The Good News Players

By Christina Shepard

          A school wide assembly yesterday proved entertaining for the St. John Lutheran students and staff. The Good News Players visiting from Minnesota made a stop at St. John on their road trip through Florida. The Good News Players started 20 years ago when Dr. Jeffrey Burkart, a professor at Concordia University in St. Paul, began writing Christian dramas for children. There were about 14 different plays in the theater in Minnesota for 10 years before the show began to travel. Each year, nine students are selected for the Good News Players along with their director, Dr. Burkart. Their goal is to bring people to Christ through their creative modern twists on biblical stories.

          When the Good News Players came to St. John, they acted out seven very creative and well written bible dramas. Don’t Get Burned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the first play that caught everyone’s attention. This was about the biblical characters Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s defiance against the king because they would not bow down to him. They knew God is the only One they should worship. This depiction also included wonderful singing and dancing. Follow That Star was the next play about the exciting journey of the three wise men going to visit baby Jesus. It showed the birth of Jesus with each actor playing a different role, whether they were the manger, the wise men, or even baby Jesus. The next play done was the Healing of the Ten Lepers about the time when Jesus healed ten lepers and only one came back to him to thank him. This was to show that we should be thankful to Jesus for dying on the cross for us. It also had a wonderful singing part where each leper told their story of their life after being cured. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders was the fifth play acted out. This was about the parable Jesus told to show that we, as Christians, should build our foundation on the rock (Jesus) and not on the sand (worldly things). David and Goliath was the sixth play acted out for St. John today; it was about how David, a young Israelite, beat Goliath, a giant, with something as simple as a slingshot. David beat Goliath because of his massive faith in God.  The seventh, and final, drama that was done was loved by the children of St. John, who found the donkey talking hilarious. The Good Samaritan was a drama about the story that Jesus told of the Good Samaritan who helped a dying Jew whom he found on the side of the road. This was to show that we, as Christians, should “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Each play was unique and different, and a great way to spread God's word. 

         The Good News Players are now touring all over Florida. They started in Orlando, and are going from the east coast of Florida to the west coast of Florida and finally back to Orlando, where they will fly back to their college in Minnesota. When asking what the teams favorite part of doing this, they answered collectively, “seeing the looks on the kid’s faces, spreading the gospel, and traveling.” St. John was extremely happy to have the Good News Players and everyone loved the creative show.

History's Greats Have a Party

Story by: Kathy Hossler   

              Photos by: Vanessa Baxley                 

Entering the room, what does one see? Queen Elizabeth I, Machiavelli, Mary Wollstoncraft, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Catherine the Great, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Louis XVI, de Stael, and Napoleon! These great thinkers and leaders are brought to life through the students of Kitty Janousky’s Advanced Placement European History class. The students share their character’s thoughts, defending their beliefs, and arguing against others at “a le Salon de Madame Janousky” (Mrs. Janousky’s Salon). The topics of heated debates range from government to religion to women’s rights and to the people.  However, much laughter goes around too. For instance, the digging of Tim Brigg’s character, King Louis XVI of France, who got beheaded or the well-acted arrogance of Ryan Oltz as Machiavelli.

Teacher and creator of her sixth salon held, Kitty Janousky, states, “My favorite part about these salons is the first day when we get together and everyone is in costume and excited, but also anxious to share.” Student, Jake Radford, also says of the salon, “I thought it was a very interesting way to learn about the history of Europe and the people that have made its history so rich.” Kitty Janousky’s salon was indeed a hit with the students as they got to interactively learn and better understand European history as well as some of its leading figures. To view more photos of the Salon, click here: History's Greats Have a Party



Senior Moment: Teddy Lausier

                        
Story  by Jake Radford

For Teddy, golf is a way of life, he enjoys it because of the competition and camaraderie. His hard work on the course was rewarded last season when he won the prestigious Marion County Boys Golf Player of the Year award. “After I won, I was recognized by a few people. So that was pretty cool,” said Teddy. Teddy’s coach is his father Teddy Lausier Sr. “I feel that it really has helped me become a better golfer. I trust him and trust that everything he teaches me to do is going to help me to be a more successful golfer.”

Although, this year for Teddy is one of the most important years of his entire school career.  “I hope to get a scholarship to go play golf in college. After college, I plan to have a family and, if it works out for me, to play on the PGA Tour.” If Teddy continues to work hard and study hard, we'll be sure to watch him make  these dreams a reality.

Senior Moment: Trey Poehlman

Written by Tim Briggs

          Being a St. John senior is quite a great thing and Trey Poehlman confirmed this in a recent interview I conducted with him. Trey says that it feels great to be a senior and that the feeling of being one year away from the end of high school is exciting. Trey’s been attending St. John for four and a half years now and is looking forward to graduating.

                Trey is also a great football player at St. John and he shared a memory from that experience with me and that memory was “scoring a touchdown during the game against Calvary Christian during the first game of the season.” This touchdown is special because it was the first touchdown scored by St. John this year and being a senior, it was a great moment. When asked about what his favorite class and his favorite teacher have been during his time at St. John he responded with Ms. Baxley’s Speech class last year because he learned how to speak and it developed his courage in terms of talking in front of people. His favorite teacher was former science teacher at St. John, Mr. Dexheimer, because he simply loved the way he taught. Upon graduation, Trey plans to attend college, possibly University of Florida, and hopes to pursue dentistry. We all wish Trey the best of luck along the way and are so appreciative of his contributions to St. John!

A New St. John Tradition....O' Christmas Tree

'Tis the season..... to start a new tradition.  As we know, the St. John family is big on tradition!  We have events every year, that we look forward to celebrating with students and staff.  This holiday season brought us a new tradition, thanks to a few "Saint-a's Elves."  The idea of having a campus Christmas tree was brought to us by some St. John families and they purchased the tree for the school.  Students across campus worked during two days creating blue and golden ornaments to adorn our over 10' tall tree.  Stringing popcorn for garland and adding glitter to stars and fleur de lis, put the students right into the spirit of the season. 

During study hall times, high school students joined in the courtyard to hang decorations and garland.  What a huge surprise it was for the middle school and elementary school students to open their classroom doors to go outside for lunch and catch the first glimpse of the giant school Christmas tree.  "I've been here a long time, and we've never done anything quite like this before," said sophomore Kristy Gray.  Visit the middle school courtyard to see our school Christmas tree. And with this season, another St. John tradition is born.  We can't wait to see it next year!


Please see our Christmas Tree Decorating Photos:  St. John Lutheran Campus Christmas Tree 2010

Senior Moment: Katie Revis

                                                               
                                                                 story by: Kathy Hossler

Senior, Katie Revis, has been going to St. John Lutheran for thirteen years. Katie states, “My favorite class would be speech with Mrs. Baxley because she helps me come out of my shell so that I wasn’t so quiet and she makes me feel more comfortable talking in front of people.”

Katie is the president of National Honor Society and is a member of Anchor Club. She is also a cheerleader and has cheered since her freshman year. One thing that many may not know about her is that she used to drag race when she was in elementary school.

 Katie has one brother in eighth grade who also attends St. John Lutheran. Katie says her family motivates her and supports her in everything she does. Being a senior to her feels weird since she is not used to having half-days of school. During those half-days, she attends College of Central Florida through the dual-enrollment program or goes out to eat with friends. She says that she will miss her school friends she has grown up with however, next year, she plans to go to University of South Florida and major in elementary education. Her goal is to teach either kindergarten or first grade.

Let Us Give Thanks

First graders enjoyed the food and fellowship.    Photo courtesy of Ocala Star Banner

The first through fifth grade students enjoyed an enormous Thanksgiving feast with turkey and all the trimmings, thanks to gracious parents who baked, boiled, basted, and mashed to prepare the special meal.  The students arrived to the gym, which had been transformed into banquet seating and a full buffet, wearing pilgrim hats and Indian feathers.  Preparations for the event were possible due to our older Saints students who volunteered and assisted in setting up the tables, decorating, making the pilgrim hats and Indian headpieces, and most importantly, helping the students to theirs seats with their Thanksgiving feast plates piled high.
It is a day like this we each remember all of the wonderful things we have to be thankful for this year.  We are thankful for our students, our parents and families, our teachers, and the chance to gather together each day to praise our Lord for all of these blessings.  A special thanks to all of those families who helped make the Thanksgiving Feast a delicious success!

To see the Ocala.com photo album, click the following link: St. John Thanksgiving Feast

Our Saints Photo Album is at this link:  1st - 5th grades Thanksgiving Feast

event date:  November 22, 2010