SAINT PAUL LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Art Instructor / Yearbook Advisor
Allen is an alumnus of St. Paul College High (83) and continued his education at the University of Central Missouri where he graduated with a degree in Finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant and currently serves as the Controller for Columbia College. He resides in Columbia, Missouri with his wife Robyn and their three teenage sons.
Job Titles:
- Math and Technology Instructor
Job Titles:
- Religion & Science Instructor
Curtis Nierman was born and raised on a dairy farm one mile east of Concordia, MO. Following in his father and sister's footsteps, he attended Saint Paul Lutheran High School and graduated in 1991. He attended Central Missouri State University and Concordia University, Seward, NE where he received his bachelor's degree in accounting.
Curtis has spent most of his career working for Experian in their finance department. He has held various roles including financial analyst and billing supervisor. His current role is tax analyst expert in Experian's North America sales tax department. Curtis lives in Lincoln, NE and is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he serves on the Board of Elders and Board of Outreach.
Doug was born in North Tonawanda, NY, and grew up in Abingdon, VA. After 33 years of corporate and international finance, Doug and his wife, Sara, retired in 2014 and now reside in Nashville, TN, where they are members of Our Savior Lutheran Church and Academy. Doug and Sara have grown children in Tennessee, Florida, and Hong Kong. They are also blessed with 7 grandchildren (3 in Tennessee and 4 in Florida). In 2003, Doug's professional career took him and his family overseas to Hong Kong. Doug's youngest two children attended Hong Kong International School, an LCMS school associated with the LCMS congregation in Hong Kong, Church of All Nations. Doug served on the school's board of managers for 6 years, including the position of board chairman. During their time in Hong Kong, God equipped and provided the Werth family with many service opportunities through church and school. Trips and outings in Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, and Cambodia helped to develop servant hearts for showing care and compassion, as well as sharing the Good News. After 4 years in Switzerland and travel to more than 75 countries around the world, Doug and Sara returned to the United States. Doug currently serves on the board of Concordia Welfare and Education Foundation, a Hong Kong based Lutheran non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished rural communities in Asia through education and service. He also serves on the board of directors for Mission of Christ Network, a Texas registered Lutheran non-profit that deploys missionaries around the globe.
Job Titles:
- Director of Music Concert Choir
Job Titles:
- Social Science Instructor / Head Girls Basketball Coach / Head Baseball Coach
Rhonda and I graduated from Concordia High School, and both grew up on farms in the Concordia area. We have been blessed that all four of our children have attended and graduated from Saint Paul High School (Jason 1992 / Julie 1996 / Jared 2001 / Trey 2020). After attending a vocational/technical school and gaining some life experience, in 1981 we started a business of our own, Beerman Heating and Cooling, Inc. I have had the opportunity to serve on the Board of Trustees at Saint Paul for two separate terms. My first term on the board, we transitioned from Missouri Synod control to Recognized Service Organization (RSO). As an RSO, the board and the Executive Director worked through new bylaws and articles of resolution. The change from Synod control to RSO, overall, has been advantageous for the school. Now the BOT is working with the Executive Director, the Director of Development, and other key members of the family that is Saint Paul to move forward by God's grace to improve and continue the mission of Saint Paul High School. Rhonda and I love to spend time with our grandchildren and families, and time at the lake.
Joe Connell is a graduate of Kansas State University and received his Air Force commission through the ROTC program. Joe and his family spent 25 years in service to our nation. He is currently a senior management advisor to industry and government for space and missile programs. He holds an MPA from Golden Gate University, and MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. Joe completed executive education programs at Carnegie-Melon University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Joe served as a LCMS Congregation President in Virginia, where he also co-chaired the Congregation's LCEF Capital Funding Campaign to build a new worship facility. Joe and his wife Lori now reside in Concordia, MO.
Kristen is a 1991 graduate of SPLHS, and attended Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota where she received her A.A. and was inducted as a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Kristen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Management with a minor in Speech Communication from the University of Minnesota at Mankato in 1996, where she became a member of the National Honor Society of Musicians, Pi Kappa Lambda. Kristen served as a regular substitute teacher at SPLHS from October 1996 - March 1997, and from 1997 - 2001 she worked for a Lutheran Music Program in public relations and development. In 2001, she moved to the retail/corporate world as a Store Manager for Blockbuster, eventually managing stores in Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri. In 2007 she resigned her position with Blockbuster to be a stay-at-home mom to her 5 children. In 2010 she re-entered the workforce as a part-time preschool teacher at Timothy Lutheran School. In 2015, Kristen accepted her current full-time position with Timothy Lutheran School as the School Services Coordinator. She is part of a 3-generation family at Saint Paul. Her father was a member of the SPC class of 1966, her stepson and nephew graduated with the SPLHS class of 2011, her son graduated in 2023 and her daughters will graduate in 2025.
Job Titles:
- Communications Director
- Spanish Instructor
Job Titles:
- Coach
- Assistant Football Coach
Lloyd Sommerer is a 1988 graduate of SPLHS and went on to receive degrees in Education and Computer Science from Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. After graduation, Lloyd and his wife Lauren taught at Ascension Lutheran Church in Washington DC. They currently live in Seward Nebraska with their three cats: Ralph, Waldo & Emerson. Lauren teaches preschool at St. John, and Lloyd teaches and is the Technology Coordinator at Lincoln Lutheran High School. He is a founding member and past president of the Nebraska Computer Science Teachers Association, former chairman of the Seward County Republican Party, former commissioner of the Lincoln Lutheran Fantasy Baseball League, curator of the St. John Marxhausen Art Collection, maintainer fo the Sommerer Family Website, and a really snappy dresser.
Job Titles:
- Science Instructor / Assistant Volleyball Coach
Rev. Michael Pottschmidt joined the ministry of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School in Concordia, Missouri, as Senior Pastor in February 2018. Before coming to St. Paul's, he served as Associate Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Richmond, Virginia, from 2005 - 2009 and then as Trinity's Senior Pastor from 2009 - 2018. Michael has served as a pastoral counselor of the Lutheran Women in Mission (LWML) Chesapeake District and of the Old Dominion Zone and is the Sr. Pastoral Counselor for the Missouri District LWML. He has been a Rotary Club member and is a Past President of the Rotary Club of West Richmond. He currently serves as a member of the Saint Paul Lutheran High School Board of Trustees, as a member of the Board of Directors for the Concordia Music Conservatory and is a community liaison and member of the Board of Directors of the Whiteman Air Force Base Community Council for the City of Concordia. Michael is a graduate of Concordia College (now University), Ann Arbor and Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis. He and his wife Vickie have two daughters, Evelyn Grace, and Annika.
Job Titles:
- Athletic Director / Physical Education Instructor
Phil was baptized at St. John's Lutheran in San Francisco, CA, and confirmed at Zion Lutheran in Corder,
He is an alumnus of St. Paul High (85) and College (86). He received a bachelor's degree in
Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri S&T (Rolla) and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He has
spent his career in the metals manufacturing industry. He and his wife, Tiffany, have two daughters who
Job Titles:
- Social Studies Department Chair
Stan Oetting was born and raised in Concordia, Mo. on the family farm. He is a graduate of Concordia High School and has been a lifelong farmer in the Concordia area. Stan is now a licensed funeral director and full-time staff member of Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home. Stan and his wife, Kathryn (SPC '74) have three children who are alumni of SPLHS., Joel, '97; Rachel, '00; and Jordan, '03. Stan continues to farm for Joel and also operates Stan Oetting Monument Sales. He serves on the Board of Directors of Concordia Bank and is on numerous teams at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Concordia, Mo.