Mayer Lutheran

With a theme of “Party in the USA,” Homecoming 2025 starts on Sunday, September 28 with PowderPuff Football and Ironman Volleyball, and concludes on Saturday, October 4 with the Homecoming Dance.

Here’s the schedule of events, Minute-To-Win-It (MTWI) games, and dress-up days:

• Sunday (9/28) 3:00-4:00-PowderPuff Football, 4:30-5:30-Ironman Volleyball
• Monday (9/29) MTWI: Musical Chairs; Dress-Up: Adam Sandler Day; Coronation from 2:22-3:05; JV Football at 5 PM
• Tuesday (9/30) MTWI: Cup Game; Dress-Up: Barbie and Ken
• Wednesday (10/1) No School
• Thursday (10/2) MTWI: Guess that Song; Dress-Up: Country
• Friday (10/3) MTWI: Mario Kart; Dress-Up: Crusader Day; Pepfest at the end of the school day w/school-wide hide and seek; Pork Chop Dinner 4:30-6:30 PM; Football game vs. Cleveland 7 PM
• Saturday (10/4) Homecoming Dance 7:30-10 PM (Competition Gym)

Mayer Lutheran Announces New Head of Genesis Virtual Academy

Mayer Lutheran and Genesis Virtual Academy (GVA) are pleased to announce the hiring of a new GVA school head to succeed the retiring director of Genesis Virtual Academy. Andrew Miller of Moose Lake, MN, will succeed founding GVA head Kim Ross, who will be stepping down in June following thirteen years leading the online school he founded in 2012.

Miller, a native of Fridley, MN, graduated from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN with a major in K-12 Physical Education and a minor in Christian Studies. He stayed on at Crown College to coach basketball, football, and baseball. He next joined the coaching staff at North Central University in Minneapolis, MN, where he served as Head Coach of the Women’s Basketball and Softball programs. From North Central University, he moved onto the State of Minnesota as a Skills Development Specialist, where he developed programs to teach adults with special needs. He moved from there to the East Central K-12 School in Finlayson, MN, serving as Activities Director and Physical Education/Health teacher for five years. In, 2017, Miller joined Cloquet, MN schools, teaching Physical Education, Health, and a special college readiness program for students who would be the first in their families to go to college. Since 2023, Miller has served as the Principal of Barnum (MN) elementary school. He has been an online teacher for Genesis Virtual Academy for the past eight years.

“I am excited about meeting the needs of a new generation of learners,” shared Miller.  “I am eager to help them with finding a fit for their learning needs—to make Genesis Virtual Academy a place where they feel belonging.”

“The choice of Andrew to succeed me as leader of GVA is an excellent one,” added Kim Ross. “I have known him for quite some time and have always been impressed with his commitment, professionalism, and vision for online learning.”

“Genesis Virtual Academy has grown tremendously, thanks to Kim Ross. Today, GVA is the online school of choice for Christian students throughout the country and around the world,” asserted Mayer Lutheran Executive Director Joel Landskroener. “We are confident that Andrew will lead with vision and courage, just as Kim has done for the past thirteen years. The school is experiencing exceptional growth and we are pleased that our new director will continue guiding its successful trajectory.”

Genesis Virtual Academy is a K-12 accredited online Christian school that serves students around the globe. More than five hundred courses are taught each year. To learn more, go to www.GenesisVA.org.

The Mayer Lutheran Theater Department presents The Night Witches by Rachel Bublitz as this year’s One Act Play.

Called “the Night Witches” by the Nazis, the women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew in planes made of canvas and wood, and they dropped bombs on Germans every 15 minutes through the night to keep their enemy from sleeping. They were constantly being shuffled and moved to perform new duties; mechanics became navigators, navigators became pilots, and pilots became commanders.

Nina and Vera have just finished their training as navigators and are moments away from their first combat mission. As they fight their nerves, the women around them use different means of bolstering their spirits, some more successfully than others. But when the time comes, to the sky they must go. Tonight, however, is different than any night they’ve faced before—their enemy has employed a new tactic taking them completely by surprise.

In this historical drama, which is this year’s ML Theater Department entry in the Minnesota State High School League’s One Act Play competition, we follow these brave women through one fateful evening during the war.

There will be a public performance on Wednesday, January 29 at 7 PM in the ML Fine Arts Center Theater. The play will also be performed at ML for the subsection competition on Saturday, January 25 at 12:15 PM. Please note that once a performance has started at subsections on January 25, there is no admittance allowed. Admission for both these performances is free.

The Night Witches is produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. of Woodstock, Illinois.

The MLHS Mission Trip Team traveled to Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso December 26, 2022, and with the mission as their home base, drove across the border to Anapra, Mexico to build homes for two families there. In addition to building houses, team members also built relationships and shared the love of Jesus.

As of January 4, the team had successfully completed two small houses consisting of a concrete slab, insulated wood-frame walls, drywall interior, electrical lights and outlets, and a metal roof. The families for whom the homes are being built pick the exterior paint colors and help with the painting if they can. Although these houses are small by our standards, they are a welcomed improvement to the living facilities for these families.

The MLHS Mission Trip Team boarded their bus on January 5 for the return trip to Minnesota, and will be back on January 6, tired, but grateful for the opportunity to serve others. In a January 4 post on Facebook, Ysleta Lutheran Mission Servant Events said “Houses are done! Mayer Lutheran High School has successfully completed their 18th year mission of building – not just houses, but friendships, communities, character and faith.”

To God all praise and glory!