Valley Vision
June 2016
Mr. Zill’s Going Fishin’
After 39 years of serving the LCMS,
the last 29 years here at VLHS, Mr.
Steve Zill will be retiring from the
teaching ministry. If it were possible
to describe Zill with one word, Executive Director John Brandt would
choose “love”: “He loves science and
shares it with everyone. He loves
learning and shares it with everyone.
He loves kids and shares that love
with all students. He loves Jesus and
shares Him with everyone. But Zill
can’t be described in one word.”
So we will use many words in tribute to a teacher who has impacted so
many young people and their families
at Valley Lutheran. Students, past
and present, remember Mr. Zill’s
infectious laughter, his classroom collections, his love of life, crazy experiments, and his deep, abiding faith in
the Creator of all. Ashley Krenz,
current VLHS senior, looked forward
to Mr. Zill’s class everyday: “I was
excited to see what we were going to
do. It ranged from cheesy 80’s mov-
ies to songs to something exploding.
Mr. Zill was able to show us how to
connect our faith to even the simplest
of things and share it in a fun way with
the rest of the world.”
It is the students and this connection to a living faith that Zill will miss
the most about being in the classroom:
“I have been teaching science and
theology together for years. This has
helped me to grow tremendously spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.
Seeing the kids take their faith as their
own and living what they have learned
is the greatest reward that has come
from teaching!”
Zill has many favorite memories
of his 29 years at VLHS that include
chemistry room experiments, spiritually uplifting chapel moments, and
coaching girls’ soccer. In particular,
he fondly recalls the year his team
came into a district game with a plan
to win against an undefeated Nouvel
team coached by Raji Mondol and
came out on top with a 6-5 win. But
if anything sticks with him the most
from his time here at Valley, it “would
have to be spending every day with
awesome kids and a great faculty!”
Not only has Zill been a blessing
to his students but to the people who
have had the honor to partner with
him in this ministry. Brandt recalls
the first faculty retreat Mr. Zill attended as a new teacher, at a resort where
a small stocked trout pond was located
for non-fishing enjoyment: “As we
approached the pond, there is our
new teacher, Mr. Zill, reaching into
his pocket for a Popiel Pocket Fisherman. He cast a line and caught a fish.
Released it. Cast again and caught
continued p. 2
Unexpected
A few years ago, I was contacted
by a former student who wanted to
meet with me when he came back to
town. Under normal circumstances,
this wouldn’t be a big deal, but this
was summer. My first thoughts were
“What is he going to try to sell me?”
and “How can I get out of this?”
However, I felt like this was different,
and so, I made arrangements to meet
with him at school.
When we met, there was some
small talk to start, and then he finally
shared why he wanted to meet with
me. This former student had become
a teacher and just finished a particularly tough year. Having struggled
through that year, he reflected on
his high school years and wanted to
come back to apologize for something
he had done to me while he was in
school. The funny thing is, I had no
recollection of what had happened
then, and I still don’t to this day. You
see, as we continued to talk, I never
asked him what he had done, and I
didn’t want to know. What was more
important was helping this young
man move on from his rough year
and to help him see where God was
leading him now.
When our conversation was over,
my former student said, “Well that
didn’t go how I expected it!” And,
isn’t that how it is with God? He
so easily turns the usual into the
unusual, our expectations into the
unexpected. As we head into the
summer and in different directions,
we may not see what is ahead, but
we are reminded in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to
give you a hope and a future.”
~Paul Eschmann
Valley Lutheran High School • 3560 McCarty Road • Saginaw, MI 48603
(989) 790-1676 • Fax (989) 790-1680 • www.vlhs.com
www.facebook.com/ValleyLutheranSaginaw
Global Issues Students Fund
World Vision Projects
TVC Academic All Conference 2016
Congratulations to seniors (l-r) Amber Streeter, Lucas
Weiss, and Benjamin Doyle, who were named to the TVC
Academic All Conference team based on their combined GPA
and ACT test scores.
Mr. Zill’s Going Fishing’
cont. from p. 1
another. Then the resort management drove up. A few smiles.
A few laughs. A few apologies and we got back to work.”
Doug Guenther, fellow science teacher and zany photo
collaborator, remembers getting a ride to school in Zill’s Chevette that was missing not only a muffler and a side window,
but also the gear shift stick. Zill had to stick his hand in the
gear box to shift, giving new meaning to the term “manual
transmission.” As Zill’s classroom neighbor for many years,
Guenther “quickly got used to explosions, smoke, strange
smells, and screams of laughter. The only time I ever got nervous was when it was quiet. But that was pretty rare.”
Guenther sums up what we all love and will miss about
Mr. Zill: “I have never met anyone more willing to share his
faith and have genuine faith discussions than Steve. He has
inspired me to be a better Christian and a better role model.”
We thank you, Mr. Zill, a true fisher of men, for sharing
Christ’s love and making us smile while doing so!
Miss Feldkamp’s Global Issues classes have been studying essential needs, even fasting for twenty-hours to better
appreciate what hunger may be like. With money raised from
individual contributions and a school-wide bake sale, each
class decided on individual World Vision projects to support.
Once the students saw how their money could make a
real difference, they were motivated to raise even more. The
initial $800 raised turned in to over $1000 the week the
students started choosing the projects to fund. These projects included: malaria prevention mosquito nets, PUR water
packets for villages, fruit trees, tools, seeds, and training for
farmers, medicine for villages, water treatment tables for a
year, education for three children for a year, ducks, food, fishing kits to provide a sustainable food source, and job training for a young girl. Many of the gifts were given more than
once and the medicine and food were multiplied 12x times by
other organizations. Additionally $50.00 was donated to help
Ecuador earthquake victims with fresh water. Feldkamp, who
has organized this project for more than ten years, believes
it is, “amazing what we can do to make a difference when we
simply do something, however great or small. Our gifts are
multiplied and so is our joy.”
Upcoming Events
June 7-9
Final Exams
June 12
Graduation, 2pm
(Doors open at 1pm)
June 14
Weekly Sports, Fine Arts, and
Academic Summer Camps begin
Gifts to VLHS help provide an education with Christ as the foundation. During this past year, gifts were received:
In Memory of...
Helen Adams
Gitta Allmann
Alvin Appold
Harold Appold
Norbert Begick
John Berger
Jerry Boehm
Edward Breitkreitz
Hulda Burk
Al Christiansen
Theodore Damzyn
Carol David
Virginia Ellis
Gregg Engelhardt
William Michael Felten
Marjorie Haubenstricker
Karen Henry
Pete Hillman
Robert Hirschman
Richard Kall
Joseph C. Kinderman
Evelyn Klimmek
Carol Krach
David Krause
Mary Lawrence
Carla Meyer
Edna Meyerhuber
Esther Neumeyer
Margaret Niederstadt
Jean Patterson
Sarah Patterson
Henry Pickelmann
Phyllis Richert
Guy W. Robinson
Rev. Eugene Schooler
Grace Schroeder
June Shoskey
James Smith
Rev. Allen Stoll
Rev. Paul Theiss
Sally Thompson
Julianne Trautner
Anton Vasquez
Harold Wakeman
Evelyn Weiss
William Wendland
Michael Wuggazer
Arlene Zoellner
In Honor of...
John & Susan Brandt
Earl and Nonie Brechtelsbauer
Glenn and Marge Chapin
Dean and Joan Cress
Liam Shaw Estrada
Dr. Bill Holden
Lori Milroy
Kim Reiss
Tom Roekle
Keith Schaeff
Maggie Stroebel
Charles Wood Family
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