Our Family
About Our School
Faith
Ephesians 2:8 states “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast”. This is a core tenant of our Lutheran confession. Our faith is expressed each and every day in our classrooms through specific bible study time, at age appropriate levels and is discussed within all of our subject areas. Every student is required to complete religious based memory work each week in the form of bible verses, hymns, or Luther’s Small Catechism.
We worship together during school chapel once a week, led by our pastoral staff. Families are welcome to join in the weekly time of worship with the school and are encouraged to discuss these lessons with their children. Our pastoral staff is always available for any questions you may have about the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod.
Meet Our Staff
Rachel Miller
Interim Principal
Rachel has been in education 15 years and graduated from Concordia University, River Forest IL. She has a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Indianapolis.
Mrs. Miller has dedicated her entire career to the families of Our Shepherd over the last 19 years.
Rachel motivation for teaching is rooted in God’s greater plan. She says “Most people tell me that I am brave or crazy (or something between) to teach middle school, let alone middle school math, but for me it is a passion. Math was not something I enjoyed or even understood in middle school; I just didn’t understand the “why” behind the operations. But God knew what I didn’t, and here I am! Most middle school students have already decided how they feel about math, and for many, it is not a subject area that they enjoy. It is amazing to watch a student who didn’t feel like they were ever “good” at math learn that they really can be successful and feel proud of their accomplishments. The math classroom is an engaging place full of thinking, creativity, discourse, and problem solving.
Abby Fritcha
Early Childhood and Student Services Coordinator
Abby Fritcha is as multi-talented as her title. Mrs. Fritcha oversees the numerous staff and classrooms of the early childhood programs which involves shepherding parents through the process of first time school, encouraging families to grow and learn together, and enabling staff to share their God given gifts with students.
Additionally, Mrs. Fritcha serves the Our Shepherd community by evaluating, organizing, implementing, and communicating the services we offer to meet children where they are academically and promote their growth to a higher level. This is all achieved as she joyfully serves the community she grew up in as a 15 year Lutheran Educator. Abby believes that all children are a gift from the Lord and she works diligently to promote inclusion of students no matter their needs in the Lutheran Schools System.
Lisa Dubke
Counselor
Lisa graduated from Concordia University Chicago in 1993 with a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and obtained her Masters of Education in Counseling and Guidance in 1998.
Her 18 years of experience include teaching 2nd grade at Shepherd of the Hills in San Antonio, TX, 1st grade and 2nd grade at Prince of Peace in Martinsville, IN and 1st grade at OSLS.
It is Lisa’s desire to help children strive for excellence in all academic areas and develop skills to become more independent workers by the end of first grade. She strives to have each child to think, “I can do great things because God made me.”
Tomi Mattick
Admissions
Tomi joined the Our Shepherd staff 6 years ago after many years in various service rolls at OSLS. Her exuberant passion for sharing the bountiful benefits of Lutheran education not only come from a place of confidence as a reflection of the faculty and staff but also because her two daughters attended OSLS for 12 years each.
Her degree from Indiana State University aids her in communicating the process of application and admissions to prospective families as they tour and experience our school first hand. Aiding families to find their place in the Our Shepherd community and loving students for who God uniquely created them to be is a blessing that Mrs. Mattick is grateful to experience each day in her duties in service to the mission of Our Shepherd Lutheran School.
Molly Matthews
Secretary & Nurse
Mrs. Matthews takes heed of the biblical charge in Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 17 that says “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord”. Her 17 years of nursing experience has equipped her well to serve the children and families of Our Shepherd.
As a RN Molly has experienced everything from being a charge nurse for an entire floor to home health care and private wellness coaching. Her role at Our Shepherd allows her the joy of being there for kids when they are not feeling well or have an injury and then being able to check up on them and see that they are feeling better. So many of them smile and wave as they go by her office or see her in the hallway and it always brightens her day!
Alyssa Vo
Secretary & Nurse
Alyssa Vo earned her BSN from Marian before joining the Our Shepherd Staff two years ago. Her extensive experience working in the ICU, Medical surgical unit/ Ortho neuro unit, surgery center, PCC of surgical unit, and for an orthopedic surgeon all at Franciscan Alliance Hospital have been invaluable to Our Shepherd Lutheran School.
Alyssa has a unique ability to pause in the moment and finds a way to laugh with the kids through a silly accident or listening to their stories while they are in the office. She believes whole-heartedly believes in God and the joy He brings in life, especially through children and the opportunity to learn from these kids as well as to guide them.
Lydia Everling
Administrative Assistant
Lydia holds a B.S. in Illustration (2020) and brings three years of administrative experience to her current role. While she doesn’t teach, she plays a vital part behind the scenes, helping things run smoothly with creativity and care.
Lydia is deeply passionate about encouraging and supporting others. Her mission is to reflect Christ’s love in every interaction, offering warmth, compassion, and a listening ear to students and families alike. She believes that genuine connection and grace can make a lasting impact.
Danielle Ericsson
Early Childhood
Danielle Ericsson is an insightful teacher with nearly a decade of experience in a traditional classroom. Her masters in developmental psychology has enabled her to not only reach the smallest of our students daily but has also led her to different positions as a attachment and bonding specialist and a member of the CASA staff.
Danielle approaches the classroom setting to prompt young students through child-led learning that encourages curiosity and intrinsic motivation. By fostering an emergent curriculum, she supports children’s interests as the foundation for meaningful and relevant experiences. Mrs. Ericsson firmly believes that learning should be engaging, hands-on, and responsive to each child’s developmental stage. Her goal is to inspire a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.
Amy Helmkamp
Early Childhood
Mrs. Helmkamp manages a classroom that introduces your child and your entire family to a nurturing and engaging environment where every child feels safe and empowered to explore, imagine, and grow in God’s love. Through inquiry-based learning along with the Project Approach, she sees the whole child—cognitively, socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually—while fostering independence and self-confidence.
By encouraging hands-on, child-led exploration, she strives to inspire curiosity and nurture a lifelong love of learning and faith. Her multi-age classroom promotes a students ability to make biblical (story) connections in real life situations such as forgiveness and love. One of the unique attributes of the early childhood program is watching a student overcome a fear, or a skill that they have been struggling with. 12 years of teaching experience lends itself to a faithful and creative world to grow up in.
Katelyn Dahlke
Kindergarten
Katelyn Dahlke is a graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin, Early Childhood and Special Education, in 2016.
Her employment history includes Emmanuel Lutheran School, Catonsville, MD,
St. John Lutheran School, Plymouth, WI, and
Our Shepherd Lutheran School, Avon, IN.
She is filled with joy that she is able to teach students about Jesus every single day and help nurture their faith. Katleyn is driven by students enthusiasm to learn new concepts and skills. It is extremely fulfilling for Mrs. Dahlke to meet her students in their proximal zone of development and scaffold their thinking and learning further. Being a lifelong learner she loves being able to set the foundation for her students to also be lifelong learners.
Jane Lucas
First Grade
Jane is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. She has also completed a Masters in Curriculum Design with Butler University. She and her family have been members of Our Shepherd Lutheran Church since 2002, and her own two children attended Our Shepherd Lutheran School beginning in the Preschool program.
Prior to coming to Our Shepherd, Jane taught in a public school setting for 34 years. Her experience is in teaching first, second, and third grade. The main reasons she wanted her own children to attend Our Shepherd was for its smaller class sizes and the opportunity to grow in their faith every day. She is so thankful that now she gets to bring these same gifts to the students in her classroom here.
Stacie Whitesell
First Grade
Mrs. Whitesell brings 17 years of warmth and knowledge to her classroom. Her extensive knowledge of pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade enables her to build a warm loving environment. She believes the child should feel safe and loved. Building a positive relationship with families is also important as it helps create a positive education experience for the students.
All of this promotes an learning space that produces “a-ha” moments that bring a sense of joy and accomplishment to the student and the staff. Little wins are just as important as the big wins in Mrs. Whitsell’s classroom.
Miriam Bird
Second Grade
Ms. Bird fulfills the role of 2nd grade teacher with enthusiasm for learning and dedication to growth. In her 4 years of teaching she finds that serving with and for our students gives her great joy.
Seeing them grow in their independence and love for learning about themselves and the world of our Creator gives her a life that she is excited to jump into, each and every day. This can be felt organically by her students as she fosters lifelong learners and readers who embrace a growth mindset. Along with her passion for reading, she finds life as a high school tennis coach to be a great way to utilize her God given gifts.
Meghan Forgey
Second Grade
Meghan joined our educational staff after graduating with her degree Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education in 2022.
Ms. Forgey says “I love helping children to grow and find their passions in all aspects of life. I love having a part in students understanding and growth in learning and understanding. I feel it is most rewarding and exciting when students finally have their own ah- ha moments, and learn from their experiences. “
Lynette Baldwin
Third Grade
Mrs. Baldwin brings 16 years of teaching experience and bachelor’s degree from Butler University to the staff and families of Our Shepherd. She has taught both Spanish and Kindergarten for several years before moving into the 3rd grade realm.
Lynette fully believes that all children can learn and grow with the right resources, tools, guidance, and support. One key blessing of being a part of Mrs. Baldwin’s class is her faithful ability to see the joy of student success and the sweet moments of grace and mercy for mistakes that have been made.
Hannah Sugita
Third Grade
Ms. Sugita is a nationally recognized teacher, earning the title Outstanding New Lutheran Educator in 2021. Ms. Sugita has spent her entire career at Our Shepherd fostering a classroom environment that supports students advocating for themselves with peers or ask for the tools they need to be successful – seeing students successfully communicating with each other.
A hallmark of Hannah’s style of teaching is setting high expectations and spending the year giving kids the tools and confidence to reach those goals, because they are so capable. Third grade is such an opportunity for growth under Ms. Sugita’s tutelage.
Kathi Latzke
Fourth Grade
Kathie became a Concordia University Chicago graduate in 1982. Kathie has served as a teacher for 40 years now.
Those 40 years include teaching 3rd and 4th grade at Apostles, Melrose Park, IL, Kindergarten, 3rd and 4th grade at Nazareth in Chicago, IL, Pre-School at St. Paul in Rochelle, IL, 2nd grade at St. Paul in Rockford, IL, 3rd grade at Zion in St. Charles, MO, 5th-8th grade at St. John’s in Chaska, MN, 3rd and 4th grade at Zion in Cologne, MN and 3rd-8th grade at Resurrection Lutheran Academy.
Kathie enjoys being able to share the love of God on a daily basis.
Kim May
Fifth Grade, Home Room, &
Social Studies
Kim May is our steady guide into the world of middle school. She shepherds our young people through the expectations, schedules, responsibility, and hard work of being in middle school.
Her 26 years of Lutheran education experience has increased her enthusiasm to see kids learning about Jesus, value their education, and striving to accomplish the most positive outcome possible. She also loves to see kids being creative in all/any subject area. 5th grade is such a year of amazing growth in all areas. Knowing that every child deserves the opportunity to learn and teachers who see their potential and help them reach it. Showing that progress is a success is one of Kim’s superpowers.
Alexa Riemenschneider
Sixth Grade & Math
Bio coming soon!
Nicolette Mierow
Seventh Grade
Science
Nikki has been in education for 11 years in both Lutheran and public schools. She graduated from Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, with a Bachelors of Science, and completed her secondary science teaching certificate from Indiana Wesleyan.
Niki has served at Zion Lutheran Academy – Fort Wayne, 5-8th grade
Roswell High School – New Mexico , 9th & 10th grade
Our Shepherd Lutheran School – Avon (3rd) 4th & 5th – 8th grades. Currently, she serves as the 7th grade homeroom teacher, middle school science teacher, varsity volleyball, and track coach. Niki loves opening the eyes and minds of students to the wonders and awe of God’s creation through religion and science classes.
Heidi Conger
Eighth Grade & ELA
Mrs. Conger brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for growth to her middle school classes. After 20 years of teaching her favorite yearly experience is the opportunity to teach multiple ages and be a witness to their growth and maturity year over year.
After teaching at Monrovia High School, Decatur Middle School, Herron High School, Kingsway Christian School and Plainfield High School, Mrs. Conger has honed a style of not just teaching about how to read or write or even the facts about the Revolutionary War. Instead, she feels her job is to encourage students to become independent thinkers about this world in which we live through a lens that holds up God’s Word before everything else. What an amazing classroom environment to bloom in!
Doug Lynch
Physical Education
Mr. Lynch has been an integral part of expanding out PE department in the last few years. His 9 years of teaching experience along with his daily work in the Early Childhood classrooms has made him a constant fixture on the Our Shepherd campus.
His degree from Indiana University has aided him as a PE teacher and reaching his goal is to inspire every student to develop lifelong habits of health, movement, and teamwork by creating a positive, inclusive, and active learning environment. Doug connects with students as the kids grow and learn throughout not only the school year but over the many years they are at Our Shepherd.
Armando Blakley
Physical Education
Bio Coming Soon!
Lisa Roman
Spanish
Bio Coming Soon!
Nancy Duigou
Art
Mrs. Duigou has been inspiring classrooms of students for over 20 years. She has introduced the beautiful world of creativity to preschoolers through adults, both here at Our Shepherd and at Messiah Lutheran – Eagle Creek.
Nancy is delighted when she sees her students outside of the school setting and they say “that is MY art teacher!” and share with her what they are creating at home. The joy of her classroom is felt each day as children open their minds up to new techniques so they can learn and grow in an imaginative way.
Amanda Meyer
Literary Specialist and Instructional Coach
Amanada Meyer has earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a middle school endorsement from Eastern Illinois University and a Masters in Reading from Illinois State University.
She uses this knowledge as well as her 18 years of teaching experience to enhance the lives of our teachers and broaden the learning capacity of our students on a daily basis. Fostering a habit and love of life-long learning is a goal of Mrs. Meyer. She says “My passion is to share the love of literacy with children so they can be lifelong readers and writers by motivating them to succeed in their goals. I also desire to work alongside and support teachers to reach their goals, while helping to deliver successful strategies and instructional practices within the classroom, because we can all be lifelong learners”. Everyone works better when they feel supported. We are blessed to have the time and specialized talents of Mrs. Meyer on our staff.