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In Forward in Christ, we report the news but aren’t always able to follow up. “Where are they now?” is our way of giving you the rest of the story.
In October 2018, Forward in Christ reported on Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School, a new WELS high school that opened in Wisconsin to serve young men from Milwaukee County. The school’s opening enrollment was 60 freshmen boys. Its vision? “Where young men develop their God-given gifts to lead in the home, serve in the church, engage in meaningful work, and transform the community.”
Where is Kingdom Prep now?
This May marks a milestone for Kingdom Prep: the graduation of its founding class.
These 41 seniors were pivotal in the development of the school and its mission to “build a brotherhood in Christ, for lives of purpose.”
“[These seniors] built the school from the ground up—and the brotherhood inside of it,” says Jeremy Braun, academic dean at Kingdom Prep. “The uniforms, mascot, reconstruction of the entire building—these are some of the ways they physically built the brotherhood. And while doing these things, they really wrapped their arms around each other to build this [community] together.”
Not only did these students build a family with their brothers in Christ at the school, but they also let their light shine in the neighborhood. “In Nehemiah Hour, each student identifies a community or bigger problem and works to find a solution,” says Braun. “Many of these students have helped our immediate community, such as cutting grass, shoveling snow, and rebuilding a garage. We also have sent our guys back to our churches and elementary schools to work with the younger men there.”
These seniors have a wide variety of plans for life after high school, ranging from attending college for information technology or music to becoming a caregiver to entering a culinary program to studying to be a WELS teacher. But the lessons they learned at Kingdom Prep, as they themselves describe, go beyond their future careers.
- “It prepared me by teaching me how to persevere through struggles.”—Marquon Talley
- “It helped me to better understand where I am faith-wise. It pushed me to build up those around me and have God at the center.”—Kenneth Sexton
- “I feel prepared to act professionally in tough situations and improved my understanding of my faith and how it helps me live my daily life.”—TJ Thomas
- “It definitely taught me that there will be struggles in the real world and the best way to get through those struggles is to depend on God. He will never give you anything that you can’t handle.”—AJ Perry
What does the future look like for Kingdom Prep and its students? Braun says there are too many opportunities to count. “I prefer to think about it like this: Pray hard and just see all of the wonderful things God will do with and through our boys.”
Learn more about Kingdom Prep in the June 2022 WELS Connection.
Volume 109, Number 06
Issue: June 2022
