Above: Members of Martin Luther High School’s senior class, front row, from left: Trevor Rosburg, Tyson Kube, Ryan Singleton, Zackary Jenks and Colter Meinert. Back row from left: Alyssa Wiederhoeft, Kambria Steinhaus, Josie Clow, Alexis Lawton, Mariah Geistfeld, Mallery Geistfeld, Lily Cyphers. Not pictured: Paige Roiger and Emily Sokoloski.

NORTHROP– As it’s the start of National Lutheran School’s week, a group of the oldest students in an area Lutheran school took the time to reflect on their school career. Martin Luther High School’s senior class consists of 14 students who have a long history of attending a Lutheran school.

While students of all religions are welcome at the school and previously attending a Lutheran school isn’t a requirement, each of the 14 students attended either St. Paul’s Lutheran-Fairmont, St. Paul’s Lutheran-Truman or St. James Lutheran-Northrop.

As for the smaller class sizes the students have experienced, some like it, saying they get more one-on-one time with teachers. Some also find that it’s easier to have hard conversations when you’re comfortable with the people in your class.

“Everyone’s family,” Mariah Geistfeld said.

“I know we don’t like how small it is all the time, but it gives us a realistic view of how it will be in our future workforce when you can’t get away from that one co-worker,” Kambria Steinhaus said with a laugh. “We’ve learned how to work through all the different parts of a relationship.”

Like all other schools in the region, state and country, the students were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit in their sophomore year. Students recalled going to class normally and then by early March of 2020 things changed. Most said the biggest impact was to school work and sports.

“I’m not going to lie, I really liked distance learning,” said Steinhaus.

She said she liked the flexibility that distance learning provided.

On the other side, Josie Clow said, “I missed seeing everyone. I lost my social ability for a long time.”

Now the they’ve been back in-person for their entire senior year, students have enjoyed a wide variety of classes. The school offers unique classes like college physics, speech, consumer math, Spanish, Christian witnessing and 3-D printing.

The school also has its own greenhouse and energy classroom which several classes are offered in. Trevor Rosburg enjoys environmental science. Students said they’ve liked being able to grow their plants in the greenhouse.

Alexis Lawton said her favorite class was surprising to some.

“Business classes, accounting specifically,” Lawton said.

Other popular classes among the senior class are music classes, especially advanced music, taught by Phil Schult.

In addition to classes, every member of the senior class has taken advantage of a club during their time at Martin Luther. Clubs include spirit club, student council, National Honor Society, yearbook, Empower, The Knightly News newspaper and Knights4Life. Over the weekend students in Knights4Life participated in the March for Life at the State Capitol.

Students at Martin Luther have also enjoyed taking part in a variety of sports. They partner with Granada-Huntley-East Chain and Truman for some sports including cross country, baseball, softball, volleyball and basketball. They partner with Fairmont for soccer, hockey and football.

The students have quite a few big events coming up that they’re looking forward to. In addition to Lutheran School’s week this week, they have snow week, which they’ll celebrate with dress up days and a coronation in February. They also have a class trip to Branson, Missouri in March.

As seniors, they’re also looking forward to graduation on May 29. Following graduation, they’ll be embarking on a new adventure– college. Some of the schools the students will be attending include University of South Dakota, Winona University, Iowa Lakes Community College and Dordt University.

When asked what the students have enjoyed about attending a Lutheran school, Tyson Kube said he’s enjoyed hearing the word of God while in school everyday.

“That’s been a blessing to all of us,” he said.

“Within our Christian education, it’s not just getting the word of God but that we get to go through it so we have a foundation and we get to evaluate everything we come to through what we have learned,” Steinhaus said.