St. Michael Lutheran School to close

After more than a century of educating children in the area, St. Michael Lutheran School will be closing its doors at the end of the school year. With a low number of students, the need for more staff, and the limitations that has created to better educate the students of the school, the decision was made February 13 by a vote of the church assembly. ?As small as we are, the school has done very well,? said interim pastor Mark Pflug. ?To provide the kind of curriculum and socialization, and everything else that is all part of the school, is very, very difficult.

?You can do a lot of things educationally, but it?s really not a full-fledged school anymore, when the numbers get down that low.? A closing celebration service has been planned for May 22. Along with a worship service, there will be a program and a dinner. Making the recommendation was difficult for Pflug, who has been at the church since September 1. He has three grandsons attending the school.

?I WANTED TO make it possible for the school to stay open, but once I got here and took a look at the situation, and listened to the vast majority of the congregation, we said it just was not a viable school anymore.? In the 1970s, the school had 80 students enrolled, while today there are 12 students who are grouped together in the same classroom. ?It?s very tough,? said teacher Jeanette Karsten, who has taught at the school for seven years. ?Some very beautiful things come in small packages, and I feel what we have going here is one of those beautiful things.?

Pastor Joseph Antonius Bohn started teaching children of the area in 1874 with Christian day schools in the four congregations of Rogers City, Belknap, Crawford?s Quarry, and Moltke. Anna Freel, the lone eighth grader, will be the last graduate of the school. ?It?s kind of sad, but I?m glad I got to finish here,? said Freel, who has attended since kindergarten. When Freel is not hitting the books, she serves as a teacher?s aide for the younger children in kindergarten and first grade. She said St. Michael has a closeness about it that will be missed. ?You know everybody and everyone does things together instead of being all split up,? said Freel.

FOR YEARS there was no tuition, just a fee for books, Pflug said. At the beginning of this school year, a $100 fee was instituted. While St. Michael Lutheran School is closing its doors, the congregation voted on Sunday that they will continue to support Christian education, ?but we need to do that through St. John,? Pflug said. Pflug said the congregation voted to offer scholarships to the families of church members so they can attend St. John Lutheran School in Rogers City. ?It?s not as if we are giving up on Christian education, it?s just that we felt at this point, this makes much more sense,? said Pflug.

For Lisa Freel, a teacher?s aide who had three students attending the school, she has some choices t

o make. She is looking at St. John, as well as home schooling, or a combination of both. Freel believes a Christian education is important. ?When we have a problem, we can look at what the Bible says, and it does guide us,? she said. ?You don?t necessarily have that in all schools. It?s been a good school.?

KARSTEN SAID she?ll miss the students and may consider substitute teaching, because it?ll offer her a chance to be around children. ?Some of these kids, such as Anna, I have had her here since she was in second grade, and they (children) feel like my own children, and I will really miss the daily contact.

?We?ve done a good job of giving these kids a start in life and preparing them for what they?ll be doing in the future when they leave us here. I hope that it is for the best; we pray that it is for the best.?

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