Mr. David Robinson, M.Ed.

I accepted the call to be principal at Word of Life the summer of 2004. I am an Arkansas native. I spent twelve years in the Bryant public school system where he graduated in 1990. I come to Word of Life with 8 years of teaching and administration in Lutheran schools including ministry in Nebraska, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I am a 1996 graduate of Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska with a Bachelors of Science in Education with minors in youth ministry and physical education. I received a Masters in Educational Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2002. My wife, Diana, is also a graduate from Concordia University with an undergraduate and graduate degree in Early Childhood. Both of my children attend Word of Life.

Mrs. Brenda Haverman

SECRETARY

I have been with Word of Life as a secretary for five years. Before coming to Word of Life, I managed a lumber wholesale office. I have three grown children; Andrew, Jessica and Thomas and a dog named Shadow. I volunteered in school in many ways while my children were growing up. I am very active in church, like to walk, crochet, quilt, and am always trying something new. I love pizza, chocolate and pepsi. My joy in life is helping others which fits in perfectly with my duties at Word of Life.

Mrs. Ronda O’Toole, Aide

PRE-AIDE

I have been with Word of Life Lutheran School for nine years. During that time, I have been an aide for preschool and kindergarten, as well as teaching a three year old preschool class. I have also coached fifth and sixth grade girl’s volleyball for five years. Prior to working for Word of Life, I worked in the Health Insurance Industry for fifteen years. My jobs consisted of Claims Adjuster, Customer Service, Auditor, and Systems Coordinator. I am married with three children, all of which attended Word of Life School from preschool through eighth grade.

Mrs. Cheryl Chambers, B.S.

KINDERGARTEN

Hi! Currently I am a Kindergarten teacher here at Word of Life School. When my youngest, Brendan was in Mrs. Colloton's kindergarten class I was asked to be a substitute. That was roughly 13 years ago, since my son will be 18 in October of this year. From there I was an aide and later was offered a teaching position. I am a native of St. Louis and love all this city has to offer. My Bachelor of Arts degree is from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri. I have been married for 26 years to my husband, Jim who works for Murphy Company as a senior project manager. We have two children, Allison, 22 and Brendan age 17. We are new members of Webster Gardens Lutheran Church.

Mrs. Jill Moormann, M.A.

KINDERGARTEN

My name is Mrs. Jill Moormann. I am so happy to be a part of the wonderful family at Word of Life Lutheran School. I teach Kindergarten currently but have also taught 1st grade for several years at Word of Life. I am married and have a 2 year old daughter. In my free time I enjoy spending time with friends and family. Cooking and walking at the park.

Mrs. Dorothy Gehrke, M.A.

GRADE ONE

My husband and I both are blessed with careers in Lutheran School Ministry. I have thirty-two years teaching experience in Lutheran Schools with an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction. I have taught pre-school, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 4th grade serving First Immanuel Lutheran, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Trinity Lutheran, Springfield, Illinois, and St. Peter Lutheran, Arlington Heights, Illinois. This is my second year teaching 1st grade at Word of Life and I feel blessed to be a part of the Word of Life family. I have three married children and seven grandchildren living in Denver, Minneapolis, and Jacksonville, Illinois – all much too far away to suit me. I love sharing my love for Jesus and my love for reading with my first graders.

Mrs. Catherine Tanney, M.A.

GRADE TWO

This is my second year as a teacher at Word of Life. I graduated from the University of Iowa and then completed my master’s degree at the Interamerican University in Puerto Rico. My husband, Michael, our four boys and I lived in Venezuela for thirteen years and Puerto Rico for six, serving as missionaries with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. During our years in Puerto Rico, I had the opportunity to teach at bilingual and English immersion schools.

Ms. Katie Luepke, B.A. 

GRADE THREE

Favorite Bible Verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5. My Greatest Joy in working in Christian School: I enjoy sharing my faith and being a witness of God’s love to my students. I love W.O.L. because…Word of Life feels like a big family. Even though we are divided amongst 3 locations, we are united in Christ. You can feel the togetherness of the faculty, staff, and students as soon as you walk into the building. Significant Life Experiences that have led me to W.O.L.: I come from a family of Lutheran school teachers. My grandfather and father were both great influences on me, as my grandfather was the principal at Salem, Affton, and my father teaches at Holy Cross Lutheran in Ft. Wayne, IN. I graduated from Concordia University, River Forest in 2005 with a B.A. in Elementary Education and a concentration in Art. Other Activities I am involved with at W.O.L.: Coaching A1 Girls’ Volleyball and Track.

Mrs. Alicia Klug, M.A.

I graduated from Concordia University in Chicago, Illinois with a BA in secondary education – English. I then taught high school and junior high school English for four years. I went on to get my MA from Webster University, where my focus was elementary education. I am beginning my seventh year at Word of Life where I have taught grades one through four either as the homeroom teacher or a specialty teacher. I am currently the Primary Campus Administrator and teach first through third grade Language Arts. My husband, Zack, has also been in the Lutheran teaching ministry for ten years, and teaches high school math. We are blessed with a son, who is four years old, and a daughter who is nearly two years old. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends and coaching the dance team at Lutheran South.

Mrs. Connie Colloton, B.A.

GRADE FOUR

 I graduated from SIU Edwardsville with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. I also attended Harris Stowe University for 2 years in 2004/2005 with an emphasis on Elementary Education. I have been blessed to be working at Word of Life for the past 17 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. I have been a member at Ascension for over 25 years. I have two beautiful girls aged 19 and 23 attending University of Missouri at Columbia.

Mrs. Laurie Jones, B.S.

GRADE FIVE

BA in Political Science from the University of Missouri – Columbia 1985 Teaching certificate from Webster University- 2006 (including 18 hours of Masters in Teaching work) This is my 3rd year of teaching at WOL. Prior to WOL, I taught outdoor education for Camp Wyman in Eureka, MO. I have four children, all of whom attended WOL. My two sons have gone on to Lutheran High School South.

Mrs. Diane Meyr, M.A.

GRADE SIX

 I graduated from the University of Missouri St. Louis with a bachelor's in elementary education and a master's in elementary education with reading specialization. I am currently in my 6th year at Word of Life, and I taught one previous year at St. Johns in the city, now King of Glory.

Mr. John Hohenstein

GRADE SEVEN 

 I was born and raised in St. Louis. He is an alumnus of Green Park Lutheran School, Lutheran High School South, and Concordia University, River Forest. This is my first year at Word of Life as the seventh grade teacher and athletic director. I am married to Becky, who teachers at St. Paul's Lutheran School and we have three children; Tim who is married to Kim, is the Sports Director for the Wildwood YMCA, Lori, a kindergarten teacher at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Collinsville, Illinois, and Dan who is a sophomore at Westminster College. I enjoy spending time with his family, and I am an avid sport's fan. I am happy to have the opportunity to teach at Word of Life and give God glory for being able to share His love through my teaching.

 

Mr. Scott Rowsell, B.A.

GRADE EIGHT

 I am beginning my 8th year of teaching, all of which have been at Word of Life. Prior to teaching, I worked as a pension valuation analyst and as a magazine circulation auditor. In addition to my teaching certification in Mathematics, I have a B.A. in Economics and a Lutheran Teaching Diploma. I also serve as the 7th & 8th grade girls basketball coach.

Mr. Matthew Springer, M.A.

SCIENCE

I have been a teacher in Lutheran schools for 21 years. After graduating from Concordia College – River Forest in 1987, I was called to Child of Christ Lutheran School and Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hartland, Michigan. I served as a junior high level teacher for seven years in Hartland before receiving the Call to Word of Life. During my fourteen years at W.O.L., I have continued to work with junior high students, variously serving as seventh and eighth grade homeroom teacher with departmentalized literature instruction duties. During the last five school years, I have served as Word of Life’s science instructor for grades 4-8. I have a bachelor’s degree in education with a concentration in natural science and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. My family includes my wife, Mara, and my son, Garrick.

Mrs. Carol Benninghoff, M.M.Ed.

MUSIC

 I teach classroom music to grades 1 - 8 and offers a recorder, choir and handbell program to students in the 4th - 8th grades. I holds music education degrees from the University of Mo - St. Louis and Webster University. I have taught music in both public and parochial schools for more than 30 years and have served several churches in areas of music ministry. I am presently serving Ascension Lutheran Church as Director of Music.

Mr. Matt Janssen

BAND

Alisha Jones

COUNSELOR

 I have a MA in Counseling from Missouri Baptist University in 2009 (K-12 Certified). I have a  BS, Psychology from Missouri Southern State University in 2004. I am married, but we have no kids.  I am a member of First Baptist Church of Harvester.  I enjoy running and competing in various races, water sports, traveling, and the lake with friends and family.

Mr. John Hohenstein

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

 I was born and raised in St. Louis. He is an alumnus of Green Park Lutheran School, Lutheran High School South, and Concordia University, River Forest. This is my first year at Word of Life as the seventh grade teacher and athletic director. I am married to Becky, who teachers at St. Paul's Lutheran School and we have three children; Tim who is married to Kim, is the Sports Director for the Wildwood YMCA, Lori, a kindergarten teacher at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Collinsville, Illinois, and Dan who is a sophomore at Westminster College. I enjoy spending time with his family, and I am an avid sport's fan. I am happy to have the opportunity to teach at Word of Life and give God glory for being able to share His love through my teaching.

Leslie Todd

MAIN CAMPUS COOK

Joan Bonnell

PRIMARY CAMPUS COOK

I was born and raised in St.Louis and actually live in the same house I grew up in. I attended Concordia Maplewood for grade school and Lutheran South for high school. I have worked for Word of Life since 1990, and I have run the Timothy campus since it opened in 1992. I am married to Don and we have four grown children, Janet, Jennifer, Julie and Jonathan. All of them attended WOL.

 

Mrs. Carol Lima, M.S., CCC/SLP

SPEECH TEACHER

I, Carol Lima M.S. CCC/SLP, am a licensed and certified Speech/Language Pathologist with 25+ years of pediatric experience in the diagnosis and treatment of children with speech, language, voice, fluency, academic, and social language disorders. I am a wife and mother and a fan of chocolate, animals, and soccer.

 

Mrs. Debbie Weltmer

CLASSROOM RESOURCE

I am a graduate of the University of a Missouri-Columbia with a BS in Special Education. I have taught at several schools including in the Windsor and Mehville School Districts and at Our Savior Lutheran in Fenton. I am married and have two super children, Megan and Michael. I am very excited about being here at Word of Life School and anticipate a super year!