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Welcome to the December 2025 edition of The Salem Story!
Sharing with you how God
is moving among His children in Black Jack, MO!
Check out our Web Site!
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Here at Salem we have a story to tell...one of God's grace and faithfulness for over 175 years!
Inside you’ll find: Chistmas Program, Giving Tuesday, Candy Cane Chapel Talks and more!
| | Merry Christmas! As a staff, we feel privileged to lead this mission school in North St. Louis county with these wonderful students and we appreciate your support as we celebrate the birth of our SAVIOR!! | | | | |
Giving Tuesday 12-3-25
was a success!
In our first Giving Tuesday campaign at Salem, YOU helped us raise over $5,000
in a day! Thank you!
Click below to watch
Giving Tuesday at Salem!
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At Salem we teach gratitude to God as a way of life. Listen to our students and staff as they share what they are grateful for this past Thanksgiving. Click for
We Are Thankful #1
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We celebrated St. Nicholas Day in Ms. Osiek's and Mrs. Pena's rooms. Students left their shoes in the hallway and were surprised when they came back out to find treats! Even Mr. Burkee got a stocking with a "B" on it and students dropped fun things in there every day until Christmas to surprise him.
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Ms. Osiek's class is excited about their candy-filled shoes!
| | Mrs. Pena's Class got cool mugs and candy! | | Mr. Burkee received candy, jokes, poems and even some lumps of coal in his stocking!! | | | |
Scholarships!
One of the best ways you can help us is by providing scholarships for our students. Each student receives a $6,000 scholarship.
If you get your Bible class or friend group to all pitch in together, it can happen! Just 10 people giving $50/month = $6,000/year.
It's THAT EASY!!!!
Gather up some friends and share what God is doing at Salem! Contact Nancy Joy at 314-741-0477
or Email: development@salembjmo.org for more details.
You can give to the Scholarship Fund by clicking here:
Click to donate a scholarship and more!
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In the Season of Advent as we wait for our Savior... we asked the students to retell the story of Jesus’ birth and also asked, "What does Christmas mean to you?"
Click and enjoy their heartfelt sentiments about Christmas!
What Does Christmas Mean to Me?
| | | | | We have chapel every Wednesday and it's great to see how our students serve, sing, pray and listen to the messages. Their faith in Jesus is growing! | | | | |
1st Annual Christmas Store
Our Development Director Ms. Joy and her energetic elf friends hosted a Christmas Store for our Salem students! Each student could shop for their parents, grandparents, or caregivers and pick out 5 items to wrap and surprise them at Christmas time. There were plenty of gifts left so they went back and picked out 5 more for themselves as well.... it was a great day! So thankful for the MANY donors (86 from the Oakville Community Facebook Page) who donated items and bought gift bags and tissue paper for us….and VERY grateful for these FUN volunteers who came to set up and help students shop and wrap gifts. Merry Christmas! Our Savior is BORN!!
Watch the FUN Salem Christmas Store Video
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Ready to surprise their
family on Christmas Day!
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At Salem we LOVE our donors.
We are VERY thankful to all who donate and make our jobs easier
to do here at Salem!
Wish to support us?
Click here to donate!
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We love our DONORS!!! Thank U!
We are VERY grateful for people donating basic supplies like paper towels, TP and Kleenexes! We were also blessed with 2 more beanbags and some more teacher supplies! Whoo-hoo!
| | | Thankful to the William Jackson family (Salem members) for a mega package of paper towels! | | Grateful to Castine Swain, one of our student's mothers, who donated 300 paper plates for students to use at lunch time. | | So apprecaitive of Christine Gibiser, a Salem Alumni, who donated 600 knives, forks and spoons, as well as a big bag of paper towels and napkins for the cafeteria. We are set! | | |
St. Paul's Des Peres gave new Christmas Arch Books to every student!!!
We also accept gently used Arch books. If you have extra to donate, call Nancy.
| | Our sweet friend Cristyn Canon from SPDP came to bless us again: with Christmas Arch books | | Students were excited to receive their Christmas books in chapel | | The timeless story of Jesus born as our Emmanuel!! | | | |
Click to watch a video on what God is doing through our school. There is a lot of fun, learning, and faith building going on here at Salem!
Thank you for your support!
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Our students did a great job performing in their Christmas Program telling everyone about the BEST story ever told... the one where Jesus was born for us in Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2. Afterwards all the family members received a handmade ornament to take home. How special that was! Great job Eagles!!!
Watch their performance: Salem School Christmas Program
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Our Pre-K and Kindergarten classes, led by Mrs. Upchurch, are really learning their Bible stories,
sight words and math skills!
| | | | Following directions on an activity page | | Mrs. Upchurch teaching sight words | | Our 1st and 2nd graders are learning to read better and do science experiments with Ms. Osiek | | Using a flashlight to examine leaf properties of weeds | | Documenting what they find in the leaves and roots | | They are really reading well these days! | | Mrs. Pena's 3rd and 4th graders love doing STEM projects to learn science concepts, being artistic and enhancing their math skills in creative ways by using poker chips and decks of cards | | | | Leading his peers in chapel | | | |
Middle Schoolers, led by Mrs. Potter, also love doing STEM projects like making solar ovens
and religion classes with Pastor Dressler
| | STEM project: Making S'Mores in a solar oven created from a pizza box! They were yummy! | | |
Religion class...Great discussions
are happening!
| | Proud of our Middle School students for helping little ones learn to read | | |
It's rewarding to work with our students! Call Nancy Joy at
314-741-0477 or Email: development@salembjmo.org
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Do you like to read
to children? Teach art, gym or music?
We need volunteers to read to students and help some students learn to read better. Also, if you are a retired music, gym or art teacher and wish to volunteer a few hours each month teaching these subjects, we are looking for volunteers to assist in classes in these areas. We will work around your schedule!
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Kathy, a Salem member,
helps our students read. It's esay and fun, why not come join us?
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Are you handy? Or do you have extra time? We have many volunteer jobs that need to be done at Salem!
Let Nancy know if you can volunteer!!
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Parent Coffee and Chat
Mrs. Mason (our Eagle League Liaison) and Ms. Joy organized a breakfast time for parents to come and eat, fellowship, and ask questions of the staff.
| | | | | Principal Burkee answering parent questions | | Parents getting to mingle | |
God has brought us a long way!! | | |
Salem Lutheran School will be celebrating its 165th Anniversary next year. The Alumni Committee is planning an ALL Class Reunion for the fall of 2026. We are currently in the process of collecting contact information and need your help to locate alumni! Are you a Salem School alumnus? Do you have contacts for other alumni that are not currently members of Salem? Help us round up our former classmates.
Please email alumni information to sbjalumni@gmail.com, or you may bring a list to the church office. Include as much information as you can, such as: Full name (including maiden); mailing address; phone number; email address; class year.
*To volunteer to help with the reunion, please email sbjalumni@gmail.com or you can call/text Kym Webb at (314) 623-2012
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Have Nancy come speak at your church!
Our new Development Director Nancy Joy would love to come and share what God is doing at Salem Lutheran School and how YOU can be a part of our mission! She can speak in your church service, Bible class, LWML or misison group, or share with your students during your school chapel time.
Contact her by calling: 314-741-0477
Email: development@salembjmo.org
| | | | | We love it when Salem Alumni come back to visit us! On the left is Mrs. Mariah Spanglet who was our LASE (Lutheran Specialized Education) teacher here for four years. Also, Sharon from the Class of 2022 came to volunteer 2 hours with us helping to set up the Christmas Store. | | | |
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Join us at Salem Lutheran Church for Sunday School and Bible Class at 8:45am, and worship at 10:00am. We are located at 5190 Parker Road in Black Jack, MO, 63033. Contact Pastor Dressler at 314-741-6781
Click here for The Salem Church Website
| | | | Come to the Manger had to be inside due to snow on the ground, but it still was an impactful evening sharing the story of God's LOVE come down to us in the form of baby Jesus! Merna Rikard and her cast and crew did a phenomenal job and our students led by Cynthia Schultz did a wonderful job singing as angels and portraying Roman soldiers. | | |
Join us for worship at Salem Lutheran Church on
Christmas Eve 12/24 at 6pm
Christmas Day 12/25 at 10am
New Year’s Eve at 6pm
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Our Theme
this year
is JOY!
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Enjoy our students and staff singing our theme song of "JOY!" which stands for putting Jesus first in your life, then Others, then Yourself last.
Jesus says we should SERVE ONE ANOHTER!!
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Click HERE and watch our "JOY" Video!
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We thank you for your prayers!
John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
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We thank you for your support of our mission here in Black Jack... and we especially appreciate your prayers. God has a plan for us to reach the lost and to give students an excellent education. YOU are a part of this mission!
Please pray:
*For the Spirit to bless us with ever greater faith, hope, and love so that we may serve God's children according to His will.
* For the Spirit to work in the hearts and minds of the students we teach.
* For family members of students going through health crises.
* That our outreach events touch the hearts of many.
* For strength and energy for our teachers as they give their all to students daily.
* For more scholarships to become available for our students.
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Wish to donate to the school?
We are praying for partners to come alongside to donate scholarships and help replace our school roof and parking lot. Thank you in advance for supporting us!
Click here to support Salem!
Feel free to pass this E-Newsletter along to others who may wish to support us.
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Salem Lutheran Church and School ~ 5190 Parker Road, Florissant, MO 63033
School: 314-741-8220 ~ Church: 314-741-6781
Nancy Joy Email: development@salembjmo.org ~
Pastor Dressler Email: mdressler@salembjmo.org
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