Pennie Wredberg
Pennie Wredberg, or “Mrs. Pennie” as everyone calls her, is the headteacher and lower grade instructor at Lighthouse. She moved to Colorado from Wisconsin, where she had previously taught upper grades and served as the headteacher. She has also taught in small schools in Montana and Idaho.
Mrs. Pennie has taught in multi-grade classrooms for over 20 years and brings a rich variety of experience to the school. She has degrees in English and Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education. She puts her Masters in Literacy Instruction to good use teaching reading and writing across the grade levels.
During the summer you will find her reading or at the library looking for young adult books to share with her students. Other hobbies that Mrs. Pennie enjoys include gardening, hiking - especially by mountain streams, and various crafts.
When asked what brought her to Lighthouse she said, “my own children are in college and Colorado was the closest we could be to both of them. I really enjoy working in multi-grade classrooms and when I came to interview at Lighthouse I knew that God was calling me to work here in Fort Morgan. My students are a delight and they make me smile every day.”
Gabriel Mendez
Gabriel Mendez is the upper grades teacher at Lighthouse. Since graduating with a degree in Education with minors in Reading and Social studies, he has taught in and been principal for multi-grade schools for over a decade. Gabe loves to share about God, life, and the power of education with his students. In fact, if you ask him about it, “Being able to pray to God with my students and have discussion about how God works in our lives brings me a lot of joy.” Seeing a number of his students deepen their relationship with God and get baptized is one of the highlights of his time in Adventist education.
Living in Illinois, Michigan, and now Colorado has given him the opportunity to enjoy God’s nature in a lot of ways. “Being able to take my wife and children to places like Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge has been so good. Experiencing places like Yellowstone and Barr Lake with my students has been great. Nature really is God’s second book.”
In addition to teaching, he loves to spend time with family biking, geocaching, and learning how to incorporate technology into everyday life. But most of all, he loves talking about heaven with his kids and his students. “By concentrating on how God loves us and what He has in store for us, our children are attracted to God. And that’s what I want--kids that are in love with God.”