Fox Valley Lutheran Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

February 2008

Role and Function
The Teacher will both challenge and assist students, through the integration of education and the Christian faith, to gain the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary to live as disciples of Christ serving God and others.

Qualities and Characteristics
The following identify professional qualities and personal characteristics that will enhance the performance of assigned tasks:

The Teacher will:

• Exemplify a Christian faith and servant life.
• Demonstrate a high degree of skill in teaching to all levels of students.
• Be able to inspire students towards excellence.
• Show initiative and resourcefulness.
• Be committed to and passionately promote the school’s vision and mission, the overall ministry and the well-being of Fox Valley Lutheran Academy.
• Have the ability to work as a team member.
• Be a communicator who possesses warmth and understanding in dealing with students, parents, and fellow faculty and staff members.
• Possess a sympathetic attitude toward the views of other people.
• Demonstrate patience, perseverance, and forgiveness.
• Possess a desire for continuous personal, professional, and spiritual growth.

• Is committed to personal growth in Word and Sacrament.
• Will exhibit enthusiasm for the gospel by demonstrating a personal faith, speaking freely and often of his/her personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and humbly accepting God’s grace.
• Will exemplify the Christian faith in judgment, respect, and Christian living, by being a role model both in and out of school to students and by living as an example to parents, fellow faculty and staff members, and the community-at-large.
• Will demonstrate servant leadership and will encourage the spirit of ministry among all those who serve or attend the school.
• Will integrate faith into all instruction.

• Will continue to advance professionally and seek improvement in the areas of the teaching/learning process, methodology, educational objectives, student needs, curriculum, school environment, and Lutheran education.
• Will establish individual educational goals, cooperate with the administration, and strive toward self-improvement.
• Will promote a climate that fosters personal accountability among self, students, and fellow staff members.
• Will represent the school in a favorable, Christian and professional manner to the school constituency and community.
• Will actively participate in the ongoing improvement plan of the school and maintain appropriate personal teaching standards.
• Will consistently seek performance feedback and demonstrate accountability by actively participating in the performance enhancement process.
• Will maintain a teachable attitude by seeking the counsel of the administrator, colleagues, and parents.
• Will practice good professional ethics when dealing with issues of confidentiality.
• Will effectively communicate thoughts and feelings while listening to others in an open manner.
• Will be accessible and responsive to parents.
• Will enthusiastically promote the uniqueness of the school wherever and whenever possible with an attitude of desired service to the organization.
• Will model faith-filled, calm, confident servant leadership.
• Will possess core knowledge and competencies.
• Will hold a valid teaching certificate from the state of residence.
• Will take advantage of opportunity to study, reflect, and apply learning.

• Will educate using excellent instruction, solidly equipping students with life skills.
• Will adapt to the learning needs of students, using a variety of effective instructional aids, methods and materials, in order to allow students to master concepts, knowledge, and skills as outlined in the school curriculum.
• Will use the assessment process to enhance student learning.
• Will diagnose student difficulties and seek solutions, constantly searching for multiple options to activate student learning.
• Will develop a culture of mutual respect.
• Will recognize the intrinsic value of each student through attention to his/her spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and academic needs.
• Will intentionally plan opportunities and activities that extend learning beyond the textbook (i.e., field trips, guest speakers, other media, etc…).
• Will maintain a comprehensive knowledge of each student’s progress by assessing the learning of students on a regular basis, keeping regular and accurate attendance and grade reports, providing required progress reports, and informing students, parents, and administration of serious deficiencies and failure with sufficient notice.
• Will promote leadership development through educational programs and practical experiences.
• Will work to build a strong academic curriculum enabling students to more fully reach their potential.
• Will emphasize critical thinking and effective communication of ideas.
• Will integrate current teaching methodologies and technology into the instructional process.
• Will effectively manage classroom routines and structure.
• Will inspire student ownership of the learning environment.

Delving deeper into fascinating topics and providing hands-on opportunities to learn is the purpose behind the Winterm seminar program that FVLA offered its students in January. By using a variety of opportunities to expand the time spent discussing and learning, students and teachers took education beyond the normal classroom experience creating excitement and increasing interest and involvement.

Each day focused on a different topic, and all activities, varied in nature, enhanced understanding of the issues surrounding that topic. Problems studied during the week-long program included world hunger, leadership and teamwork development, computer ethics with implications for the student both now and in the future workplace, the environmental impact of being green, and the challenges of stress and life-style on healthy living. By dealing with a separate topic each day, students began to uncover the complexities involved, and thereby connected learning to life and increased the relevancy of the material to each individual.

By having a full day to focus on each theme, students not only had a better opportunity to internalize the intricacies of the subject; they also became more deeply involved. For example, after spending the morning dealing with the problem of world hunger by examining the topic from all different angles of the curriculum, the school has arranged with the Feed My Starving Children organization to spend the afternoon doing something about world hunger by preparing nutrition packets to be sent to starving children who are suffering. This provided an advantage over regular classroom teaching where it is more difficult to follow up learning about issues with being able to do something about them.

To offer this superb opportunity, the school administered semester exams on the last days before Christmas, thereby having students complete the course of study for the first half of the year. During the first week back following Christmas break, the Winterm seminar program provided the learning focus before the second semester began on January 12th.

All of what the students experienced during that week in January is part of the better opportunity and more growth that FVLA can and does offer its students.