Faculty

Steve Hennig

Principal; Departmentalized Instruction

Mr, Hennig was born in Lansing, Michigan, and attended Lutheran Elementary School through grade 8. He attended Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, Michigan when he realized that his talents and abilities would best serve the Lord in the teaching ministry. Mr. Hennig spent four years at Dr. Martin Luther College and graduated in 1995 with a B.S. in Elementary Education. He was called to teach at Zion Lutheran School in Hartland, Wisconsin. There he served as the 3-4 grade teacher and Athletic Director. In 1999, he was called to teach 5-6 grade and serve as Martin Luther’s Athletic Director. Mr. Hennig serves as Principal and teacher at Martin Luther School. Mr. Hennig and his wife Ellen have three children.

Favorite Bible Passage: These words from the prophet Isaiah give Mr. Hennig comfort during difficult times in his life because he knows that God is in complete control. 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 hope and a future."

Erika Martin

Early Childhood Director

Mrs. Martin was born in Findlay, OH and attended Trinity Lutheran in Jenera, OH for grade school. She went to high school at Michigan Lutheran Seminary and went on to Martin Luther College, graduating in 2007 with a B.S. in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. She married Mr. Greg Martin while attending MLC.

Mrs. Martin was assigned to Shepherd Lutheran School in Albuquerque, NM and served as director and preschool teacher there for five years. While living in Albuquerque, the Martins were blessed with their two sons. She then moved to Jackson, MI to serve as the director of Jesus Loves Me Learning Center. After five years in Michigan, Mrs. Martin accepted the call to serve as director and Pre-K teacher here at Martin Luther.

Mrs. Martin’s favorite Bible passages are Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." and 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." Both of these passages are reminders that no matter where Mrs. Martin and her family are serving, the Lord is with them and guiding them.

Penny Lecker

Early Childhood Teacher

Mrs. Lecker was born and raised in Jefferson, WI and attended St. John’s Lutheran School and Jefferson High School. She attended Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN, Fox Valley Technical College and UW-Whitewater as she pursued her Early Childhood Care and Development degree. It was at DMLC that she met her husband, David. The Leckers reside in Fond du Lac, where David serves as principal and teacher at Redeemer Lutheran School.

While Mrs. Lecker is a Wisconsin native, she has lived most of her married life in Michigan. The Leckers have 3 married children with growing families. Mrs. Lecker was an assistant teacher with UW-Oshkosh Headstart and Day Care Coordinator for St. Paul’s Lutheran in Winneconne. She served as Preschool Director and Teacher for Trinity Lutheran School in Bay City, MI from 2001 - 2004 and Bethany Lutheran Preschool in Saginaw, MI from 2004 - 2017. The Leckers moved to Fond du Lac in July 2018. She most recently taught PreK-3 at Jesus Little Lambs in Fond du Lac before accepting the call to Martin Luther to serve as our PreK-3 teacher.

Mrs. Lecker’s favorite Bible passages are Joshua 1:9 (her Confirmation Verse) "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." and Psalm 118:24 " This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." These passages are daily reminders that God will care for and guide us in all circumstances. We can rejoice each day, knowing that God surrounds us with saving love!

Amy Busse

Kindergarten

Mrs. Amy Busse was born and raised in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. She attended Mt. Calvary Lutheran Elementary School, LaCrosse Central High School, and UW-LaCrosse, before attending Dr. Martin Luther College, from which she graduated in 1991. Her first assignment was to teach grades K-2 at St. Mark’s Lutheran School in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In 1994 she married Erich Busse of Oshkosh, WI, and became an instant mom of three children. In 1995 the Lord blessed their family with another son. Her family has since grown with the addition of two sons-in-law and three wonderful grandsons.

In 1997, she was called by Martin Luther Congregation to teach in the primary grades, and is currently serving as the Kindergarten teacher.

Mrs. Busse says, "The second verse of Hymn 573 has always had special meaning to me. It is the words of this verse and the encouragement of my grade school teachers that inspired me to enter the teaching ministry."

If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the Love of Jesus,
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked
With the Judgement’s dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior’s waiting arms.

Kristine LaPoint

1st Grade

Mrs. LaPoint grew up in Goodhue, MN where she attended St. John’s Lutheran School through 8th grade. She attended highschool at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wisconsin, then went on to Martin Luther College. She graduated in 2005 with a B.S. in Elementary Education. As a student in the "STEP" program, she also studied to teach in WELS high schools. She was Called to serve at Christ the King Lutheran School in Bremerton, Washington, teaching Kindergarten and various other classes from 1st through 8th grade.

During her first year of teaching, a friend from Wisconsin tried to set her up with a teacher in Lansing, Michigan named Todd LaPoint. She informed her friend that she wasn‘t interested in a long distance relationship. God had other plans, and she and Mr. LaPoint were married two years later. Mrs. LaPoint spent 6 years as a stay-at-home mom with their three children while still filling in at school where needed, serving as an organist and choir director, and helping with Christ the King’s Mom‘s Group and women’s group. She accepted a call in 2022 to serve as the 1st grade teacher and school Music director at Martin Luther.

One of Mrs. LaPoint‘s favorite sections of the Bible is Psalm 27. In a world that’s full of temptations to doubt God‘s power, this psalm is a powerful statement of faith, asking, "The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear?" in verse one, and closing with a reminder to wait on God’s perfect timing in verses 13 and 14: "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." She also loves Romans 8:38-39 (which ended up being her graduation verses in both highschool and college): "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Shannan Borchardt

2nd Grade

Mrs. Shannan Borchardt was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin where her grandpa served as principal at Luther Highschool and her grandma as a grade school teacher at St. Pauls. Through various moves with her family, she attended St. Matthews in Janesville and St. Marks in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Mrs. Borchardt went to Lakeside Lutheran Highschool in Lake Mills and graduated in 2007. From there she attended the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin and then transferred to the University of Oshkosh-Wisconsin and graduated in 2012.

Shannan married her husband, Tim Borchardt, in 2013. They have been blessed with 3 beautiful children; Charlie(2014), Henry(2016), and Riley(2019).

Shannan was called in 2022 to teach 2nd grade at Martin Luther. She also teaches physical education to the kindergarten and 1st-grade classes, as well as 1st-grade social studies.

Shannan has two passages from the Bible that have always held special meaning for her.

Her confirmation verse:

Romans 8:28-And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This verse was a favorite to both her father and grandfather who have been called to their eternal resting place in heaven.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Kate Schroeder

3rd Grade

Kate is the daughter of a WELS pastor and teacher and grew up in the rural town of Readfield, Wisconsin. She is a graduate of Fox Valley Lutheran High School and Dr. Martin Luther College and served her first call teaching K-1 in Redding, California. After their marriage, Kate and her husband Dave Schroeder were assigned to serve calls in a two room school in Reno, Nevada. Here they lived and had their first two children. Kate taught K-2 and ran the after school care program. In 1998 Dave accepted a call to serve at Reformation Lutheran in San Diego, California. Kate served as a departmentalized teacher for 4 years and as a preschool teacher for two before having their third child. In 2005 Dave accepted a call to serve at Trinity Lutheran in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Here Kate served as a childcare director and lower grade teacher for 6 years. Kate and her family currently live in Fond du Lac, where Dave is principal of Winnebago Lutheran Academy and she served as an assistant director at Jesus’ Little Lambs childcare before accepting her call to Martin Luther.

Todd LaPoint

4th Grade

Mr. LaPoint was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and attended Grace Lutheran School until grade 5, Winneconne Middle for grade 6, and then back to Grace for 7-8. He then attended Winnebago Lutheran Academy in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, graduating in 1994. He went on to Dr. Martin Luther College and Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, graduating in 2000. Mr. LaPoint was called to teach at Emanuel First Lutheran School in Lansing, Michigan, where he taught until 2007. He then accepted a two-year call to Christ the King in Bremerton, Washington. After that he worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs processing veteran disability compensation claims and mentoring. In 2022, he received the call to teach 4 th grade at Martin Luther, where his wife had also been called to teach 1 st grade. Mr. LaPoint and his wife have three children.
Favorite passage: For my favorite passage, I wanted to pick Genesis 1:1 – Revelation 22:21, but I didn’t want to type it all up. In lieu of that, my favorite passage is Proverbs 24:11, which so descriptively emphasizes the urgency of sharing Jesus and caring for our neighbor -- Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Proverbs 24:11+
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Josh Arndt

Grades 7-8; Athletic Director

Mr. Joshua Arndt was born in Marshall, MN. Through various family moves he attended Palos Heights Lutheran, Riverview Lutheran, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Elementary Schools through 8th grade. He then went on to St. Croix Lutheran High School in West St. Paul, MN. He graduated from Martin Luther College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.

He was assigned by the WELS to Martin Luther School in 2019 where he serves as 7-8 grade teacher as well as Athletic Director. He married Bethany Hennen in 2019

Joshua’s favorite section of the bible is Romans 8:31-39. This is the section that includes the famous phrase, “ We are More than Conquerors.”

Becky Korthals

Departmentalized Instruction; Resource Teacher

Mrs. Becky Korthals was born and raised in Tomah, WI. She attended St. Paul’s Grade School and Tomah Sr. High. She then went on to the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse to receive her teaching degree.

She married Gordy Korthals in 1986, and they have two children, Allison and Taylor. Because her husband was in the US Navy, Becky has lived in many places including Virginia, New Jersey, and Okinawa, Japan. They moved to Oshkosh in 1999.

Becky has been teaching in various capacities at Martin Luther School since 2000. She now teaches 5th and 6th grade language arts, 2nd grade math, and is the Resource Teacher.

She and Gordy have been blessed with two beautiful granddaughters.

Becky’s favorite bible passage is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”