Dear St. Alphonsus Catholic School Families,
It is with joy that I welcome you back to another school year! It’s hard to believe that the days of summer have passed so quickly and we are beginning to blend into the wonderful days of a new school year. We have been busy getting ready for your return. We have been cleaning, moving classrooms, remodeling the bathrooms on the West side of the building and unpacking boxes of new books. There is excitement in the air as we await your student’s arrival!
My family and I have not been up to too much this summer. Usually the summer is a time to slow down a little bit and enjoy time together. My wife is also a Catholic school teacher and so the summer affords us time to do more together and spend time with our dog, Lulu. We have spent time with family and friends across the country and enjoyed all that Milwaukee has to offer in the summertime.
Every year we have an extraordinary opportunity to begin fresh. Summer has been a time to savor the opportunity to reflect on what is behind us, what is before us, and what may lie ahead. As a Catholic leader in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as well as St. Alphonsus Catholic School, I am mindful of my essential role in serving the mission of the church and how we are intertwined with one another in that work. Our faculty, staff and I are called to represent The Teacher Jesus. This is our calling. We are called to show our children something different, something more than the world has to offer. It very simply comes down to the mission for all of us to grow in our relationship to Jesus Christ.
This year, our theme will be two-fold. First, we will focus on service this year. Using 1 Peter 4:10 as our guide: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” This will get our students to think about how they can be good stewards of God’s gifts. How can our students realize the gifts they have been given and use them for the betterment of their community?
And second, we will focus this year on joy. These last couple of years have been difficult for everyone, but we will enter into this year leading with joy in our hearts and in our minds. Joy, like many other things, is a choice; so much like we focused on choosing love last year, this year we will focus on choosing joy in all situations.
We welcome a couple of new faces to our St. Alphonsus Faculty this year: our new Music Teacher: Caila Webber; our new Physical Education teacher: Justin Gutche; and our new Kindergarten teacher: Kim Domzil. Below you will find a brief bio for each of them. Please join me in welcoming them to our St. Alphonsus Catholic School community!
Caila Webber:
My name is Caila Webber, and I will be teaching music at St. Alphonsus this fall. This will be my fourth year of teaching. I studied Music Education at UW-Milwaukee and taught K4-8th grade general music at Burlington Catholic School for the past three years. I also teach private music lessons and work at Girls Rock Camp in Madison. I have family in Madison and Milwaukee, and my boyfriend works in New Berlin. I'm excited to move back to the Milwaukee area and to meet the students, families, and staff at St. Alphonsus!
Justin Gutche:
My name is Justin Gutche and I will be the Physical Education teacher this year at St. Alphonsus. I am so excited to join such a great school! I have more than 10 years of experience promoting physical activity, healthy habits, and life skills among elementary and middle school students. In my class, I put an emphasis on sportsmanship and teamwork. I have a passion for sports and fitness and enjoy playing on sports teams in my spare time. I am looking forward to a great year together!
Kim Domzil:
My name is Kim Domzil. I'm excited to be part of St. Alphonsus, and I truly believe this is where God has placed me. I will be the 5-year-old Kindergarten teacher. I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in fourth grade. I attended Alverno for my undergraduate and Concordia for my Masters. I have been teaching for over 17 years. My classroom is play-based, with a routine that includes reading and math fundamentals. In the classroom, we learn to socialize with Christian faith. My husband and I met while I was in college, and we have two daughters that enjoy helping in the classroom. The ocean is my favorite place. My parents moved close to the ocean for retirement, we try to visit often. As a family we enjoy bike rides, swimming, playing games, cooking, baking, and lots of laughs. I love taking pictures which I love to send to families, and I scrapbook in my free time.
With these new additions, here is a full list of our St. Alphonsus teaching faculty for this school year:
Lou Ann Collins, 3K: Room 204
Linda Kempken, 4K: Room 201
Kim Domzil, Kindergarten: Room 202
Kathy Ramion, 1st Grade: Room 330
Deb Frank, 2nd Grade: Room 332
Claire Temple, 3rd Grade: Room 334
Jenessa Gutche, 4th Grade: Room 306
Calli Gonring, 5th Grade: Room 304
Peter Strangfeld, 6th Grade Homeroom [Middle School Language Arts & Literature]: Room 303
Jake Kneifl, 7th Grade Homeroom [Middle School Religion & Math]: Room 302
Tora Armstrong, 8th Grade Homeroom [Middle School Science & Social Studies]: Room 301
Caila Webber, Music: Room 317 [Tuesday/Thursday/Friday PM]
Justin Gutche, Physical Education [Monday/Tuesday]
Rebecca Hoeppner, Art: Room 316 [Wednesday PM/Thursday/Friday]
Amy Schermetzler, Library
Spanish TBA: Room 305 [Monday/Wednesday]
Robin Bruhn, Director of Teaching and Learning: Room 327
As we begin this new year, my prayer is that you will join me in thanking God for the gift of education. Please join me in praying and showing our gratitude to God for our dedicated and hard working teachers who will not only teach but minister to your children in their education. I ask you to also pray for our school. God is generous and we believe that God’s grace and spirit will inspire us to build His kingdom. You are a vital part of your child’s education and we look forward to your presence and participation in our school!
I look forward to seeing you at our Meet and Greet Night on Monday, August 29th from 3:00-7:00 pm!
Yours in Christ,
Mr. Russ Johnston
Principal
