We are blessed to cultivate a team of dedicated teachers committed to ensuring our students feel known, loved, and valued. As the new school year approaches, we are thrilled to introduce many of our new hires! This week, we welcomed them to campus through our New Teacher Orientation, where we learned more about their passion and enthusiasm for Christian education. Our community and students are truly blessed by the incredible teachers who invest in their academic, emotional, and spiritual growth. Each of our teachers is well-equipped to teach and model a Biblical worldview both in and out of the classroom. We are excited to welcome these new faces to our team!
Josie Bartscher – 4th Grade Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? In my free time, I enjoy reading and being outdoors.
What made you want to be a teacher? I have always enjoyed working with kids and was inspired by my own teachers growing up. I wanted to be a source of light for students and inspire them.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to meeting and getting to know all my students.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? My faith guides me to teach with compassion and love in the way Jesus loves us.
Isaac Douglas – Middle and Upper School Math Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I enjoy anything related to sports! Whether that be playing, attending an event, or simply watching a game on TV.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m really looking forward to developing relationships with the students!
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? We are all created in the image of God and are equal. This principle is the number 1 rule in my classroom! We all deserve each other’s respect.
Sara Ehrenkrook – Kindergarten Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love reading, baking, doing puzzles, and being with my family.
What made you want to be a teacher? I have always wanted to be a teacher! When I was younger, I would play school with my sister. I love teaching and being with and around kids.
What are you looking forward to this year? I am so excited to get into the NLA community, connect with families, get to know my students, and show them the love of Jesus everyday as we learn.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? My faith influences everything I do! I love that I get to bring the Lord into the classroom every day. Whether we are learning math, science, or the alphabet, God is a part of all of it.
Agnes Koehn – 2nd Grade Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I enjoy golfing, watching and driving my kids waterskiing, and cooking.
What made you want to be a teacher? I have always enjoyed working with kids and growing up I had some remarkable teachers. Their love, passion, and creativity really made an impact on me, and I wanted to pay that forward.
What are you looking forward to this year? I am excited to get to know my students and their families, encourage my students to achieve things they didn’t think were possible, and disciple them to grow a strong relationship with Jesus.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? Knowing each child that comes into my classroom is a child of God and knowing they were created that way for a purpose helps me to see each student for who they are. I try my hardest to connect with each child so I can help them with how they need to learn.
Sabrina Ness – Pre-K Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love cooking, shopping, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.
What made you want to be a teacher? Since I was a young girl, I always wanted to make a difference and an impact in student’s lives, and teach them/set them up for success.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to meeting my students and watching them learn and grow. I’m also excited to work with this amazing team and community!
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? I try to incorporate my faith into every teaching opportunity possible. Bringing God’s truth and word into learning helps give our students a well-rounded education that’s Christ-centered.
Matt Nylin – Middle School Bible Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love playing sports, hanging out with my family, and exercising.
What made you want to be a teacher? The Lord opened up this door! I was an alumni, pastor in the area, and parent of current students, so this is another amazing way to be a part of this community.
What are you looking forward to this year? Jumping into the world of teaching is something I didn’t see coming, but I’m excited to explore this area.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? I am so excited to bring the Bible alive to those I get to teach!
Elisabeth Oviedo – 1st Grade Long-Term Sub
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love spending time with my family! I love going to church, listening to music, going to the movies, and spending time outdoors.
What made you want to be a teacher? I believe that children are a wonderful blessing from the Lord. I love working with students and families! I love seeing/being a part of the academic progression of students. I love helping the students become the best versions of themselves. I enjoy helping students to become good citizens and strong followers of Jesus.
What are you looking forward to this year? I am looking forward to building relationships with my students and their families. NLA is such a special community. I am so excited to be in a wonderful Christian environment. Being able to pray and read the Bible in school is a very special gift.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? My faith in Christ is very important to me. God has used all experiences in my life for His glory. We serve an amazing and faithful God. I have been praying over each student and family on my list. Every student is a child of God, and God has amazing plans for them.
Samuel Pederson – Academy Worship Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Writing music is my favorite hobby. I also enjoy watching movies as a hobby. I have a goal to watch 300 films this year.
What made you want to be a teacher? I am excited to pass down skills and knowledge to students and see their passion for the subject grow.
What are you looking forward to this year? I am excited to see my students grow as a team and further their abilities throughout the year.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? My faith is critical to both the process and goals of the class I teach. Through prayer and devotionals, we will choose worship songs to learn as a class.
Duncan Spennewyn – Middle and Upper School Bible, Biology, & Tech Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love working out and hiking/camping! Just about anything to do with those things I can get into!
What made you want to be a teacher? Substitute teaching! Meeting the students and getting to teach these subjects with a Christian focus was absolutely incredible and I cannot wait to have my own classes.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to grilling students with difficult questions and teaching topics from a Christian perspective.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? Being a personal trainer has taught me that without God nothing is important. You can look at lifting and measure it with how heavy you lift or how many reps you can do, but how shallow is that? How important are those things? It’s not until you bring God into it and see that you are learning resilience and perseverance and those eternal things that lifting becomes important. I believe you can look at every single thing in any topic and find the exact same thing is true.
Sophia Spennewyn – Lower School Intervention Specialist
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love cooking and baking, spending time with family and friends, and enjoying the outdoors.
What are you looking forward to this year? I am looking forward to getting my students and supporting their literacy skills and developing their relationships with God.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? My faith influences my teaching by fostering engagement through discussion, collaborative learning, and group work. My faith impacts me every day.
Shannon Voerster – Preschool Prep Teacher
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love spending time at the lake, reading, board games, and gardening.
What made you want to be a teacher? I love helping children to grow and learn. I love seeing the light bulb go off when they understand something new or learn a new skill.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to all of the relationship-building and fun we will have as a class.
How has your faith influenced your approach to teaching? It encompasses every aspect of my teaching. Praying at the start of every school day to help set the tone and lay a firm foundation for our day.
