I am the preschool teacher at Zion Lutheran School.  I have been teaching Preschool here since 1996.  Along with teaching Preschool I also teach Art and Music in the upper grades as well as direct our youth choir and other musical activities

I was born in Chicago, IL.  Due to the fact that my father was a pastor I lived in many different cities and states throughout my childhood.  I attended high School a MLS in Saginaw, Mi. and continued my college education at DMLC in New Ulm, MN.

My husband Mike (who is also a teacher) and I have lived in Washington, Michigan and now Colorado for the past 19 years.  We have 3 children, Jessica, who teaches 6th grade in southwest Denver, Nicholas, who is in his last year of college, and Chelsea, who is a junior in high school.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with my family, gardening, reading camping, hiking, photography and of course shopping.

God has truly blessed my work here at Zion and I look forward to using my talents in the future to share His word with young children and their families.

I would like to tell you about myself.  My name is Mrs. Bizal.  My family and I moved from Arizona during the summer of 2003.  We are thankful to be living in Colorful Colorado!  It is a beautiful part of God’s creation and we hope to learn more about the state and explore much of it.

Mr. Bizal is a forester and helps out Smokey Bear!  We met while I was teaching at East Fork Lutheran Mission on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.  We were married on August 16, 1980.

We enjoyed our years in Arizona.  The Sonoran Desert is the only desert of its’ kind in the world, and holds many secrets!  Our three children were born in Arizona.  Allison is an RN at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.  Stephen, a Columbine graduate, is working hard.  Matthew graduated from Dakota Ridge and entered the United States Army.  He served for 15 months in Baghdad and is now home safe and sound, serves as a soldier for the Colorado National Guard and is taking college classes.  Another important member of our family is our dog, Herbie.

My birthday is December 30th.  I like to do many things: study the Word of God and worship Him with fellow Christians, bake, crochet, sew, quilt, read, music, take long walks with Herby and Mr. Bizal, explore Colorado and travel to other locations.  Television shows I like include: Monk, News, Food TV, Packer, Badger and Brewer games.

I am very thankful to God for the opportunity to serve Him in the Kindergarten classroom as your teacher!  I am excited to get to know you and your family!  I pray we all grow in our love and knowledge of Jesus our Savior.  I pray that you enjoy school at Zion Lutheran and that you will be excited to move on to First Grade!

I have been teaching at Zion since 1999. I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN. I have experience teaching Kindergarten through 2nd grade and I worked at Head Start with 3-5 year-olds for 6 months. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to serve God in a parochial school and I am so honored and privileged to be able to teach grades 1 and 2 at our wonderful school, Zion.

I was born in Alma, Nebraska and lived with my family for 5 years in Oxford, NE on the Schleusener family farm. My parents believed in the importance of a Christian education, so they gave up inheriting the farm and moved three hours away from grandpa and grandma to a dairy farm in Seward, NE, so that my four brothers, sister and I could attend Trinity Lutheran grade school and Nebraska Lutheran High School in Waco, NE.

After living on country farms and in a village, attending a one room grade school and graduating from high school with only 17 classmates, I have come to appreciate a simple life, family atmosphere, and the outdoors. I experience all three of those living in Denver and serving at Zion. Yes, Denver is the largest place I have ever lived in and it took awhile to get used to city driving, but I have loved being here since the moment I saw the city on the western horizon with the majestic Rocky Mountains right behind. I first saw Denver’s silhouette shortly after driving through a scary hailstorm, and then there it was, with a beautiful rainbow beside it, reminding me that God was right there with me and always keeps his promises.

I am married to Matt Merklinger and we both enjoy traveling, camping, hiking, biking, movies and walking our two dogs, Coco and McKinley. I also enjoy drawing, reading, cooking, shopping, listening to music, sewing and playing a little guitar and piano. My dreams are to become a children’s book illustrator and to get a Master’s Degree in Teaching Reading along with training to be a reading specialist.

May God bless us as we work together to “train our children in the way that they should go, and when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Hello, my name is Mrs. Gawel and I am the 3-5 grade teacher at Zion Evangelical Lutheran School. 

I have attended Lutheran schools all my life, beginning with kindergarten at St. John’s Lutheran Day School in Mukwonago, WI.   There I met the teachers that inspired me to become an educator.  My favorite subjects were Creative Writing, Penmanship, and Spelling. After grade school I attended Wisconsin Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  My favorite high school classes were literature and pottery.  I was a member of the National Honors Society.  I also played volleyball and soccer.  In 1999, I traveled to Minnesota to attend Martin Luther College.  There I pursued a degree in Education with an emphasis in English.  I graduated in 2003 and received my first assignment to teach grades 3-4 at Zion in Denver, Colorado.  I enjoy reading professional development books, taking classes, and attending workshops to keep on learning and to develop my teaching skills.

I love to teach, I am proud to be a teacher, and I am thankful that God has given me the ability and opportunity to teach.  I look forward to another exciting school year at Zion!

Kip D. Wilson Zion Lutheran School Denver, CO Grades 6-8

I have had a wide variety of teaching experiences throughout my college and teaching career. I started with student teaching in college with just grade seven for ten weeks. Following graduation and the call service, my first teaching experience was with grades 3-5 at Immanuel Lutheran School in Kewaunee, WI. Two years later, I was called to teach grades 6-8 for Immanuel Lutheran School and become principal.  This was an experience I still treasure to this day. I loved everything I did, especially leading a school as principal. This experience lasted three years. I decided to take a call to teach grades 5-6 and coaching. This call was at First Lutheran Church and School in La Crosse, WI. This call also was for three years. I took a call to teach grades 7-8 at St. Peters Lutheran Church and School at Sturgeon Bay, WI. Here I was also Athletic Director, Technology Coordinator, and Curriculum Developer. Currently, I am serving Zion Lutheran School in Denver, CO, teaching grades 6-8 and resuming being a principal. Each call, the Lord has put me into position to use the talents and skills to further His ministry of sharing the gospel to the sheep and lambs entrusted into my care.

As a teacher, I have always loved to teach Physical Education and Math early in my teaching career. My college degree has an emphasis in math.  Therefore, I really love the opportunity to teach Algebra I if I can. I know grade schools don’t always teach it, but I appreciate it when I can. Sports has definitely been a love of mine, therefore, that’s why I have love Physical Education so much.  But, times are changing, and I am appreciating the education opportunities in other classes as well. Authentic teaching and assessments are a personal favorite of mine to create and do in my classroom. My weather multi-disciplinary design I created last year really went well and I plan to use it here at Zion as well. I also intend to make another design next summer. Providing variety instructional opportunities, a variety of assessments, and using base groups has given me a lot of different ways to make the school day different each day. My classroom days do not usually follow the norm. I create different learning environments with joyful attitudes in my classroom as much as possible. Sometimes, they can be quite humorous from the adolescent view. I do what I can to draw interest and catch their curiosity early in the morning and try to maintain it for the rest of the day. I want a joyous, motivated group to begin each day with the Word of God and use it throughout their day and life. This is truly a wonderful joy, not a job, to work with children each day. To close, let’s just say Veggie Tales has been a theme for my classroom and life, “I will sing of the Mercies of the Lord Forever.” Praise the Lord for my service to Him!

As important as ministry is, my family, comes first in my life and calling. My wife, Sarah, and I have been married for 8 years. We have been blessed with 3 lovely girls. Kendra, 6, is in 1st grade this year. She really loves school, friends, and playing soccer. Ava, 3, is in 3 yr. old Preschool this year. She is hilarious with her comments and actions throughout the day, possible future comedian. Karina, 1, has started her own type of personality. Joyous and outgoing at the ripe age of 1, she is as precious as the other girls. We thank the Lord daily for our children and praise the Lord for all the blessings He has showered us with!