Roy Stuckwisch was selected to receive Lutheran Education Association’s 2020 Distinguished Lutheran Early Childhood Administrator Award. Lutheran Education Association is a professional association for educators in Lutheran schools.
Mr. Stuckwisch is the early childhood education administrator at Zion Lutheran School Early Childhood Center in Seymour, Indiana. Among his many administrative responsibilities are program development and marketing, supervision of early childhood class programs, and staff development and performance.
Roy earned degrees in business education from Indiana State University and completed his theological education through colloquy at Concordia University Chicago. From his high school job of serving frosty mugs of root beer to serving as business education department chair at Perry Meridian High School through various administrative positions at Cummins, Inc. and service as principal at Zion Lutheran School, Roy stepped into the early childhood administrator position at Zion. He served there for 10 years, retired, and came out of retirement to serve as interim principal at Zion.
In support of Roy’s nomination, his pastor said, “Roy’s open-door policy, his visibility around the school and community, and his simple words of encouragement make it easy for parents to approach him with questions or concerns. He provides simple, direct communication to busy parents and congregation members regarding school activities as well as volumes of helpful analytics in easy-to-understand formats to teachers, staff, pastors, ministry leaders, and boards. Throughout his time among us, the Lord has used Roy Stuckwisch to provide the leadership that moved us from a school of individual classroom and extend care programs to a unified ministry that reaches out to the families of our congregation and community to welcome them with the love of Christ!”
One parent wrote, “One of the exciting things about Zion Lutheran School is that it attracts students from all church denominations as well as the non-churched, because of the stellar reputation. Roy’s top concern is to show the love and forgiveness of Jesus is taught to every young child.”
The colleague who nominated Roy for this honor commented, “During his colloquy classes, he had a setback of an aneurism which required an intensive brain surgery along with months of therapy to follow. Mr. Stuckwisch could have easily given up then knowing he had already retired once, be he did not. The Lord was with him during that difficult time, and he knew the Lord would continue to be with him. He fought back to good health and finished his last few classes to obtain his colloquy.”
Mr. Stuckwisch’s personal mission statement is “Do whatever I can in service to God, knowing that He ‘is the vine,’ I am ‘the branch’ and that ‘apart from Him,’ I can do nothing.”