award is given to the best photo-and-essay submission from an MLC student or graduate who has served in an international ministry.

More than 100 entries have been submitted during the last decade, with the Thalassa Prize awarded to these ten: Kristina Wessel, Dominican Republic (2007); Rachel Kionka, Malawi (2008); Rachel Meyer, Southeast Asia (2009); Gretchen Schmiege, Southeast Asia (2010); Amber Schlomer, Southeast Asia (2011); Paul Kelm, Czech Republic (2012); Maria Reese, Malawi (2013); Chris Pluger, Zambia (2014); Sara Schmeling, Russia (2015); and Johannah Crass, Antigua (2016).

Might you be the winner for 2017?

Submission guidelines: mlc-wels.edu/thalassa
Deadline: April 30, 2017

See all the winning entries plus additional photos in the special anniversary publication, Martin Luther College Thalassa Prize 2007-2016, at mlc-wels.edu/go/thalassa-10.

The MLC Ladies’ Auxiliary held their annual fall meeting October 15. This year they pledged more than $30,000 for two dozen projects—in addition to their standing projects:
MLC scholarships, Daylight USA, and the MLC library.

To learn more about this active organization, visit mlc-wels.edu/ladies-auxiliary.