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The Impact of LCL: My Journey From LCL Student to LCL Teacher

Posted by Ryan Bredow on Mar 28, 2017 2:35:00 PM

By Mr. Jon Oldenburg

 

Oldenburg.jpgI often get asked if it is weird to be teaching at the high school that I went to. I never know how to answer. The question is massive, and often the asker wants me to go someplace in particular with my answer. However, if I answer that question without trying to address any specific part, then my answer is absolutely not. For one, a lot about LCL is different now then from when I went here as a student. The building is different; we aren’t doing class on top of a covered pool, I can’t walk the entire building in less than two minutes, and the gym now could contain ten of our old gyms. A lot of the faces are different, too. There is a different principal, many different staff, and of course all of the students. And I am different than I was, and in a different role besides. A lot of LCL is different, and I embrace the differences because they have been seamlessly enveloped in what LCL does. Because at the end of the day, the most important elements of LCL are still the same, and they always will be.

CC Coach-962431-edited.jpgLCL impacted my life in a major way. I went into LCL shapeless (as most high school students do): I was physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually shapeless. Throughout my four years at LCL, I gained shape and form. Physically, cross country taught me the value of hard work. I was engaged in classes because of how much I connected with the people teaching them. I found out who I am while at LCL and what kind of people I want to surround me. And throughout every subject and interaction, I was shown how to view it through the lens of my Biblical worldview. It was not that I did not have these elements as part of my life before, but I was given a direction for momentum, a shape for my mass, a structure for my foundation, and all of it was directed towards my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

By the time I left LCL in 2008, I had a shape, and it was one I was confident in and proud of, and LCL deserves the credit. I also left thinking that this was unique to me. I thought I was in the perfect time and place in my life to allow LCL to affect me the way it did, as if this was some accidental transformation. Looking back from my new vantage point, I know this is one of the strengths of LCL. This school is able to make every special moment of growth and experience seem like it was an accidental happening tailor made for you. The end result after four years is such a personal connection and relationship with teachers, friends, moments, and your Savior that you cannot fathom anyone else went through the same experience. And you would be right. LCL does not have the same connection to any two people, but these experiences are anything but an accident.

As a teacher at LCL, I now know how intentional this process of growing students is. What appeared to be a wonderful accident to me as a student is now clearly seen as a carefully designed process of relational ministry, relational teaching, and a solid foundation on Biblical teachings. The veneer has been rubbed off, and the school is even more amazing uncovered. I get to be a part of and witness the shaping. I see the brilliant minds of my colleagues as they plan lessons and search for the most efficient ways for students to understand topics. I have heard tough conversations with students about life and the choices they make, conversations that could have easily been avoided, but instead were met head on. I also have seen that every decision made for the students at this school is set against the standard of what the Bible teaches. If it falls short of that standard, it is thrown away. What happens at LCL is not an accident, and it is exactly the same as it was when I went here. Because buildings change, teachers are hired, students graduate, new teaching practices are discovered, but the Bible is everlasting, and since LCL is built on that unwavering foundation, I know this school will always be as significant to students as it was to this student.

DSC_0637 copy-575208-edited.jpgI am still learning every day about what it means to be a relational teacher and minister. If you asked me what that means when I graduated from LCL, I would have been confident I knew, and I would have simply pointed at any one of my teachers. Now, as I am challenged to be that teacher every day, the significance of what that means, looks like, and takes is not lost on me. I have found that the best way to learn and grow and become like those LCL teachers from 2004-2008 is to listen to them. And now when I think about being like them, I can’t help but think about what Mark Newman told me on a run as we talked about teaching. He said, “The goal of relational teaching is to get students to want to do something, not to have to do something.” As a student who wanted to learn and grow at this school every day to a teacher who wants to model those teachers that impacted him so profoundly, I don’t think Mark knew how much that line means to me. To me, that line embodies what I experienced and aim to do in my ministry at LCL. And just like that, I continue to be shaped by Lake Country Lutheran. 

 

Mr. Oldenburg joined the LCL staff in 2014 after beginning his career at Faith Lutheran Jr./Sr. High School in Las Vegas. He currently teaches Sophomore English, Modern Literature, and A.P. Language and Composition. In addition, he is the head cross country coach, and also assists with the track program.

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