What's your title at CLHS?
Science Teacher (Department Chair)
Are you a Concordia parent?
Parent - Caleb -'22, Joshua - '24... soon to be Isaiah '26
When did you start at CLHS?
2002-03 school year
Please describe your position at CLHS
I teach a variety of science classes depending on the year. Consistently, I teach biomedical science courses and AP biology. I also teach general biology or general chemistry depending on the year.
What was your education that led you to CLHS?
BA from Concordia University Chicago and MS from The Ohio State University
What did you love most about teaching at CLHS?
There are many things that I love about teaching at CLHS. At the moment, my favorite part is going to work every day where my kids attend school! A hearty "Hello, Mrs. Castleman" from my son, Josh, always puts a smile on my face while watching my oldest son, Caleb, play in the praise band during chapel warms my heart.
Who were your mentors in your career to becoming an educator?
Mr Eickhoff was the principal of our home congregation's Lutheran School in Ohio. He visited my Mother every summer to encourage her to send my brothers and I to our Lutheran Grade School. I was the youngest. The year that I started 1st grade, my mother decided to move us to the Lutheran School. When I started school, My mother began taking classes to earn her teaching degree. Watching her work so hard to fulfill the delayed dream of earning her bachelor's degree in education, encouraged me to consider doing the same. In 6th grade, Mr. Eickhoff shared a video with my class about teaching in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. That video set me on a path to serve the church as an educator. To come full circle, my Mother accepted the position of principal at our Lutheran Grade School my sophomore year of college. She completed her colloquy to become a called Lutheran Teacher. We joke that I followed in her footsteps to become a teacher, she followed mine to become a Lutheran Educator.