Greetings! I am Erin Ponder, the 5th grade teacher here at St. John’s.  As an alumni of Concordia University- Chicago, I graduated with a duel-certification degree in 2008 for Elementary Education and Director of Christian Education.  During the week I am blessed with the opportunity to educate these kids of the Kingdom, while at the same time I am learning a lot from each of them!  On the weekends I am privileged to spend more time with youth of all ages in and through God’s Word by helping lead and guide as a youth worker.  This truly lets me experience the “best of both worlds” in the Lord’s ministry!

Education is a fun and exciting experience that I am so glad I get to share every day with these young children.  Finding different ways to spark their creativity, intrigue their minds, and have them enjoy their environment in an academic setting is the challenge I look forward to each day.  Being in a Lutheran school gives us an even greater joy to look forward too- the opportunity to share and spread God’s love to each of these students who step foot into the classroom. Proverbs 22:6 states the following: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." What an awesome responsibility we have in the ministry of teaching through Christ!