Past Senior Spotlight:
Matthew Radermacher
When and where?
-Burnsville, MN. August 8, 2003.
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When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
-When I was really little, I wanted to be an astronaut, like Buzz Lightyear.
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Best high school memories?
-The Haunted House last year.
-One time sophomore year, we all rode our bikes to the mall and then to Coldstone.
-Carrying the crucifix into the church for the spring choir concert my junior year.
-My senior class trip.
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Advice for freshmen?
-Always carry a pencil. Get involved with stuff. Even if you think you might not like it, you could surprise yourself and have a grand old time.
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What activities did you do while in high school?
-I did basketball, baseball, cross country, all the theater productions, Activities Committee, a tiny bit of robotics, and Leave it Better.
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Most memorable dorm moment?
-There was one time when the guys were all showering, and I found a squirt gun in Alieu’s room. I filled it with cold water and squirted them while they were in there. Then they dragged me in with all my clothes on.
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Any regrets?
-I mean, a few, but as Frank Sinatra said, “Too few to mention.”
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Why do you like to run?
-I don’t know, uh, ‘cause I can, and it keeps me in shape. It clears my head. And it’s faster than walking! You never know when you’re going to need to run away from something.
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If you could trade places with any one person for a day, who would it be?
-Like anyone? Maybe Abraham Lincoln, and not go to Ford’s Theater!
Food: -Steak, and I’m also a big fan of ice cream.
Hymn: - "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
High school production: - Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.
Person: -Besides Jesus, Obi Wan Kenobi.
Class: - History 10 with Lau.
Pastime: - I like to bike a lot in the summer. I like sleeping. I like not having anything to do that I’m supposed to be doing.
Favorites
Lydia Strike
Flag Football
This year is the first year of the IFFL, the Immanuel Flag Football League. There are four teams: Daniel Hein’s Black Beets, Jonah Mueller’s Blue Battlestars, Andrew Lau’s Pink Bears, and Orrin Gessner’s Grey Galacticas. The season started with the draft of the four teams. The following Friday there was a team meeting/scrimmage for the teams to figure out their strategy and practice their plays.
The games began the second Friday. Week one saw the Beets win against the Galacticas, and the Battlestars win over the Bears. The Player of the Week was Bryce Sydow, the quarterback for the Beets. His most notable statistic was six throwing TDs for a win over the Galacticas.
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In the second week of the season, the Beets maintained their undefeated status, triumphing over the Bears. The Battlestars also managed to capture a 2-0 record, narrowly coming out on top. The Offensive Player of the Week was Logan Thompson, with six receptions. The Defensive Player of the Week was Titus Radichel, with two interceptions.
The playing conditions of both games were very wet, and most players are hoping for a little drier weather in the following weeks.
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Flag football is a great way to get to know more people and just have fun. The fun continues this week, with the Beets vs the Battlestars in the first game, and the Bears vs the Galacticas playing the second game. Stay tuned for more statistics and news – the season is underway; the games are on!
October 2022
Volleyball Facts
Caleb Eichstadt
Blast from the Past:
Haiku Blues
Most have settled in
Back to the routine of school
With all the homework,
And with it comes stress
But you can't forget about
Depression, yes, that.
Although horrible,
You can fight through it, you can.
I believe in you.
Many others do,
You just may not see it through
The veil it lowers
Over your sense of
Others and relationships
That you have with them.
Just know that they are,
Though not so obvious, there.
You just don't see them.
Rebecca Durst
What is Love, Anyway?
Volleyball is one of the few team sports that was invented in the United States.
A player will jump an average of 300 times per game.
The longest volleyball game on record lasted a total of 75 hours and 30 minutes.
Basketballs were once used to play the game but their weight prevented players from keeping the ball in flight.
The first time volleyball was played in the Olympics was in 1964.
The first time colored volleyballs were allowed in tournaments was in 1998.
In the past, only the serving team could earn a point if the opposing team failed to return the ball. This changed in 1999.
Meet the Freshmen: Kenzie Koenig
My name is Kenzie Koenig. I’m from Lexington, SC. I went to Holy Trinity for grade school. I enjoy spending time with friends and family. The sports I enjoy playing are volleyball, basketball, and softball.
Audrey Arndt
Bethany Schmid
“Romeo and Juliet”- probably one of the most well-known love stories ever written. But is the story actually about love, or is it about two people focusing only on the outer appearance of one another? Now that’s a twist, but if you really think about it, is that what love is, being attracted to someone based solely on their physical appearance? I don’t think so!
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What is love? The dictionary definition of love is: “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.” Most people think of love as a feeling, one of your emotions. It is probably the most overused English word, besides “like.” Think about this sentence: “I love chocolate.” Would you really put chocolate before yourself, or die for it the way Jesus did for you? I don’t think so. Love is an action, or a series of actions, in which you put someone else before yourself, no matter what.
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The best example of true love is Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus really truly loved us, even though we were sinners. He loved us so much that in order to bring us home to Himself one day, He humbled Himself so he could save us. Just think, Jesus is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, nothing can stop Him! He set aside all of those powers for us. He was born IN A SHED! He was raised BY POOR PARENTS! He was CRUCIFIED, which is the most humiliating and public way to go! He did all of this so He could have us, a bunch of disobedient, ungrateful, disgusting sinners. Now that’s love if I ever did see it.
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John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Wow, think about that. Just let that sit with you for a moment. “His only begotten Son…” God loves all of us and wants all of us to be with Him. He sent His Son to DIE for us. That is the best definition of love for sure.
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Romeo and Juliet, a love story? I don’t think so. Jesus' life and death? That’s more like it. Love is an action, not an emotion. Pure love, the love God has for us, agape love, is true love. Don’t confuse it with “strong like,” and remember, God loves you, too.
Anonymous
Our New Collegian:
Orrin Gessner
1. I'm from Mankato, Minnesota, where I spent my high school days at Immanuel Lutheran.
2. I am currently in the Ed program.
3. Some things I like to do outside of school are fishing, going on walks, and playing basketball.
4. I am working at Menards West in the wallcovering department.
5. I am a big time MCU nerd.
Lydia Strike
Welcoming Party
Welcome to Immanuel!
Freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were at the party Friday night, September 16. There were about sixty students in all.
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Games
Since the weather was bad, we played all the lawn games inside! Bean bag toss, ladder toss, bocce ball, and nine square were all laid out in the gym for everyone to play!
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Team Games
After the mess of getting the teams sorted, the games went by, quick and easy. People knot was fun, watching as everyone held hands and twisted and turned, trying to form a circle without letting go of each other. We played mattress rolling, with one person laying on the mattress as the others on the team were below, rolling to get the mattress to move across the gym. After that, there was a name game. Two different curtains, four different groups. One person would stand on their side of the curtain. Once the curtain dropped, you had to blurt out the name of the other person. Whoever got it first, won.
Gladiator
Each class was faced with a challenge: get the flamingo and bring it back to the line without getting hit. Freshman went first. They retrieved the flamingo fairly quickly. Balls flying everywhere. Then the sophomores rescued the flamingo. The juniors, though there were not many, pulled through and got the flamingo back to base. The seniors ran through while dodging balls thrown by freshmen. While the game was fun, there were some disappointing calls from the “refs.”
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Movie
Despicable Me was the winner of the given movies and was therefore the movie played party night. Students grabbed some snacks and lay on the gym floor to watch Gru and the minions carry out evil plans. Of course, if you’ve ever seen the movie, there are plenty of laughs along the way.
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Closing
All in all, the party was fun. Next year, try and see if you can join us!
Maggie Sydow
Blast from the Past:
Notes on Noticing
There is an extremely wide variety of answers as to what people notice first about someone. According to a survey online the eyes are usually the first thing that is noticed. Hair, clothing, posture, and smile are high on the list.
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In the survey done on ILHS students, I found that 12 out of 36 (â…“ or 33.3%) girls said others’ eyes are the most prominent. Only two guys gave the answer of eyes. However, while only two girls said they noticed clothes first, 9 out of 36 (¼ or 25%) guys said that someone’s outfit was most noticeable. In second place from the ILHS girls, 8 (2/9 or 22.2%) said that a person’s smile or facial expression registers first. Similar yet different to this, 7 (19.4%) guys recognize facial features immediately.
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The attention to hair, shoes, height, and posture had a similar ratio between guys and gals. I was amazed that only one person said that they noticed teeth first. I suppose the people that said smile could have included that, but I guess you don’t have to worry if you don’t brush your teeth. Please do though! I had one young lady answer that she notices a person’s voice first, and I had two young gentlemen tell me they notice [skin] color first.
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In conclusion, I guess at our high school , if girls want to impress guys they should smile and wear clothing. (1 Peter 3:3-4, 1 Samuel 16:7, Luke 12:22-23 and Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.) Guys, if you want to impress girls, smile and have pretty eyes.
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We were blessed with an answer from our beloved Dorm Mother, Beth Sandeen. After some thought, she said that she probably notices a person’s smile first. I think this is a good reminder that we should all strive to trust in the Lord, lay our burdens on Him, and lend a smile whenever we can.
Lydia Kettner
Comfort
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” Isaiah 55: 8-9
Having plans that don’t go your way is one of the hardest things to deal with. I like being in control, and it is scary when I’m not or I feel like I am not. But in reality, I’m not in control of anything. As scary as this first sounds, it is actually a huge comfort, because although life may not go the way I plan, nothing is going to ruin God’s Plan for my life.
As Mike Donehey says in his song Control , “I've had plans, Shattered and broken, Things I have hoped in, Fall through my hands. You have plans, To redeem and restore me. You're behind and before me. Oh, help me believe God You don't need me But somehow You want me Oh, how You love me Somehow that frees me To take my hands off of my life, And the way it should go.”
Ella Bernthal
Jokes
Why don’t pirates take a shower before they walk the plank?
They just wash up on shore.
At a party, a young wife admonished her husband, “That’s the fourth time you’ve gone back for ice cream and cake. Doesn’t it embarrass you?”
“Why should it?” answered her spouse. “I keep telling them it’s for you.”
A teenager brings her new boyfriend home to meet her parents. They’re appalled by his haircut, his tattoos, his piercings.
Later, the girl’s mom says, “Dear, he doesn’t seem to be a very nice boy.”
“Oh, please, Mom!” says the daughter. “If he wasn’t nice, would he be doing 500 hours of community service?”
We used to play spin the bottle when I was a kid. A girl would spin the bottle, and if the bottle pointed to you when it stopped, the girl could either kiss you or give you a nickel. By the time I was 14, I owned my own house.”
Audrey Ardnt
who am i?
Are you smart? Athletic? Pretty? Musical? Creative? Popular? Funny? What are you good at? What do you like to do? What do you want to be? Who do you want to be?
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I thought I knew who I was, and I thought I knew what I liked to do. I guess I had never really thought about it before. Until I was being asked, labeled, questioned, with the intent of being judged. Who am I? Because everything I am someone else does better. I’m faking it till I make it, but when I see what others are doing I don’t feel like I’m making it anywhere. Everything is a competition. A competition to prove to him, to her, to them, to…..myself I am enough. What am I even good at?
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Maybe this is why people say your teenage years are the hardest. Besides trying to figure
out who you are, you are trying to prove to others you are worth something. It is stressful, and disappointing, because there is always going to be someone better than you. Smarter than you. Prettier than you. More popular than you.
But really, they are not better than you. Because in reality the talent God gave you, you may not ever even use in high school. By ourselves we are lazy, arrogant, careless, sinful, worthless, limited, foolish, unloved, naive, unprotected, condemned, ignorant, and fallen. We weren't "good" at anything, and we would never be good enough. There’s nothing we could do. We can’t even fake it, because God knows our every mistake and our every failure. None of us are smart, pretty, or creative. We are stained by sin and we couldn’t do anything about it. Not only stained, but we were dead in our trespasses and sins. But God, in his grace, saved us. He called us to be his own. He cleansed you, took away your guilt and shame, and made you beautiful. He gave you life and a purpose.
Who am I? By myself I'm a sinner that deserves hell and condemnation. Through Christ, I am loved, I am saved, I am forgiven, I am wanted, I am chosen, I am enough, I am redeemed, I am bought back, I am perfect, I am restored,
I am protected, I am beautiful, I am cured, I am priceless, I am amazing, I am predestined, I am cherished, I am resurrected, I am a believer, I am a saint, I am new, I am never alone, I am found, I am living, I am cleansed, I am blameless, I am unstoppable, I am mature, I am pure. In Christ I am God’s own Child. I am His Workmanship. I was made in the image of God. He made me. I am His.
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Because I am God's child, I now have a purpose. One far better than being the most popular, or the smartest person in school. A purpose that goes beyond my high school years. My purpose is to share the good news, to spread to all the earth the love of our Savior, and to show others that I am no longer sinful and unclean, but that I have been redeemed, restored, and forgiven. Life is not about figuring out “who you are," but letting others know who their Savior is.
How much of life do we spend
Thinking about the how and when?
How much of life do we use
Deciding what things will be whose?
How much of life do we take
Blaming others for our mistake?
How many times we decide
That Christ must not be by our side?
How much of life do we spend
Preaching about the how and when?
How much of life do we use
Sharing with others the Good News?
How much of life do we take
To ask forgiveness for our mistake?
How many times we decide
To let others know He’s by their side?
Ella Bernthal
