New Staff

New Faces at Honey Creek Hall

by Frank Quan-Pham, JoonWoo Ha, and Hieu Than, photography by Micheal Wiechmann

Since 2019, Honey Creek Hall has been the place of residence for nearly 70 Wisco students from overseas and elsewhere in the United States. This year, these dorms welcome four new staffers to serve as supervisors and other roles such as advisors, counselors. Here are their experiences with Wisco’s students, dorm, and school.

A Reverse Legacy ––Mrs. Sra. Peterson-Lehr

Sra. Catherine Peterson-Lehr, a daughter of a native from Puerto Rico avid folk dancer, served as a teacher at Morgandale Elementary School for 33 years. She still serves as a substitute teacher for the suburbs in and outside Milwaukee County. During a service she attended at Grace Lutheran Church, an announcement was made that Wisconsin Lutheran High School needed new supervisors in their residential halls. In fact, Sra. Peterson’s oldest son was a student at WLHS, who graduated in 2016. During her first weeks at the school and dorm, she has been impressed by the modern facilities that Honey Creek Hall and the school has to offer. She’s also taken interest in conversing with the other staff and the “fascinating students” at the dorm. She commends the high standards that Wisco demands of its students and approves of our religious education and theology programs. Sra. Peterson states that she looks forward to developing relationships with the students, staff, and faculty within and beyond Honey Creek Hall, and to helping and serving the school and the students whenever and wherever her assistance is needed. She advises everyone “to always do [our] best and to love one another,” as commanded by God.

Dorm Bitter-sweet Dorm ––Mr. Jacob Bitter

During his senior year at Martin Luther College, studying to become a pastor at the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mr. Jacob Bitter (brother of alum Sarah Bitter ‘21) was contacted by Mr. Douglas Carter, the Dean of Residential Life at Honey Creek Hall. Mr. Carter told him that the dorm has supervisor positions available and asked if he’d like to become one. Trusting in God’s calling and in his 8 years of living in dormitories in high school and college, Mr. Bitter decided to take this job and make Honey Creek Hall his own home. Since then, he has taken note of the student body at school and in the dorms, praising them as extremely gifted, driven, and hard-working; moreover, he appreciates that the faculty and staff are dedicated and want to see the students succeed. During his time working as Dorm Supervisor, Mr. Bitter is excited to grow in his relationships with the diverse community that resides at Honey Creek Hall. The students come from 19 vastly different countries and cultures around the world. As someone born in Montana and raised in North Dakota, he also hopes to become closer to Wisco, Milwaukee, and Wisconsin as a whole. His advice for students is the following: “Learn as much from your friends as you do from your teachers.”

A Retirement Twist ––Mrs. Frau Joanne Kohler

In 2018, after 23 years of teaching German and ESL at the Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Mrs. Frau Joanne Kohler was ready to retire. Shoreland Lutheran High School, however, was having a problem: their German teacher was seriously ill, and they needed a replacement. She became that replacement for two years. After that, while teaching at Whitefish Bay High School, she found out through the bulletin at her church, Woodlawn Lutheran, that Wisconsin Lutheran High School, where she attended with her siblings and graduated in 1970, was looking for new Dorm Supervisors. Mrs. Frau Kohler said that when she was a student here, there were, in fact, more students within a smaller campus, and that conditions are now much more spacious for each student, including those residing in Honey Creek Hall. She considers the location of our school and dorm to be very beneficial to students, with many stores, restaurants, and parks within walking distance, and food options from home readily available within Milwaukee. Having worked with international students before in Michigan, she takes pride in the students at Wisco. She said they are a large, diverse, nice, group of young people with a good command of English.

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One thing she loves about her job is that she never comes to work already knowing what’s in store for her. This variety in her job includes her interactions with the students, especially the chance to speak some German to students who know the language. She understands the hardships that new international students may face, and recalls from her previous experience that students who kept trying were happy that they tried and would become successful.

Her advice? “Appreciate the Christian education and Christian atmosphere of the school, where you learn about [our] Savior. And remember, it’s the most important thing in life that [we] are children of God.” Chromebooks given to students, and he thanks God for this major blessing. When each student has a Chromebook, this allows students to increase peer-to-peer collaboration instead of working on every assignment individually. Mr. Fink also noticed the improvement and addition of facilities (Honey Creek Hall) and the change of teachers that took place during his sixyear absence. He is excited to lead his international students on various excursions and activities, asking them questions, and finding out what they have in common. He enjoys teaching his classes. He believes the content will be used by students for the rest of their lives. He’s cheered for the Cross Country team, which he was once a part of, this season. Looking back on his high school years, Mr. Fink considers them to be his best years, having grown the most in them. “Make as many friends as possible, because they’ll stick around, even six years from now,” he recommends to his students.

The Alum Strikes Back ––Mr. Andrew Fink

After graduating from Wisco in 2015, Mr. Andrew Fink went to the University of Colorado at Boulder to pursue a PhD program and to work as a teaching assistant in Economics. He was then called by President Fisher to teach Money Matters at WLHS with housing provided. The catch? He’d have to keep about forty adolescent boys in check. It might not always be sunshine and rainbows, but to him, it’s worth it to experience a lively, happy, and friendly dorm environment built by the international student community. As far as the students in his classes, he appreciates their dedication and eagerness to learn. Things have changed since Mr. Fink attended Wisco. There were no

More New Faculty and Staff

Mrs. Bauer

by Oliva Hermanson Mrs. Bauer is Wisco’s newest history teacher. She teaches Modern World history as well as U.S. History. She did not attend Wisco, but her two oldest kids (Allison (23’) and Aubrey (24’) are both students here. Mrs. Bauer loves the diversity and the classes Wisco offers. Before she came to Wisco, Mrs. Bauer raised her kids and helped with daycare. Prior to that, she has taught 7th and 8th grade classes. She and her family attend Garden Homes Lutheran, where her younger two kids also attend school. She loves college sports and the University. of Michigan. A piece of advice Mrs. Bauer has for the kids at Wisco is to take time to enjoy high school because it flies by.

Mrs. Uttech

by Oliva Hermanson Mrs. Uttech teaches Freshman Choir, Acappella Choir, Wisco Kids, and Spectrum of Music. She herself is a 1998 graduate of Wisco. Her oldest daughter, Eviana, is a sophomore at Wisco. Mrs. Uttech loves that she can share God’s love daily with her class in the Christian environment Wisco has created. She was previously the director of parish music and the music teacher at Christ the Lord Church & School in Brookfield, where she also attends church. The biggest advice she has for the students is to “Never be shy or embarrassed about using the gifts God has given you, especially musical talents, to praise the Lord.”

Mrs. Gospodarek

by Alex Wang Being a 98’ Wisco alumni, Mrs. Gospodarek is happy to return here because of the amazing faculty and environment that is surrounded by the word of God. Before serving as a central office receptionist, she worked in various positions, but most recently was at home with her 3 kids. She loved being home with her kids and at the same time built a health and wellness business. Teaching classes related to this business enabled her to bless others as well as helped her and her son recover from illnesses. She also taught a community workshop on emotions that was standing room only! Mrs. Gospodarek ran college track and can knit. She has a wide variety of talents that are already blessing WLHS.