by Executive Director Joel Landskroener
Thanksgiving greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! For a school of 182 students, we are remarkably blessed. From enrollment, to student achievement, to staff initiatives, to various outreach programs like the Mayer Knights, our community youth program, and Genesis Virtual Academy, our online school, I am amazed at just how creatively the Lord uses people to prepare the next generation of Christian leaders!
One of the most amazing blessings that oozes with gratitude in my heart is the support we receive from our many friends. It costs $16,326 to educate each student this year. The average family pays $8,630 in tuition and fees each year, a little more than one-half of the cost of educating each child!
What an odd business we operate! Our clients provide a bit more than half of the cost of the product they consume. Imagine walking into a local automobile showroom and offering the salesperson 55% of the asking price for a new truck! Once their look of astonishment leaves their face, they will likely escort you to the door. No enterprise that receives half of the cost of their product or service can stay in business for very long.
Yet, Mayer Lutheran High School makes it! This is where it gets good. Really good! We are owned by a dozen Lutheran congregations who provide around eleven percent of our revenue. Each one sacrifices a great deal to be a member of the Lutheran High School in Mayer Association, Inc. They do so because they are sold on the vibrant ministry they, together, are able to provide for teenagers in our community. They believe in us and we are grateful!
Through the years, many supporters of our school have placed our ministry in their estate plans. Due to the foresight and generosity of those folks, the Lord has grown the Lutheran High School in Mayer Foundation to around $7 million in assets. Each year, around a quarter of a million dollars of the earnings of this major blessing are provided to the school budget. For the Lutheran High School in Mayer Foundation, we are grateful!
Finally, each year we receive more than $400,000 in gifts to support our kids in their Christian leadership training. Our amazing and numerous donors make our model work. For the faithful, generous hearts of our supporters, we are grateful!
Yes, we are grateful for all that God has bestowed upon our kids and their school. Only He can make our ministry work. Only He can move the hearts of people to send their children to our classrooms, support us with gifts, and faithfully offer prayers of encouragement. Only He can allow us to prepare the next generation of Christian leaders. We know it. We preach it. We believe it with all our heart.
Indeed, as we celebrate another Thanksgiving this year, the 59th in the history of Mayer Lutheran, I encourage each reader to lift our children, their families, staff, alumni, and many supporters in a prayer of thanks. Keep it simple. Just say, “Lord, for it all, I’m grateful!”
