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| My siblings from left to right: Brooke(32), Luke(27), Me, Gretyl(18) |
Hello to all and especially my sixth grade class! I am Mr. Bremer and I will be your teacher for the 12'-13' school year. You have found your way to my blog which I have started for my first year here at St. John. I will use this as a way to provide an easy communication tool between my students, parents and myself. Also, feel free to share this blog with relatives that would like to see what the kids are up to in school. If you have any ideas for things that you would like to see on the blog, I would be glad to hear them. I used this format once before in college but I am still fairly new to the whole blogging thing. Since school hasn’t begun, I have nothing to share with you on the homework front! I will take this space to introduce myself and provide you with some insight on who I am and where I come from.
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| GO BIG RED! |
I was born and raised in Grand Island, NE, where the terrain is flat and the wind blows all the time. We don't have a lot that is really exciting in Nebraska except for the fact that we are home to the greatest college football team in all the land. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are what we live for! I know it hasn't been that way lately but mark my words, the championships will return to their rightful home in Lincoln, NE soon! I thought I should get that out of the way quickly since there is a Badger team that is kind of big around here.
My life in Grand Island, NE was structured around the Church (literally). My father is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church and we lived in the parsonage on the church property. I just want to let you know from what I was able to see firsthand, the pastor’s wife deserves recognition for doing what they do. In my family, there are two boys and two girls, with the two boys in the middle, and we were a handful. By we, I mean me, because I was an energetic, stubborn, and downright annoying kid. My mother stuck it out with us at home and I appreciate everything she sacrificed for us.
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| 2005 Nebraska State Meet |
I grew up in Lutheran Schools and loved the education that I received, but even more important was the faith aspect that these schools provided me. Being able to go to school and pray, study religion and openly discuss my faith helped shape who I am today. My parents knew the importance of this and really took a strong stance on Lutheran education with the support they gave to the schools. They helped start Heartland Lutheran High School in Grand Island which I attended. When I started high school I received a lot of questions from friends that went to public schools about why I would want to attend this new school when all we had was a tiny school building and no gym. But what we did have was more important than any of that, it was a Christian environment that fostered a community built abound faith. Also, I had the opportunity to participate in many activities that I wouldn't have had the chance to or taken the chance to in a large school. I enjoy sports and competition so things like football, basketball and golf were my main activities. But I also got involved in drama, quiz bowl and mock trial to name a few and I really enjoyed them. Plus, I had a fair amount of success so that played into my competitive nature. I treasure the fact that I was able to be a pioneer in many things at Heartland Lutheran High School and I wouldn't trade the experiences I had there for anything.
Choosing a college was fairly simple for me, I received a scholarship to play golf at Concordia University in Seward, NE. It was about an hour from Grand Island so it was far enough from home but also close enough for me to come home. At the same time, my brother decided to go back to school and he chose to attend Concordia with me and we were roomies once again. We became great friends through this opportunity. When I got started in school I had no clue what I wanted to do, but I did know I wanted to coach, so I decided to be a high school history teacher because I loved history. I was never comfortable with my decision but the thought of coaching basketball made me stick with it. Finally, I made it to the summer before I had to go student teach and I had to take this class about servant leadership. In this class we had to volunteer for fifty hours and reflect on the experience. I chose to volunteer at the Lincoln Children's Museum (a really fun place if you are ever down in Lincoln, NE), this experience changed my life. Working in day camps comprised of elementary aged students was fun, but more importantly I felt comfortable in my interactions and was kind of good at it. I remember thinking to myself, maybe I should be an elementary teacher. I had to tell my parents that I was going to change my major and go in a similar but different and more expensive direction due to the extra college hours it would require. They supported my decision and I made the change.
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| Rock fish caught while deep sea fishing in San Diego |
After completing my coursework in elementary education, I was ready for student teaching. God blessed me with two great cooperating teachers that had contrasting styles. It was really helpful for me to see their methods and talk shop with them. Also, I had the opportunity to head out to San Diego and skip out on part of the Nebraska winter. But I am sure that these Wisconsin winters will make up for what I missed last year. I was able to complete everything and I graduated from Concordia in December of last year. I interviewed with a few different schools and received two call offers, but St. John really stood out to me. With God's help I was able to make the decision to come here and I am very excited to start my ministry in such a great place. I'm excited for the school year to begin and am ready to start working with my first class!
Check out these changes that have already taken place in the classroom! I have to thank my parents and brother-in-law for putting in the hard work to help me get rid of the green. When I first was able to catch a glimpse of my first classroom I knew I had to change the green. I had a great idea for how I could paint it, picture the beauty yourself, cream colored walls with a giant red block N on the open walls. Mr. Pehlke quickly shot down my idea(I wonder why?) and I chose these colors.
