Awesome and Inspiring

by Kerry Ognenoff

After 15 years as a stay-at-home mom to her four kids, the call Carrie Henning received to St. John’s to teach K3 came at the perfect time. Though most of her prior teaching experience was at Lutheran High Schools, Carrie quickly discovered that she absolutely loved working with young children. “Thanks and praise to God for figuring it all out and leading me to it. If you told me teaching K3 would be my dream, I wouldn’t have believed you. Accepting the call to teach at St. John’s took very little deliberation. It was clear.”

Carrie’s favorite part of teaching K3 at St. John’s has been seeing first-hand the work of the Holy Spirit in God’s littlest lambs as she teaches them about their Savior. She describes this aspect of her work as “awesome and inspiring!” She has also loved planning the special Christmas and Easter services for the Early Learning Center (ELC) classes, being involved in Bedtime Blessings, carnival games before the spring play each year, and many other ELC events. She values the building of strong relationships through these events.

During her years at St. John’s, Carrie developed strong and lasting friendships with her colleagues. She especially treasured her years working alongside Julie Campbell as her classroom aide. “Julie could teach a master class on how to be an aide. She’s simply the best!”

Some of Carrie’s other favorite memories from St. John’s include sneaking into certain called workers’ offices to decorate for their birthdays, lunches out with friends at the end of her school day, and social gatherings with valued friends from the St. John’s faculty. And, of course, Carrie adores her students.

As Carrie wraps up her final school year at St. John’s, she would like to leave the following sentiment with her St. John’s families: “Thank you! I don’t have words to express my gratitude and love for St. John’s. I’ve grown in my faith and skills while feeling your love and support. May God bless and keep you always!”

Next school year, Carrie will be headed to Christ Alone in Thiensville, WI, as their 3K and 4K teacher. After nearly 10 years of service at St. John’s, Carrie is ready to once again serve alongside her husband (who also accepted a call to Christ Alone as their new principal), and utilize her passions and talents as a teacher to help Christ Alone grow their school. Carrie, St. John’s was blessed beyond measure to have you as part of the ELC team. We wish you God’s blessings on your next adventure.