St. Paul’s Elementary Grades

1st Grade – Mrs. Bredendick

This year is my 42nd year of teaching. (22nd year of teaching 1st grade). I have taught grades preschool through high school minus grades 5-8. Those grades have always been my husband’s grades. My husband and I met in high school and got married after graduation from MLC. We are only 8 days apart in age. When we graduated from collage; we were assigned to teach at a school in North Hollywood, CA. This was a 2 room school. I had grades K-4 in my room and my husband was the principal and taught grades 5-8 in another room. We taught at that school for 18 years. After the 18 years; we accepted new calls to a school a short distance away. We were still in North Hollywood. At our new school I taught 2 grade for 17 years. After spending 35 years in CA, we then moved to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. We were only there 2 years. Our first year there, I taught 3 &4 grades in Madison, WI. Our 2nd year there I taught Foods and Child Development at Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills, WI. For the past 3 years, I taught 1st grade at Crown of Life in West St. Paul, MN.

I grew up in Wisconsin(Neenah). I went to Martin Luther for grade school and Fox Valley Lutheran High School. I am the oldest of 4. I have 3 younger brothers. Besides my husband, I have 2 adult daughters , a son-in-law and 2 grandchildren.

2nd Grade – Mrs. Brunner

This is my 13th year teaching, of which 10 have been in second grade. I grew up in Colfax, WI then went to River Falls for my bachelors in biology and my masters in education. I like to sew for fun, and read. My latest hobby is laying in the hammock with Liz, my bearded dragon.

I am married to Chris and we have two kids, Hattie will be in 2nd grade and Jackson will be in Kindergarten. We have Dash our 9 year old Border Collie and Liz the Bearded Dragon.

3rd Grade – Miss Maertz

I teach the third grade students at St. Paul’s. I’m looking forward to guiding and engaging the students in their learning. It is a special privilege to be a part of their spiritual journey as they grow closer to their Savior Jesus. I’ve spent my whole life in the midwest. I grew up in the states of South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. After graduating from Martin Luther College in 1982, I started my teaching ministry in a small town in Michigan at a two-room school where I taught different combinations of grades K-4. From there I moved to Sparta, WI where I taught grades 3 and 4. Then my ministry took me to Harland, WI. Most of my years there were spent teaching grades 1 and 2. My favorite pastime is being out in the sunshine enjoying God’s creation. Though I haven’t done any special training, I enjoy photography and art. I also enjoy music and playing the organ and piano for church services. I would also like to learn to play the cello.

4th Grade – Mrs. Gowling

Hello fourth graders! I have read some new novels and am looking forward to sharing them with all of you. I also revisited a few novels that I have not read in many years. My top three summer books; Where the Red Fern Grows, Esperanza Rising, and The One and Only Ivan. When I was your age I struggled with detective novels. My sister collected and read Agatha Christie books and multiple times I started reading one of her novels but never made it past the first half.

Being a mom is a blessing and I love all of the mom stuff I do with and for Joseph(7th), Nora(5th), and Jack(kinder). Mr Gowling and I love activities and so do our children, so we have a lot of fun with sports and games. Music is another favorite in our house. Joseph plays the piano, Nora sings and plays the piano, and Jack will begin music lessons this fall.

5th Grade – Mrs. Mann

This is my third year teaching at St. Paul’s. This year I’m teaching 5th grade and music. My family moved from Elgin, Illinois to Baraboo, WI when I was 10. Education: Bachelor of Music – UW-Stevens Point; Master of Music Education – Boston, MA; Sign Language interpreting certificate – Spokane, WA Hobbies: crafts, hiking, camping, traveling, going to the movies