News

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

The LCMS Northern Illinois District is shining a spotlight on service from April 14-23, 2023. Throughout the district, groups of two or more people were asked to give witness to the love of Jesus through acts of service to their neighbors and communities. As part of this event, each of Immanuel’s classes from Preschool through Grade 8 has done a service project this week to highlight sharing God’s love with our community(s).

• Preschool classes collected items for the residents at Fox Knoll Village Senior Living Center.
• Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 collected food and personal hygiene items for the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry.
• Grade 3 made sandwiches for Lazarus House and they have also been writing letters to US servicemen and women.
• Grade 4 made brownies and delivered them to the Batavia Police Department and Fire Departments. While there, they got a solid tour of the police station.
• Grade 5 assembled birthday cake kits for the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry that included cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, cupcake papers, plates, napkins, all wrapped up in a baking pan.
• Middle School made giant Rice Krispie treats and then assembled treat bags for the seniors at The Holmstad.

How is God calling you to serve your neighbors and SHINE His light?

It's time to Shine!   From now through April 21, our entire school will be participating in the Northern Illinois District’s Shine! service event. Congregations and Lutheran schools all over NID will be serving others as the hands and feet of Christ. At Immanuel, every class is participating in a service project. Today our 5th graders made birthday bags for the Batavia Interfaith Food Bank. Other classrooms will be serving in various ways next week. 

It may be hard to believe, but some of our elementary students are having their very first field trip ever. Our third graders were very excited to visit the Batavia Depot Museum this week. They learned all about the local history of windmills, railroads, Native Americans, and so much more. God blessed us with beautiful weather, and we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch along the Riverwalk.

Pastor Chris led chapel this week and shared a message about LOVE. His helper was his teddy bear that he's loved since childhood. However, the greatest love of all is the sacrificial love that He shows us through the sacrificial love of Jesus our Savior.

On Friday, March 17, two of Immanuel’s band students were selected to participate in the Illinois Lutheran Honor Band event held at Concordia Lutheran School in Peoria. A total of 76 musicians were selected from Lutheran schools all over the state of Illinois to come together for a day of clinics, sectionals, and rehearsals, culminating in an evening concert. The guest clinician praised the opportunity for these children to come together to use their God-given talents, & he truly enjoyed being able to openly talk about our shared faith throughout the day. We celebrate the arts and music in our schools and stress the importance of continuing to make music a part of our children’s lives.  Congratulations to Immanuel’s participants!

Our student's and staff had fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day today! It's not all four leaf clovers and wearing green though. St. Patrick was known as the "Apostle of Ireland", credited with bringing Christianity to the country of the 5th Century. Once captured and enslaved there for six years as a teenager before escaping, he returned after becoming a priest to spread Christianity to the very people who kidnapped and held him as a slave. He is highly revered in the Irish culture and Christian beliefs, and St. Patrick's Day is a day of solemnity and holy day obligation in Ireland.

Immanuel Has Talent! What a night for our students to share their talents with the Immanuel community at the annual Talent Show. From incredible vocal solos and duets, instrumental duets, piano solos and accompaniments, dance routines, and even jiu jitsu board breaking, our students showed they have some incredible skills outside the classroom.

We thank God daily for the opportunity to provide an excellent education to the children we serve. We are especially grateful to be able to share Jesus’ love with children and their families within our community. Lutheran Schools Week is our time of the school year to celebrate our school & mission. 

•  Our celebration kicked off Monday with Spirit Day and Teacher Swap when we showed our blue & white Eagle pride and our teachers traded classrooms for bit.

• Tuesday was Disney+ Day where students & staff dressed as a Disney character. We had a lot of princesses & superheroes in the building! Tuesday also had our annual Grade 4 Parade of States and we enjoyed hearing all about many of the states in our country and seeing the creativity that went into each float. We finished the day with the Social Studies/History Fair checking out the creative projects on display from each class.
• Wacky Wednesday brought some next-level fun with mis-matched socks, shoes, backwards shirts, 18 hair bows, ponytails, and just all-around fun.
• Comfy Day on Thursday got everyone ready for a nap in their PJs and cozy clothes. Instead, we had an incredible assembly with X-Games winner, National Champion, Team USA, & America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, Matt Willhelm and his BMX bike tricks! Around the tricks, he shared his message to keep trying even when it’s hard, but more importantly, words can hurt more than a broken bone even from comments that are “just a joke.” Our words hold power and we need to use them as a superpower to help others.

• Friday was our VIP Day when we Dressed Our Best and enjoyed a chapel service with our special parents, grandparents, or other VIPs, followed by a Pancake Breakfast together served by our Middle School students. And our week is capped off with the Talent Show Friday night and our Kindergarten through Grade 2 students singing in Saturday’s 5:30pm church service to close this amazing week.

 It was quite the week of activities and we thank our Student Council for planning the daily themes. They did a great job and we had so many students taking part every day!

Ash Wednesday Chapel Service

The cross is God’s message of hope. Even though we are dust, He gave us grace when Christ raised from the dead. Because we belong to HIM—even when we wander away, Jesus our shepherd is seeking us to bring us back. He won’t scold us—he will carry us back in love with rejoicing.

This Ash Wednesday morning, our Kindergarten through Grade 8 students received crosses during chapel to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s seriousness about fulfilling His promise. On an ordinary, rainy day, we are serious about the start to Lent on this extraordinary journey to the cross and resurrection of Easter. And we are so blessed to be able to share that journey in school every day.

This week in chapel we celebrated School Attendance, Faithful Worship, and Academic Awards for 2nd Quarter. We are so proud of each of our students as they strive to achieve so much academically and more importantly, within their faith-life.

The kids enjoyed fun activities at this year's American/Kids Heart Challenge! We see the 2nd and 4th graders here racing through the obstacle course and learning to jump rope. They learned what it takes to keep their hearts healthy.

Immanuel students surpassed the goal of $11,500.00....the total is $12,795.88!!!!! We have shattered all our previous totals thanks to you and your generous donations and support. Your donations also allows ILS to receive new gym equipment courtesy of the American Heart Assocation. Thank you!