Lutheran Unity School
773-342-5854 (East) | 708-867-5044 (West)
3740 W. Belden Ave. Chicago, IL. 60647 5650 N. Canfield Rd. Chicago, IL. 60631
Faculty
West Campus
Jo Ellen Tombers Hoffmann
Principal - East & West Campus - jhoffmann@lutheranunity.com
Jo Ellen has a Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts from Valparaiso University and a Master of Arts in Education from Concordia University Chicago. She has 25 years of teaching experience, 11 of those years were spent as a teaching principal at Jehovah Lutheran School in Chicago. Jo Ellen is married and has three children.
Tanya Boyle
Pre-Kindergarten - tboyle@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.tblifeandsuch.blogspot.com
Tanya Boyle has been teaching on and off for the last 13 years. She is married and has two energetic and imaginative children ages 9 and 11. She received her Type 09 with Middle School Endorsement Teaching Certification and her Type 04 from North Eastern Illinois University.
Drama has also been a big part of Mrs. Boyle’s life. She has been an actor, stage manager and director. Recently, she has written a series of musical programs specifically for young children. She is very excited to be part of Lutheran Unity. Mrs. Boyle keeps a blog where she posts what is going on in the classroom along with upcoming events and fun things to do with your child at home. Feel free to check it out at http://tblifeandsuch.blogspot.com.
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Kindergarten - mwo@lutheranunity.com
Mikki is married and has two children who are enrolled at Lutheran Unity School..She is a member at St. Paul Lutheran Church and has been teaching Kindergarten there for the past 17 years.She received her Early Childhood degree from Concordia Chicago in 1993 and taught 1 year in California before moving to Chicago. Mikki is currently earning her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education at Concordia Chicago.
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Jennifer Graf
1st Grade - jgraf@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.firstlusawest.intuitwebsites.com
Jennifer is in her 14th year at the West Campus where she teaches first grade. She has previously taught grades K through 4 in Lutheran and public schools in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. She received her BA from Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois. She also received her MA with a concentration in reading from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She loves teaching at St. Paul. The highlights of her year are the bat unit she does every fall which culminates with a trip to the Brookfield Zoo, the children's Christmas services, and Lutheran School's Week. She also loves sharing her faith with eager students and seeing them grow in so many ways each year.
Jennifer also serves as the school librarian for Lutheran Unity West Campus. The school library is fully automated. She sponsors the following programs:
• The Scholastic Book Fair
• The Accelerated Reader program
• The National Children's Book Week
• The Six Hour Reading Club
• The Book-it Reading Program
• The Birthday Book Club
Jennifer currently resides in Arlington Heights, IL with her husband and two sons.
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2nd Grade - bappleton@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.secondgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
Beth taught first and second grade at Messiah Lutheran School for 13 years. She received her BA in English Literature from Winona State University in Minnesota. In 2002, Beth earned her Masters of Education from St. Xavier University in Chicago. In her spare time Beth enjoys reading and knitting.
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Bethany Kosman
3rd Grade - bkosman@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.thirdgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
Bethany has a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Special Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She also just recently earned a Master's Degree in Teacher Leadership with a Special Education Endorsement from Roosevelt University. She has taught for 6 years. Her first 4 years were spent teaching 2nd grade at St. Matthew Lutheran School in Hawthorn Woods, IL. She taught 3rd grade her first year at St. Paul followed by a 2nd and 3rd grade multiage classroom. However, her Lutheran education experiences go well beyond her teaching experience. Bethany is a product of a Lutheran grade school and would not trade those experiences for the world. To be able to teach/learn academic disciplines along with Christian values is very important to her. It is her goal to use relevant, creative, and meaningful teaching strategies in order to help students to develop in all areas of life…socially, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually.
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Nancy Zyrkowski
4th Grade - nzyrkowski@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.fourthgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
Nancy has worked in the Lutheran School System for the past 25 years. She began as a substitute teacher and co-director of the Extended Care program at Messiah Lutheran School in Chicago. When an opportunity to teach 2nd grade became available, Nancy accepted the position. She taught 2nd grade for 8 years before being promoted to 5th and 6th grade. At Messiah, Nancy has served as School Librarian, Upper Grades Choir Director, Creative Kids Club Coordinator, Outdoor Education Administrator, Christmas Service Coordinator, and School Store Supervisor. She also serves on the Board of Evangelism at Messiah Lutheran Church.
Nancy received her Bachelor of Arts Degree and her Master of Library Science Degree from Rosary College (Dominican University) in River Forest, Illinois. She has three children and has recently celebrated her 35th wedding anniversary.
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Christopher Lingel
5th Grade - clingel@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.fifthgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
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Vanessa Ueltzen
6th Grade - vueltzen@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.sixthgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
Vanessa has been teaching in the Lutheran school system for 14 years, all at Messiah Lutheran School. She has taught in grades 3-8 and across the curriculum, with a specialization in Language Arts.While at Messiah she coordinated class trips to Walcamp and Washington D.C., directed upper grade drama productions, and was yearbook supervisor. She is a product of Chicago Lutheran schools and a proud alumna of Luther High School North. She received a bachelor's degree from Concordia University Chicago in Secondary Education with a major in English and a double minor in Chemistry and Speech/Theater, and is currently working on a Master's in Educational Technology from Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. She is married and has two children. Vanessa is thrilled to have this opportunity to bring her educational ministry here to the students of Lutheran Unity School and their families!
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Betty Gyllstrom
7th Grade - bgyllstrom@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.seventhgradelusaw.intuitwebsites.com
Mrs. Betty Gyllstrom attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where she received her BA degree in secondary education majoring in biology and minoring in math. She has taken graduate courses at Iowa State, Xavier, and Concordia University.
She taught 8th grade science at Washington Junior High School for two years and was the Math Learning Center Coordinator at Hempstead Hiigh school, both of these schools were in Dubuque, Iowa. She was part of the 7th grade science/math team for five years at Ames Middle School in Ames, Iowa, and has taught 7th grade and science for the upper grades for the last sixteen years at St. Paul Lutheran School.
She enjoys working with the students who participate in Science Olympics at Concordia University and the Walther Lutheran Science League. She likes to do hands-on activity and is always looking for new ideas.
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Deb Townsend
8th Grade - dtownsend@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.eigthgrade.intuitwebsites.com
Deb graduated from Lincoln Land Community College with an A.S. in Math. From there she persued a degree from the University of Illinois--Springfield and received a B.A. in Psychology
She began teaching at St. Paul in 2003 as an 8th grade teacher and middle school math teacher. All together Deb brings15 years of teaching experience to Lutheran Unity School including public and charter schools.
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Mina D'Alessandro
Sigma Teacher - mdallessandro@lutheranunity.com
Website - www.sigmaw.intuitwebsites.com
Mina is the resource teacher at Lutheran Unity School. She services students ranging from pre-school to eighth grade. Mina received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Dominican University and a Master of Arts degree in special education from The University of Phoenix. Her professional work experience includes teaching kindergarten, working for the Maywood and Melrose Park public school systems as a resource teacher, and substitute teaching while managing the library in a private school.
Mina has been married for almost 21 years and lives in Chicago with two children. She has a son who is 18 years old and a daughter who is 15 years old. Mina enjoys watching her son play football and baseball. She also enjoys watching here daughter play volleyball, softball, and dance for the boys varsity basketball team. Mina and her husband are active participants within the Athletic Booster Club at their children's school.
